The Importance of Keeping Your Facility Restrooms Clean and Hygienic
A clean, well-maintained restroom in your office or facility promotes health and hygiene and reduces the spread of infection and disease. A clean restroom also signifies that you care about the health and well-being of your employees and anyone entering your facility. It is essential that the janitorial company you hire follow consistent restroom cleaning procedures and protocols for maximum efficacy and efficiency.
Microorganisms that cause disease can live on bathroom surfaces for up to a week or more. These microorganisms or pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi) can quickly multiply and spread from person to person, especially in a moist environment like a public restroom where many people are touching the same surfaces.
In order to ensure that your facility’s restrooms are clean and hygienic, they require a daily wipe down of frequently touched surfaces using a disinfectant solution with a broad-spectrum kill-claim along with a weekly deep cleaning that includes all surfaces, toilets, urinals, floors, sinks, dispensers, faucets, door handles, etc.
Pathogens
Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungus, and parasites. Microbes can be found everywhere – in the air; on food, plants, and animals; in soil and water, and on just about every other surface, including your body. Pathogens can be transmitted in several ways depending on the type. They can be spread through skin contact, bodily fluids, airborne particles, contact with feces, and touching a surface touched by an infected person.
Bacteria and viruses are common pathogens found in public restrooms:
Viruses – are biological agents that lack the ability to thrive and reproduce outside the cells of a living host. Viruses can affect your respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive systems, and the brain and liver. Examples of illnesses caused by viruses include Influenza (flu), the common cold, chickenpox and shingles, rubella, SARS, Ebola virus, AIDS, measles, STDs, and COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2.
Bacteria – are more complex organisms than viruses and don’t need a living host to thrive or reproduce. Not all bacteria are harmful. We carry bacteria in our gut which help digest food and destroy disease-causing organisms. Harmful bacteria can cause infections such as strep, MRSA, E. Coli, Salmonella, botulism, tuberculosis, and UTIs.
Infection occurs when bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that cause disease, enter your body and begin to multiply. These microbes thrive wherever they can find warmth, food, and moisture, and a primary environment where they thrive is a public restroom that gets a lot of traffic.
About bathroom bacteria and viruses
When we enter a public restroom, we all hope that it will be clean, hygienic, functional, and operational, but unfortunately, that’s not always the case. One study conducted by the American Society for Microbiology found traces of 77,990 bacteria and viruses in public restrooms.
Researchers also found within one hour of cleaning and disinfecting, bathrooms became contaminated again with microbes and fecal bacteria. Public restrooms can harbor so many microorganisms that it may not be possible to remove all contaminants. However, routine cleaning and disinfecting can significantly reduce illness-causing microorganisms.
In a Scientific American article, Rob Dunn stated that beginning in the 1960s, an entire field of science aimed to understand the story of bathroom bacteria. Within that research, it was revealed that:
- When you flush the toilet with the lid up, bacteria can rise to six feet into the air and land pretty much everywhere – also known as toilet plume
- Bacteria are present all over the bathroom (though they differ between wet versus dry places).
- Contrary to what you might think, toilet bowls don’t have that many bacteria.
The most contaminated surface in a public restroom is actually the sink rather than the toilet. Interestingly, among surfaces harboring bacteria, the toilet seat and toilet fell below the toilet paper dispenser, sidewalls, and trash can.
Hand-washing after using the restroom
Often overlooked, hand-washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourself from illness-causing germs and most infections. We’ve all been taught to wash our hands after using the restroom. But unfortunately for the rest of us, not everyone does.
We all know what we’re supposed to do after using the toilet. But survey after survey (including one in which scientists secretly camped out in bathrooms) has revealed a dirty truth: people don’t always wash their hands before they leave the bathroom. One study suggested that only 67% of people wash their hands after they go. Scientific research suggests that washing up after going to the bathroom, especially if you might have feces on your hands, is an effective way to combat infection and illness. “
People who use urinals probably think they don’t need to wash their hands,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, stated to the New York Times. But it’s best to always wash your hands after every trip to the toilet because human feces carry pathogens like E. coli, Shigella, Streptococcus, hepatitis A and E, and more.
Spending even five seconds washing your hands can help reduce the number of bacteria on them, but 20 seconds is better. The Centers for Disease Control recommends humming the Happy Birthday song to yourself twice as a timer. Also, make sure that you dry your hands before leaving the bathroom because wet hands transfer more bacteria than dry ones.
The takeaway
A reputable commercial cleaning company will know what cleaning chemicals to use in your restrooms to get rid of contaminants in and around the toilets, urinals, floors, sinks, dispensers, faucets, door handles, etc. With regular cleaning visits, you can keep your restrooms clean, hygienic, and safe for your employees and anyone entering your facility.
Why your office or facility needs Cleanstart
Cleanstart has been in the commercial cleaning and janitorial industry for over 27 years. We provide janitorial services for a wide range of businesses – large and small, including offices (office buildings), warehouses, gyms, industrial facilities, medical facilities, dental offices, churches, private clubs, entertainment venues, and more. We can customize a cleaning plan that’s tailored to your specific needs and schedule while minimizing downtime to your operations.
Daily, weekly and monthly cleaning visits are available as well as after-hour and one-time emergency cleaning visits. We guarantee our services and if for whatever reason, our 5-star quality cleaning service standard is not met, we will make it right by correcting the issue within one business day. Our professional cleaners are trained in the latest cleaning and disinfection best practices established by the CDC and WHO and observe all OSHA safety standards for COVID-19.
Our cleaning staff wears the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves from exposure to contaminants and cleaning chemicals, which are always used according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Our combination of proven processes, high standards, and uncompromising customer service take quality office cleaning and disinfecting services to the next level:
✓ Over 27 years in the cleaning and janitorial industry
✓ Professionally trained janitorial specialists
✓ Committed to the highest quality of clean
✓ Local, licensed, bonded & insured
✓ 24/7 cleaning options & support
✓ Customized cleaning solutions
✓ 100% satisfaction guarantee
✓ OSHA, HIPAA, EPA, CDC, AORN compliant
✓ A+ BBB-rating
If you are looking for an experienced and reputable commercial cleaning and janitorial service, you can count on the experts at Cleanstart. For more information about our quality services or to request a free estimate, please give us a call today at (253) 921-2593 or contact us online to request a free estimate.
Where we service in the PNW:
Auburn, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bonney Lake, Bremerton, Factoria, Fife, Gig Harbor, Kent, Lakewood, Olympia, Puyallup, Renton, Seattle, Tacoma, Tukwila, University Place, King County, Kitsap County, Pierce County, and Thurston County.
5013 Pacific Hwy E unit 16 Fife, WA 98424 • Phone: 253.921.2593 • Email: Caleb @ thecleanstart.com
