Typically when we think of effective restroom care, we think of cleaning contractors along with the tools they use to clean and maintain public restrooms.
However, often overlooked is the very important role of the jansan distributor. As a matter of fact, you could say—and may likely be correct—that effective restroom cleaning starts with an astute jansan distributor to help determine the restroom needs of a facility and the best ways to address them. These findings are then shared with the cleaning contractor and building managers.
Restrooms are trouble spots in most all facilities, or at least they can be. According to Alan Bigger, former director of building services at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, “Restrooms are [often] the most time-consuming area of a facility to clean and maintain…and the vast majority of complaints (from students and staff) comes from this area—more than 75 percent according to some studies.”
Aware of this, distributors have historically worked to determine restroom cleaning needs for cleaning contractors and building managers. Here are areas you can expect a jansan distributor to evaluate when he or she visits your facility:
Traffic volume. A jansan distributor will evaluate how many people use the restroom during the course of the day as well as peak and slow periods of the day. This will help determine when it is imperative to stock paper supplies and if a daytime staff person should tackle cleaning needs during specific periods.
Who uses the restroom. This can make a difference in how much maintenance a restroom may need. Children can be very rough on a restroom and restrooms used by elderly people often require extra attention. Because these two groups typically are more susceptible to disease, bathrooms catering to these groups may call for more thorough and effective cleaning.
The restrooms’ location. Different sets of restrooms in the same building may have entirely different cleaning needs. For instance, restrooms in a warehouse area of a facility may take quite a beating during the course of the day. Move upstairs to the corporate offices, and it may look like no one even used the restroom.
Type of facility. Manufacturing plants, schools, airports, museums, and office buildings will likely have different restroom cleaning needs.
Code requirements. In some cases and in certain types of facilities, there may be special regulations that require specific fixtures, such as railings. These may increase the time needed to clean the facility.
While some distributors have become very adept at analyzing restroom cleaning needs by evaluating these issues, ultimately, even under the best of efforts, it is really conjecture. Even if a distributor shares his or her conclusions with cleaning contractors and facility managers, a restroom cleaning strategy may go into effect only to require changes and adjustments a couple of weeks or months after starting it.
In recent years new technologies have been introduced that help distributors make more thoughtful, almost scientific, decisions about the best ways to keep restrooms clean and healthy for their clients. Some of these are web-based systems that can be used by distributors to help eliminate the guesswork. These analytical tools consider the same issues we just discussed along with other criteria, such as:
- More cost-and performance-effective cleaning tools and solutions to handle a restroom’s specific needs
- Green alternatives if a facility is planning or already has a green cleaning strategy
- Identifying tools and cleaning solutions on the purchasing list that are not needed.
The ways these technologies work can vary, and not all provide the same scope of information. However, cleaning contractors and managers today want and often need to qualify their decisions on cleaning, especially when it comes to restrooms. Distributors can help them accomplish this by adding in assistance from these technologies.
Not only do distributors play a crucial role when it comes to restroom care, they play a crucial role when it comes to cleaning all areas of a facility. Many distributors now realize, as do their customers, that especially with the help of new technologies, their role is shifting rather quickly from simply selling products to becoming their clients’ guide and advisor.
