Preparing for winter with housekeeping

Yes, yes, I know, you don't want to think about future snowstorms with all that this entails for the housekeeping attendant. We're not kidding ourselves, winter is tough for our sector of employment. Nevertheless, we have tools and cleaning products to make our lives easier. Don't delay in ordering, since some items will be harder to come by in a short period of time. So let's take a look at all these tools and products:

Collect the snow

Get out your shovels, sleds, and snowblower. The latter will help you remove the first snow of the morning. Afterward, a single shovel will suffice. Make sure you have a snowblower in excellent condition. Check that it's in good working order. And that you have gas to fill it up. You could also place your shovels near the front doors.

Suggested schedule? When you get home, run the snowblower past all your front doors. Then every 2 hours, or more if necessary.

Winter rugs

Remember this: Anything left on the carpets doesn't go on your floors. A quick vacuum only takes a few minutes. But refinishing floors requires several hours of work by three people. So, it's better to invest in good carpets. Besides, we're very lucky in Canada; we have an excellent carpet manufacturer: Les Mattech carpet are distributed by most distributors of household cleaning products, accessories, and equipment. Excellent service, excellent quality. These are the best I've purchased in my 35-year career.

Choosing the right rug in the right size

Be careful to choose the right mat sizes. First, they should cover the entire width of your entrance doors. Second, they should cover a large enough area so that people can dry their shoes naturally and sufficiently. Also, if you have elevators and a reception and security counter, the entrance mats should cover this area.

Mattech's entrance mats are available in a variety of colors. You can even have your company logo printed on them.

Also note that Mattech offers several mat options. Your choice will depend on where you want to place them, the dirt collected, and their purpose. For example, Mattech offers anti-fatigue mats for factory work. Also available are scraper mats (a must-have for your entrances) as well as conventional entrance mats. Note that Mattech has a tool to help you make the right choice.

By the way, by October, you should have your doormats installed in each of your entryways. There's a lot of rain in the fall, in addition to the falling leaves. Your doormats will save you a lot of time!

Necessary equipment

Get a voucher carpet extractor with rotating roller. You can easily remove accumulated water from the entrance mats and can also use this equipment to wash your mats. We recommend using the washing product formulated for calcium for your entrance mats as explained in the next point.

Additionally, I suggest you use a auto-scrubber to clean your floors. You'll be spoiled for choice now: Mini-scrubber, walk-behind scrubber, ride-on scrubber. Not only will you save a lot of time, but you'll also do a much better job since you'll always be cleaning your floor with clean water.

Washing product

Make sure you have the right cleaning product for your floors. You can use a pH-neutral product formulated to remove calcium. Most of these products are used with hot water, which helps dilute the calcium. If you continue to use your regular neutral cleaner, you may have to repeat the cleaning process several times to get a satisfactory result, as white streaks will remain.

Also note that this product can be used on floors as well as textiles such as carpets and even winter coats. I don't have one in particular to recommend. I will tell you that most laundry detergent distributors have at least one to recommend.

Here is an article on the same subject of which you will find a list of products that I recommend for their effectiveness

The organization of work

First of all, know that winter maintenance requires a good distribution of work. A routine covering all the work to be done during the week seems basic to me. CF Salubrité can help you establish work routes for each employee that are fair for everyone. We also have a good article on the subject washing frequency according to different types of buildings.

Ensure that all attendants understand the important washing products, accessories and equipment. This can be done during the housekeeping training that I suggest every year to housekeeping attendants and their supervisors. They will make better decisions because they are better informed.

In conclusion, preparing for winter is the best strategy. Make sure you're well-equipped and informed. You'll save energy, time, and be more efficient!

I wish you a wonderful snow year!