Cleantrader New Zealand

Take a little time

2011-11-21T11:01:00.001+13:00

I have noticed over the years of selling cleaning products that many people just don't bother to read the instructions on chemical cleaners they purchase. Now I am not talking about you of course, as I am sure you do, but many don't and I believe that is an unwise practice. Manufacturers generally provide valuable information on the label as to how to use their product for the best result and also how to meet legislative requirements on safety issues.

Here are some good reasons to read the instructions before you start using any chemical cleaner.

1) You can assure your personal safety
2) You can learn how to clean better with less effort
3) You can save yourself time and money
4) And this one can be the biggie - You can avoid damaging property whether it be yours or your customers.

Remember that when you leave the premises of your cleaning products supplier they have no control over how you will use the product just purchased, that responsibility is yours.

I have just done a test.
I read the entire "How to Use" directions on a 5 litre pack of floor polish stripper.
It took 36 seconds.

Perhaps all cleaners should take a little time today too.

Hotel room odours

2011-07-21T12:53:00.001+12:00

I think it is probably fair to say that most accommodation suppliers have trouble with smelly guest rooms from time to time. You may have even had the unfortunate experience of staying in one. Usually the cause is nothing to do with how well the housemaid has serviced the room but just residual smells from previous guests activities being caught in the fabrics, textiles and other surfaces of the room.

Cigarettes have in the past been the main culprit in causing odours that are hard to remove. As many countries are introducing anti smoking legislation for health reasons I would expect this must also be assisting hoteliers to reduce room odours on a daily basis.

Unfortunately however tobacco smoke odours will be around for some time yet and there are still other odours such as residual cooking smells that can spoil the next guests stay. Help is at hand.

There is now a new product available that can freshen a room almost instantly.
The product is called Fabric & Upholstery Refreshener and is from the Gleemex range of aerosols.

Despite its long name this product is a really good quality deodoriser and is very easy to use. To treat a room the product is sprayed on fabric surfaces like chair backs, curtains, headboards etc. The spray will appear as a foam which quickly breaks and sinks in to the fabric overpowering the odour instantly. Natural enzymes continue working to clean away deeply embedded odours over time. Reducing airflow by closing windows and doors will assist the product to do it's job. There is no need to delay guests from entering a treated room.

For more information or to obtain this product please contact the Gleemex Distributor in Auckland, NZ
or phone 09 820 4969 for your nearest outlet.

Steam Mops in the Home

2011-01-02T13:43:00.003+13:00

I would like to make a comment about the steam floor mops that seem to be the latest Cleaning fad at present. The reason being that I really do wonder about the performance being claimed for these mops.

For example some say their mop has 1500 watts of steam power. Well that is about the same size as our steam iron for clothes at home. Going by their claims I only need to iron my shirts without first washing them in future. Somehow I don't think that is likely to give me a clean shirt. So what is the likely performance of the steam mop on a well soiled floor in a family home? I suspect the microfibre cover will need to be changed quite often to get the best result.

One TV advt I saw had a graphic that showed the steam penetrating deep in to the floor surface which in my opinion is quite an unnecessary exaggeration, however a customer did tell me that when she held her steam mop in one position for too long the hot water made the varnish on her wood floor go milky white. Not a desired result I suspect.

So although I am not saying these steam mop tools are a bad thing, I do think you need to consider what you are trying to clean before you purchase. For example is it just one person in a small apartment that you are cleaning for or is it a family of 4 with pets that will make considerably more floor soil to deal with?

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a magic wand for cleaning. There are of course many floor cleaning tools on the market that may make your floor appear cleaner, but in reality often just spread much of the soil thinner, gradually causing a build up which generally goes light brown over time.

For more information on floor cleaning you could go here http://www.cleanclub.co.nz/articles/default.asp

We welcome your feedback or comments.

Kriston Hygiene New Showroom image update

2010-12-30T17:54:00.000+13:00

The new showroom is finally complete now with the roof signage installed.
Lets hope Google update their Street View image soon cos there has been quite
a few changes since their camera car went bye.

Washing the House exterior was so easy

2010-11-21T16:55:00.002+13:00

Washing the house exterior is a job I tend to put off till about this time of the year.
I usually clean the walls using my 1450psi waterblaster but this time I decided to try
out another option.

The exterior cladding on our home is mostly painted concrete plaster with painted wood
panels and trims and ceramic floor tiles on the covered deck area.
During the Winter everything tends to get a bit grey and dull from the city air and needs a spruce up.

The method I used this time was to first put about 50mls of Titan Green cleaner concentrate into a bucket of about 6L of tap water. Then using a soft fill brush on my extension handle I would dip the brush in the Titan solution before brushing over everything from the roof spouting down to the ground, doing a section at a time. This Titan Green really is a great cleaning product because as I went I could see the soil being easily loosened by the brush . Then it was just a matter of using the garden hose to jet the loosened soil off the surfaces.

Now the house looks fresh and clean again and ready for the holiday season.

Using the brush and Titan Green method took less time than using the waterblaster, did a better job and my arms don't ache from holding up it's heavy gun and hose.

To do this job I used -
Titan Green Biodegradable Cleaner and Degreaser concentrate.
A good quality 250mm soft fill brush to apply the cleaner to the surface.
Two extension handles to use with the brush. One extending to 3m for most of the work and another to 7m as our house is on a partial basement and quite high in places.
A bucket.
An adjustable trigger spray gun on the garden hose.
A warm sunny day.

Titan Green is available in New Zealand.
Contact the NZ agent for your nearest distributer or phone 09 820 4968.

Hotel Recycling Tips - What works for you?

2010-10-16T22:33:00.001+13:00

Recycling is a great idea and we should promote the option wherever practical.

However if the full cycle is not assured before you start on a project then it may not be wise to start at all. Expense and resources involved in setting up and maintaining a cycle can be quite large and may not always be offset by the perceived value of the recycle. Will you be able to sell the sorted items or will you have to pay to have them taken away?

Keep in mind that until the waste has actually been made into something new then it could be argued that no recycling has taken place.

One of the early stumbling blocks to a successful Recycle is simply the number of people

and / or steps in the cycle that must be repetitively performed correctly to achieve a usable resource. There has to be a “buy in” to the idea by everyone in the cycle and the method should be as simple as possible using equipment that makes recycling easy.

Take the current trend of Hotels wishing to recycle the waste from the guest rooms. Most of us would say this is an excellent idea. However there is considerable expense setting up multi cavity bins in each room. If the guest does go for the idea, then there is the ongoing maintenance and labour of servicing those bins. There must be good physical control of the often tiny quantities of multiple recyclable items from the room each day which then must be consolidated to be sent out of the hotel and on to an accredited recycler. Don’t forget to check and see if your City waste collector will accept mixed recyclables or you could buy multi cavity bins unnecessarily.

An alternative approach could be to provide centrally placed recycle bins in the common area on each floor so the guest has to take their recyclables to the bin. When they do this the fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing will be intensified and so they are more likely to do it better and more often. Glass, cans and newspapers may suit this method as plastics may be soiled. Guests who decline to take their recyclables out probably weren’t going to sort it in the room either, so their regular in room bin can automatically be classified as general waste and kept out of the recycle stream as a first step in quality assurance. Room attendants would be able to direct all their energies to servicing the room without recycling distractions.

Other features of this method are that:

1) The set up cost is quite possibly less than “in room” bins and larger more robust bins
(stainless steel) could be used which will often compliment your décor.

2) The actual sorting of the waste is likely to be much more accurate and more easily correctable. Servicing of the bins will take less labour and can be at any time of the day that suits the Hotel.

3) I suspect the annual quantity (kg’s) of bin liner bags used would be considerably less and there may be the option to reuse the Paper bin liner bag too.

4) Stainless steel waste bins although generally having a long in service life, do have a residual recyclable value as a valuable scrap metal.

Which liner bag to use?

The base material options for bin liner bags are Degradable plastic, Corn starch based, Virgin plastic and Recycled plastic. Each type has their uses in the right situation.

The Corn starch and Degradable are the most expensive and I feel should only be used where it can be shown that they are not just extra expense for little or no return to the user or the environment. Virgin plastic is usually used for clear, white or opaque bags, is more expensive than black bags and may be a recyclable material.

Bags made from recycled material, usually black, are probably the most cost effective and have actually completed the recycle path that we started with.

Aerosols are not a threat to the world

2010-09-11T17:21:00.004+12:00

If you still believe that aerosols are a threat to the environment then
you may relax right now as the CFC ingredients have been banned for some years.

The product driver is now commonly LPG which although a flammable gas, is quite a
harmless way to push the product out of the can. Nitrogen is also becoming

quite a common product driver these days and it has the added benefit of being non flammable too.

Aerosols are a great way to package so many products.
Cleaning products packed this way can be very
economical in use as we tend to just push the button once
whereas if we are using the same product packed in a trigger
bottle we cant help ourselves - we just have to keep pulling that trigger.

Another plus for aerosol cans is that they are usually steel or aluminium and both are fully recyclable.

Product Review: Metal cleaners and tarnish removers

2010-07-26T11:38:00.001+12:00

I am becoming a fan of specialty cleaners that will perform on a range of
surface materials for a targeted cleaning task.

For example a product launched recently from Gleemex is their Metal Cleaner & Tarnish Remover.
Packed in an easy to use aerosol can this product works really well producing a nice shine on originally bright metal surfaces without too much effort.

I have tested it on Silver, Brass, Copper and Stainless Steel with really good results. I believe it is also effective on Chrome and Aluminium. In my experience one product to clean 6 different metal surfaces is unusual, but is surely a welcome feature.

More details can be found here

Office Hygiene

2010-07-20T15:01:00.003+12:00

In the news today - Dr Charles Gerba a microbiologist from the US is in New Zealand advising employers on easy ways of reducing staff sick days this Winter.

He is promoting the regular sanitising of work surfaces with disinfecting wipes as it has been shown to reduce sickness in groups of office workers by up to 30 per cent and by considerably more in school classrooms.

Unsurprisingly his research has shown that the phone and the desktop are the most unsanitary items in the office.

I would add door knobs, washroom taps and your Courier's electronic receipt pad to that list too.

It seems a shame that our Kiwi microbiologists, who I am sure are fully qualified to advise on the subject,
are not providing us with this everyday information for public health. So often the "expert" is promoted as the guy from somewhere overseas but I believe our local specialists are just as good if not better.

Magic cloths (microfiber) can clean with water only – no nasty chemicals needed.

2010-07-18T21:51:00.001+12:00

Microfibre is really great cleaning tool and it is correct the good quality

microfiber cloths can clean away a lot of soil without using chemicals.

However if you are cleaning an area that you would normally use a sanitizer

or disinfectant I recommend that you continue as the cloth can’t kill the bugs.

Microfibre will vastly improve the quality of clean as the fibres act more

aggressively on the surface but that is all.

New to Cleaning - Here's a tip.

2010-04-11T22:17:00.002+12:00

If you are just starting out with a cleaning business I offer you this tip.

Your material costs probably wont exceed 3% of your total cleaning
costs so don't get too hung up on the cost in use. It is much better to
choose top quality cleaners and equipment that will give you excellent
results with a lower labour input. The cheapest cleaning liquids can often
mean you just have to work harder to produce a satisfactory finish.
Hope this helps.

See http://www.kriston.co.nz/

Mystery Shopper to start 2010

2010-01-15T21:31:00.001+13:00

Last weekend we had the pleasure of a mystery shopper
at our showroom.

Unfortunately they brought rocks to break the window,
damaged some stock and stole my computer.

The cops say they have a good idea who it was so lets hope
they pounce on them soon.

Google says yes they are!

2009-11-01T15:19:00.003+13:00

I have just had a look at the Google analytic report for
October and guess what people are actually
reading this blog. Not a lot I hear you say.
Well yes OK, but hey some is better than none.
Thanks to all.

Cleantrader.

Kriston Hygiene has a new location

2009-10-09T21:18:00.004+13:00

Kriston Hygiene has recently moved their
warehouse and showroom to:
Unit D
4 Charann Place
Avondale.
The phone number is (09) 820 4968
Showroom hours: 8.15am to 4.30pm weekdays.
Eftpos available.
Customer parking.

There is a link to a map of the new premises
on http://www.kriston.co.nz/

Daylight Saving start = Barbeque time

2009-09-27T20:23:00.002+13:00

The start of the Daylight Saving season signals the
start of our Summer so we decided to have a
barbeque dinner tonight. I wonder how many
others found a few surprises today when they
pulled the cover off the BBQ for the first time
since last Summer?

E Day 2009

2009-09-12T22:33:00.004+12:00

What a great idea E day is.
We have had 3 old computers with monitors and printers
sitting in the warehouse for ages just waiting for the
next E day. They were duly delivered to the
collection point this morning and I actually felt a
sense of relief afterwards not having to have sent them to the
landfill.

Kriston Hygiene on the Move

2009-08-22T23:39:00.004+12:00

Yes it's true.
After 15 years at the same location Kriston Hygiene
is moving to a new address. The new warehouse is only
about 7 minutes by car from the existing warehouse and
has a Northerly aspect which should prove popular
for Winter warmth of staff and Customers, unlike
the current address.

We will have more details here as they become available.

Good on yer Dad

2009-08-14T23:57:00.003+12:00

A Dad came in to the shop today and purchased
a set of window cleaning tools for his 16 year old son.
Bought the good stuff too.
Apparently his son and several mates are trying to find
casual work, as teenagers do, but he has managed to
convince his boy to have a go at window cleaning.
Got his first contract. Looking for more.
Great stuff.

Outdoor Smokers beware

2009-07-14T16:07:00.007+12:00

Got a tip from a customer recently about wall mounted ashtrays.
He was having some issues with smokers in an entrance to a large
building downtown.

He said to me with a twinkle in his eye "When you mount an ashtray
on a wall in a public area always make sure it is a little above
hip height"

"Why is that?" I asked.

" Well when the drunks come bye at about two in the morning they
often like to kick shiny things. When they kick something above
hip height they tend to miss and end up flat on their back.
Seems to put them off a bit"

This has to be one of those yalearnsomethingeveryday moments.

Cleantrader

See a hip high Outdoor ashtray http://www.kriston.co.nz/items.asp?category=63

Keeping the head above water

2009-06-25T14:00:00.009+12:00

Well here we are. You found us. This is our first blog and we do intend to post regularly so keep an eye on http://cleanclub.blogspot.com/

Like everyone else NZ is right in the middle of this recession and quite a lot of people have
unfortunately lost their jobs.

Been there, done that, about 25 years ago when all the import tariffs and Duty on imported audio gear started to be removed and that caused many redundancies in the local electronics manufacturing industry where I was working at the time.

Looking back now that was the catalyst needed to get me off my butt and become self employed,
something I had often talked about but never done, probably mostly because of the safety of a monthly pay cheque.

If you are looking for a business idea at low entry cost see the featured article at http://www.cleanclub.co.nz/

Cheers
Cleantrader.