Industrial facilities and factories can be dirty and hazardous environments, with machines and equipment often generating grease, oil, dust, and other contaminants. Properly cleaning and maintaining these facilities is crucial for maintaining the health and safety of employees, as well as for ensuring the longevity and functionality of the machinery.
However, not all commercial cleaning products are created equal, and using the wrong ones can cause damage to equipment, pose risks to worker health, and even lead to fines and legal liabilities. In this article, we will explore the importance of using the right cleaning products for your industrial facility or factory, and provide guidance on how to choose the best options for your specific needs.
Owners and managers of industrial facilities (including factories) are faced with many decisions. From production targets through to compliance with Health & Safety regulations and then keeping the factory clean at all times. Factory cleaning can often be a daunting task, often being put to the bottom of the priority list. However, it can impact all aspects of your business. When it comes to factory cleaning, using appropriate commercial cleaning products is paramount to ensure that your facility is cleaned effectively and thoroughly.
APT have been manufacturing industrial strength, heavy-duty cleaning products for over 30 years. Our products are super-concreted, eco-friendly and made my consultant chemists. Compliance with regulations is paramount, so our products comply with ISO & British Standards. Whether you’re operating a heavy-industry production facility, or food & beverage factory, our products are designed for use in all environments.
We have no doubt that our commercial cleaning products will save you time, money and stress.
Industrial plant and equipment will inevitably become oily and greasy, trapping airborne particles which, over time to coat your high value assets in grime. Even though the most important parts of the mechanism are sealed and protected, there is no guarantee that this grime won’t be transferred accidentally to places it should not be where potentially it can cause a breakdown.
Some companies believe that they can save on money by using their own maintenance crew for specialised cleaning jobs – give them a pressure washer and a couple of 25 litre containers of industrial degreaser and send them out to clean floors, walls, roof, plant and machinery. This is false economy because a pressure washer can cause a lot of damage when used inappropriately. There are much less damaging yet more effective cleaning methods available including soda blasting, dry ice blasting and our own specially designed super-heated steam cleaning system – all of which require high levels of training to get the best out of them.
Then there are the small matters of high level access and H&S. You will need cherry pickers, scissor lifts and other specialised equipment to allow safe access at height. For those jobs that are too high to be reached using hoisting machinery, a rope access team will be required.
Ultraclean MB – Ultimate Cleaner & Degreaser
Bi-Active – Disinfectant & Hard Surface Cleaner
Ultramax 2020 – Industrial Degreaser
Dirt and grime can enter your factory via many routes for example being trodden in on workers’ shoes, dropping off palettes or stillages that have been stored outside for weeks or months, blowing in through doors and so on. This can pose a significant danger to your workforce, especially when it is wet. This can lead to employees slipping and perhaps being injured, necessitating time off work and even leading to a claim against the company. Regular maintenance cleaning of the factory floor by factory cleaning specialists could prevent this, saving the company thousands in the long term.
Hygiene in a food processing or manufacturing facility is a critical factor. If you get it wrong, you could be faced with heavy fines and a lengthy shut down. Not only is there dirt from outside your food factory to consider, there are also food residues (uncooked and cooked), blood, oils, fats, bacteria and viruses that have to be dealt with.
Just making sure that you use the right products is a headache, but you need to use the right techniques and equipment to clean your floors, walls, conveyors, work surfaces, ovens and other machinery. Juggling this with the day to day running of the factory is stressful and time consuming. Leave us to support you with professional commercial cleaning products.
Astute managers will call in a professional food factory cleaning company. Why? Because they have the right equipment, the appropriate cleaning products and trained personnel to carry out the cleaning quickly and efficiently. Using your own maintenance team can be difficult as they will generally need micro-managing to ensure that cleaning is very thorough. A professional cleaning company like ourselves, however, will simply come in at a time that is the least disruptive to your daily routine and simply get on with what is needed.
Sodakleen – Heavy Duty Degreaser
Hi-Drocleanse – Food Safe Hard Surface Cleaner & Sanitiser
A recent internal pre-audit identified several key areas in need of attention these included high level commercial cleaning, deep cleaning, stain removal and cleaning of heavily soiled areas left dirty by the recent equipment installations. APT met with the client to understand their remit for the works we then carried out a full survey of the production areas and recommended the most cost effective options to cover all the commercial deep cleaning of equipment, the high level cleaning and deep cleaning of the heavily soiled production machinery.
After agreeing a health and safety plan and suitable work schedule to minimise disruption to production we used our own commercial cleaning equipment, hiring in some specialist lift access platforms.
We used APT UltraMax 2020to clean, degrease and sanitise all the surfaces including cold room wall panels, non-slip safety flooring, ceiling panels, all steel work, extractor and pipe work. We also used 2020 degreaser to disperse and remove the staining from wall and floor panels in the production areas. We descaled the lime scale staining from the stainless steel panels with APT Phos Clean, our industrial food plant descaler.
APT carried out the deep cleaning to the factory to a high standard and within the timescale set by the client. After liaising with the client’s plant managers several proposals were made for future ongoing maintenance cleaning. One was the use of Ultraclean MB food safe cleaner and sanitiser as a single source cleaner to replace several other cleaning products previously used. The client now continues to use APT Ultraclean MB degreaser and cleaner for all cleaning.
“Our Audit was great, we achieved a Grade A. We are definitely going to purchase the Ultraclean MB going forward, we just need to start with the verification and change of procedures.”
In conclusion, using the right commercial cleaning products is crucial for maintaining the health and safety of employees and ensuring the longevity and functionality of machinery in industrial facilities and factories. APT offers a wide range of super-concentrated and eco-friendly commercial cleaning products that comply with ISO & British Standards. These products can effectively and thoroughly clean heavy-industry production facilities, food & beverage factories, and all other environments. Proper maintenance cleaning of factory floors and other surfaces can prevent hazards and save companies thousands in the long term.
To maintain hygiene in food processing and manufacturing facilities, it’s best to call in a professional food factory cleaning company that has the right equipment, appropriate commercial cleaning products, and trained personnel to carry out the cleaning quickly and efficiently. Trust APT’s 30 years of experience in manufacturing industrial-strength commercial cleaning products to provide the best solutions for your cleaning needs. Contact our team today.
