motel owners Journal THE AUSTRALIAN
Microfibre All the Micro Details James Smith I Diversey
Microfibre cleaning sounds too good to be true. A cloth that uses no chemical and can kill 99% of surface contamination with 1 wipe! You may have had the opportunity to talk to a salesman with their eyes open wide in rapture about the benefits of microfibre cleaning and how we can save the world if only we invest in their system. For people who have been in our industry and seen the flash in the pan cleaning systems before it sounds a bit like a machine that turns lead into gold - too good to be true.
What is Microfibre?
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icrofibre, as the name suggests, is made up of small fibres. To be classified as a microfibre, the fibre has to be finer than 1/100th of a human hair. Because the fine fibres create an increased surface area, microfibre has the ideal properties for environmental cleaning. To illustrate the advantage of microfibre cleaning, imagine using a broom with only 100 strands to sweep a floor as opposed to a broom with 10000 strands. Microfibre delivers an ultimate clean as the increased surface area picks up virtually all the dirt and dust in its path. Microfibre cleaning has been used extensively in the cleaning industry since the mid-nineties. The advantages of microfibre are well documented and vast. Unfortunately while cleaning with microfibre has many positive aspects, there are factors that can be overlooked for the proper use and care of your investment.
How do you Wipe a Bench? To use a microfibre cloth effectively you can’t use the same surface for more than a couple of square meters. To use the cloth to its maximum life involves folding the cloth into half and half again. This creates 8 cleaning surfaces that are swapped every few minutes. It may sound a simple process but it can be hard to train staff the correct technique required instead of using the cloth like a regular scrunched up rag. Training and ongoing supervision is required.
What is Damp Cleaning? Microfibre can be used dry or damp. Used dry, microfibre uses electrostatic to attract dirt. Used damp, the water will help dissolve the dirt. The question is what is a damp microfibre cloth? If the cloth is too wet it loses its grip and is as effective as a wet rag, hence finding the balance between damp and too wet can be hard without the correct training.
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