Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

Your industry news - first

The original and best - for over 20 years!

We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.

Routine cleaning raises its game

There's no excuse for low standards in high places when any cleaning team can vacuum high-level nooks and surfaces, says James White, managing director of Denis Rawlins.

It is not uncommon at business seminars, especially after lunch, for the eyes - and attention - of the audience to veer slowly but inexorably away from the PowerPoint presentation.

In my defence, I was privileged to be in one of central London's most grand venues. With its fine wood panelling, chandeliers and ornate cornicing, there was much to admire. Until I noticed that tell-tale dark shadow, which was unmistakably not a trick of the lights.

This historic listed building - which I cannot name - conceals in its interior rooms at least one lofty area underneath a mantle of dust. But let's not be too hard on the posh premises.

From factories and warehouses to shopping centres, offices and our public buildings, there are high-level nooks and surfaces that are left less than clean for long periods chiefly because they are beyond the reach of routine cleaning.

So in high places there are often low standards of cleanliness.

While appearances are important, especially in the hospitality sector, there are health factors to consider too. A build-up of dust and insect nests, for example, could have a negative impact on air quality or people with allergies.

But high-level cleaning certainly presents a stack of challenges.

Uppermost in facilities and cleaning managers' minds is probably safety. No matter how thorough the risk assessment, training and operational procedures, working at height is intrinsically dangerous. While the many types of access platform on the market avoid the need for ladders or scaffolding - or abseiling down the exterior of a building - the reduced risk comes at the expense of disruption and higher cleaning costs.

Often the 'steep clean' is carried out by a specialist contractor. We have no desire to put these cleaning companies out of a job, but there is a ready alternative that makes this task much easier for them and others.

It puts high-level cleaning within easy reach of general contract cleaners and virtually any in-house cleaning team.

Using super-lightweight yet strong carbon-fibre poles, just about any operative can vacuum indoor structures up to 11 metres high. Working externally, this system is effective up to heights of 15 metres.

SpaceVac comes with a range of features and tools that ensure cleaning results are not compromised because human hands and eyeballs are remote from the surface being cleaned.

At ground level, the SpaceVac user can check the progress of cleaning on live, high-quality video thanks to the system's in-built wireless camera. The recording can also be viewed later by supervisors or the client.

The vacuuming itself is as effective as at floor level as there is no loss of suction.
SpaceVac also comes with a variety of tools and cleaning heads which are themselves manufactured in one piece from 100% carbon fibre for maximum strength and minimum weight.

SpaceVac, which is compatible with most vacuum systems, also features an innovative design that ensures not only that assembling and disassembling the poles and tools is straightforward but also their collective stability up to full extension.

S.A.F.E.R, which stands for Safe and Fast Easy Release, makes sure that the system's components cannot separate during the cleaning operation.

SpaceVac is also safer in industrial environments where there is a risk of combustion. The range includes the world's only ATEX certified high-level cleaning system. SpaceVac is the only system of its kind to be certified as safe for ATEX use in explosive atmospheres and hazardous environments.

Designed and engineered in Northampton, SpaceVac is highly flexible due to its wide array of brushes and accessories. From gutter cleaning heads and specialist outdoor tools, to a specially designed selection of indoor brushes, the system has a solution for the toughest of cleaning challenges.

Crucially, SpaceVac is a simple and cost-effective high-level cleaning system, well within the reach of most cleaning budgets. At the same time, it gives cleaning managers the option to take control, and keep this more challenging aspect of cleaning firmly within the in-house routine cleaning regime.

Typical cleaning tasks for SpaceVac include pipes, beams and fixtures inside large buildings and warehouses, and external gutters. But, fitted with a soft brush, it will be equally adept cleaning above gilded picture frames and marble statues too.

T: 0121 351 4444
W: www.rawlins.co.uk

23rd November 2017