Cleaning Agents - Chemicals

Chemical Usage
by Kang Yin Ying

Cleaning Agents

Cleaning agents are the most critical aids of housekeeping department in day to day operations to keep the room and public area neat and clean. Chemical usage as cleaning chemicals which are often available in the form of liquids, blocks, and powders in housekeeping help housekeeping staff not only remove dirt, but they also can kill the germs that may cause illness.

       Vinegar
It is used in removing light stains in the bath.      

      Bathroom cleaner
Mostly come in liquid form for easy cleaning. It clean, descale, and disinfect the bathroom walls, bathtubs, bathroom flooring, sinks, and showers. They often contain phosphorus

Clean Air Spray
Best for freshening the hotel corridors, washrooms, bathrooms, and reception areas. Function of sprays are remove the pungent smell of tobacco, smoke, and organic wastes.

 
Degreaser
Mainly used in bars to remove the marks of grease and lipstick that cannot be removed by traditional washing of glasses and cups and it will restores the surface shine and transparency of the glasses and bowls.

 Floor cleaner and sealers

Cleaning the floor periodically and keeping it sealed with the help of sealer of the right consistency for optimum maintenance. Some areas in the hotel are busy and bear heavy traffic such as lobby, corridors, parking areas, restaurants, and dining halls. Their flooring loses smoothness and shine. In such a case, the floor cleaners and sealers are used for restoring their look and shine.

    

Laundry cleaner 

They are liquid concentrates with variable amount of peroxide that removes tough stains, bleaches the linen, and enhances its whiteness. A number of chemicals are used in dry-cleaning. They are camphor oil, turpentine spirits, benzene, kerosene and white gasoline, petroleum solvents such as naphtha blends, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and liquid carbon dioxide. They remove the stains from silk tapestry without damaging the fibers.

Toilet Block

Deodorize the toilets and leave them with a fresh smell. They come with two variants: continuous action and instant action. They contain oxidizing agents such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, or chlorine that removes unpleasant organic odor from the surface of a material

Toilet cleaner

Available in liquid form containing strong hydrochloric acid. They remove stains and plumbing scales easily, and restore the shine of their surface.

Surface Sanitizer
They often come in the form of liquid concentrate. They are primarily water based and sanitize the surfaces without damaging their appearance. The sanitizers reduce the presence of bacteria to safe levels. They come with various concentrations and fragrances.

Swimming pool cleaners

Used for cleaning the swimming pool water. Some of them are TCCA-90 granules or tablets, SDIC, hydrochloric acid (HCL), liquid chlorine, and alum. The pool cleaning chemicals kill the bacterial and algae growth in the water.

The chemicals like Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate (SDIC) has 60% of chlorine content and is used worldwide for disinfecting water. The pool cleaning chemicals dissolve fast in water and provide quick cleaning results. The housekeeping staff needs to take extra care while cleaning baby pools using these cleaners.

Carpet Cleaner Agents
Cleaning and maintaining the carpets are important tasks of the housekeeping crew. As suggested by the Carpet and Rug Institute(CRI), carpet cleaning is only deemed complete when the following issues are tackled:

• Soil Containment
• Vacuuming
• Spotting
• Interim Cleaning
• Restorative Cleaning

Carpet cleaning chemicals are typically low-moisture, fast-drying cleaners that take care of the aforementioned issues effectively.

Awareness of Labeling Definitions

Symbols or pictograms on the labels of cleaning agents indicate whether chemical ingredients are oxidizing, highly or extremely flammable, toxic, harmful, irritant, corrosive, or dangerous for the environment.

Indicates health hazards such as skin irritation or sensitisation, serious eye irritation, or that a product could be harmful if swallowed.

Contains chemicals that can potentially pose a serious threat to our health such as carcinogens, respiratory sensitizers, reproductive toxicity, target organ toxicity and germ cell mutagens.