Fact Sheet: New Ways to Improve Green Cleaning

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  University of Connecticut Health Center
• Description:
  In addition to green cleaning products, there are a lot of new ways to improve cleaning without using harmful chemicals. Here are some examples of useful new approaches. Microfiber mops and cloths pick up a lot more dirt than traditional mops with no extra work. They hold on to dirt better so that it doesn't get kicked into the air, breathed in, or resettled back on the floor and surfaces. Microfiber can even pick up germs to reduce the need to disinfect. Wet mopping can be done so that each room is cleaned with a new mop pad, preventing moving "germs" from one room to another. The mop pads should be washed each day, unlike mops that are often soaked in dirty water--this way clean mop heads can be used each day. Some mops come with small tanks that can hold water or green solutions so there is no need to carry heavy buckets to various cleaning sites. No touch cleaning equipment, such as KaiVac machines, are integrated cleaning units for restrooms and other areas with drains. The room is sprayed with a green cleaner, rinsed with plain water, and the water is vacuumed up. This allows for deeper cleaning and better control of germs. Steam cleaning systems, such as TANCS, can disinfect without chemicals. Use of simple walk-off mats at the entrances of buildings can reduce the amount of dirt that gets tracked into halls, reducing the need for cleaning and the use and expense of cleaning chemicals. Research shows that 80% of the dirt that comes into the building on our shoes can be removed with properly sized walk-off mats. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Cleaning Compounds Custodians Information Dissemination Sanitation Training
• Publisher:
  University of Connecticut Health Center
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055078
• Citation:
  Farmington, CT: University of Connecticut Health Center, 2012 Jun; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut Schools of Medicine, Farmington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Fact sheet: new ways to improve green cleaning
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c3e4abae33386d76019cb714bcc4531337fdccb770fff2aab0168ccc8951613fe7a1c663875daaf51e366692e47fd73698395ff6113e5d4865b49fd828d144ee
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217455/cdc_217455_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 200.44 KB ]