DIV12/22: Putting An End To Odours (22 August 2012)

Release Date: 22 August 2012
Ref: DIV12/22

Almost every business has a washroom.

Putting An End To Odours

Stink, stench, odour, niff, whiff and pong. We have lots of words to describe a bad smell which is not surprising as the ability to detect one is perhaps our most delicate sense. This has been hard wired by evolution to signal something is not right and we use smell as a basic cue for our behaviour all of the time. Nowhere is this truer than in the washroom.

Research by Sealed Air’s Diversey business revealed the link between customer perceptions and behaviour in places such as pubs, restaurants and hotels. Customers who do not like what they find often leave before ordering or completing their meal in a restaurant and are more likely to give hotels poor recommendations and low ratings. Nothing creates a bad impression as much as a bad smell and the Diversey research showed that the washroom, bathroom or toilet is often the most significant area for customers when judging an establishment. In other words, cleanliness and smells affect a business’s bottom line and its reputation.

Almost every business has a washroom and most will be used by the majority of customers, visitors or guests at least once during a visit. This year, events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, European Football Championships and Olympics have seen people spending more of their leisure time in a pub, restaurant or hotel. This inevitably placed more demand on washroom facilities, especially if people are celebrating with a few extra drinks, and more risk of a bad smell arising. When this occurs, everyone will notice.

The problem is that washrooms can be a constant source of bad smells. Some causes can, shall we say, simply be flushed away. But the longer term issue not always apparent to building operators is that poor cleaning can lead to lingering smells that are more difficult to eradicate.

Many bad washroom smells arise when gases are emitted by the naturally occurring microbes that eat into deposits of organic residues. Typical problem areas include floors, particularly around urinals, in and around wash basins, behind toilet bowls and in sink-traps and drains. Sometimes the deposits are not easy to spot with the naked eye so a washroom which appears to be clean could still get smelly. A thin deposit of difficult-to-see lime-scale, for example, provides a rough surface to which microbes can cling even during routine flushing or cleaning. The warm and humid environment in many washrooms helps to promote faster growth of the microbes which means they produce more gas and therefore more smells.

It should be self-evident that the easiest way to prevent or eliminate smells is to remove the cause. An effective daily cleaning regime that covers all areas of the washroom and which pays special attention to the potential problem areas will reduce the risk of deposits forming.

For hotel bedrooms and bathrooms, Diversey’s Room Care range includes a number of products that are designed to simplify cleaning and improve the overall guest experience. Room Care R3, for example, is a multi-surface and glass cleaner specifically formulated for hotel guest areas.

For general building care and washrooms in public areas, multi-purpose products such as the new TASKI Sani 4in1 are ideal for regular daily cleaning. This is available in a range of platforms including highly sustainable super concentrates and ready-to-use. Its acidic formulation means it can be used in all areas of the washroom including floors, walls, basins and toilet bowls to give great results and prevent the build up of lime scale. Daily cleaning is simplified with fewer different products, which is good for productivity, cost control and sustainability.

Toilets and other obvious areas should be cleaned when necessary which in busy pubs, restaurants and shops could be as often as every hour. Using thick toilet cleaners that cling to the bowl for long-lasting once-a-day use can be very costly and wasteful for hourly cleaning. Products such as TASKI Sani 4in1 provide an excellent and cost-effective alternative.

Another floorcare product is TASKI Jontec Forward which can be used with a mop and bucket or scrubber drier. Its low-foaming formulation provides superior daily cleaning performance but it also helps to eradicate existing residues such as body fats to return the floor to its original appearance and eliminate causes of bad smells. Using it with a TASKI by Diversey scrubber drier ensures the floor is left dry and can be walked on almost immediately, essential in busy areas, with reduced risk of slips.

Residues and deposits can also be removed with Good Sense Breakdown. This incorporates natural bacterial cultures to eliminate microbes. It can be used for daily cleaning or as a problem solver on a range of surfaces including hard floors and carpets. It can also be used to clean waterless urinals and poured into drains and overflows to help clear bio-films and blockages.

Many Diversey products, including the Room Care range, Good Sense Breakdown and TASKI Sani 4in1, incorporate its patented Odour Neutralising Technology (ONT). This chemically eliminates nasty smells rather than simply masking them with strong perfumes. The addition of gentler and subtler fragrances to the respective products then creates a more appealing ambience in the washroom that enhances those all-important customer perceptions.