Remove Grout Stains With Ease

Remove Grout Stains With Ease

Over time, your tiles will eventually stain. Even with consistent cleaning, little by little, you will notice grout start to form. Once it forms, your walls and floors will never look completely clean. Removing the grout does not require the use of strong chemicals which can actually cause more damage than good. Instead, you can make a mixture out of baking soda to remove those stubborn stains. Simply mix 3 quarts baking soda and 1 quart water, and mix to make a paste. You can use a brush to them clean the tiles or a toothbrush for more precision. Use whatever will allow you to scrub the paste into the grout better. Then rinse and clean. Depending on how much or how deep the grout is, you may need to repeat a few days in a row for best results. For those who are not comfortable having to deep clean their tiles or have already tried and the tiles still don’t sparkle like new again, it may be time to hire a commercial cleaning service. Since these types of jobs are their specialty, you can be assured that they will be equipped to handle the job saving you time and possibly your back.

Charles Cestaro
Servco Industries
877-4-SERVCO
http://www.servcoind.com/

National Contract Management Companies and it’s Toll On Cleaning

Call me bitter if you say this is an article more related to sour grapes. But as you read abit further, you will see much of this is not just factual, but in some respects the death of the janitorial industry. Some 38 years ago I first got my start in the janitorial industry as a window cleaner working for then a company called Maximum Maintenance which was located in the Morris Park section of the Bronx. Little did I know that the summer job I was forced to take by my dad would later turn into a thriving janitoral business, servicing commercial clients that ranged from office complexes and retail malls to shopping centers and medical facilities.

Over the course of the years, I have learned a lot about the industry and it has evolved in ways I never though could happen. From the early days of paste wax and steel wool hand rolled pads used with 175 RPM single disk machines to now propane buffers and battery powered ride on scrubbers. From buffing 1,000 square feet per hour to 10,000 square feet per hour the cleaning industry was on the move.
In those earlier times, what would once took a ten men crew to get a then Caldor’s Department Store cleaned is now done with one third the labor. Today’s ride on equipment and the new thermoplastic finishes have changed the industry and production rates all for the positive. Floorcare over the last 20 years has grown up and become sofisticated. A two man team today can sweep, scrub and burnish a 40,000 square foot retail store with ease and do a great job in the process. Because of these industry nuiance corporations that employ the services of commercial cleaning contractors began to reep the rewards. Because of this, as well as new equipment and chemicals, retail box stores were getting better services then ever at a fraction of the cost. It was not long before these executives began to realize that they could buy down the cost of these services if they hired the companies on the cutting edge of who was using the newest technologies. It makes sense and for an organization to buy a service at the best price possible but there comes a point where it can go to far. No one ever wants to overpay.

As a contractor that provided these services, I’ve worked hard at developing strategic relationships with area managers and district managers in hopes of earning there business. Back in those earlier times, store managers, facility mangers and district managers were responsible for their stores upkeep and budgeted costs. It really was timing and a little strategy walking in to offer the services of your company knowing in advance the decisioon maker was going to be there that day. Often one store done well would result in a second and so on down the line. We grew our business through relationships, a hand shake and the fact that the owner was there when they needed him.

Today much of this has changed. Over the last 20 years, National Contract Management firms have taken over and to some extent they have destroyed the industry. Today’s business model is a company in the cleaning business that does not even own a broom but cleans 3,000 retail stores. It’s a spreadsheet with numbers compiled to entice the already cash starved retailer. How does this happen, you may ask? How and why would a company retain a company in California to clean a mall in Texas or Canada?
Well many companies realize that by offering larger segments of their business, they can expect deeper discounts, one stop shopping and one invoice to process. So now instead of 60 companys maintaining 2,500 stores and processing 425 invoices and checks, its all done with one contractor, one invoice, one check and one person to call when there is a problem. There is a cost involved with expediting paper and sometimes it can be very costly not to mention time consuming.
But there is another cost they may not be aware of. It’s a hidden cost in the loss of customers. Sometimes the quality of work performed and the response time for a National Vendor in California to get an account executive up to New York to deal with an issue is not always a fast trun around. This is primarily because the National Management Firm hires the local contractor to do the work for 20 to 35% than they are getting paid. These companies that maintain potentially thousands of stores sometimes give their managers up to 300 stores to manage in various states. They provide their services by hiring local mom and pop type small janitorial companies that are eager to earn the new business. Primarily because many of them have no business!!! But these companies hired often lack experience, have undocumented workers and even worse at times, no insurance. This not only leaves the National Vendor exposed but also the retail chain that hires them.
But in many instances, the services lack the personal touch you would expect from the guy around the corner that earned your business and even shops in your store. He knows your traffic pattern and in most cases he or she is intimate with the community and the mangers and district managers. I can’t tell you over the 40 years in this industry that a family member walked in to a store I was maintaining and suggested I drop by to investigate the quality of services my men were providing. When you have a complaint, you get the owner of a company local and not a manager who is managing a vendor who is being under-compensated for the services they are performing.

About ten years ago, I worked for a very prestigious home center chain (name withheld ofcourse). I provided cleaning services for approximately 25 of there busiest New York Stores. We took pride in these stores and there overall happiness was number one to my company and managers.

Well today, they are being cleaned by three national companies, each of them with several hundred stores. In every store, no matter where I travel you will find these home centers absolutely filthy. Not one have I seen that did not have filthy restrooms that lacked paper products. Almost evey restroom with a fowl odor, in some cases requiring you to hold your breath!
So what was to gain by making such a radical change and removing Servco Industries or any other vendor in the same situation? When I lost the contract, I remember the purchasing agent telling me that my company was more hourly then the national firm. The savings was a whopping $2,096.64 per store per year. Now I,m not suggesting that the savings multiplied by thousands of stores does not sound enticing, but why could they not negotiate that .33 cents per hour differance? And what about the clients that shopped in that store and will never return because there child was subjected to a restroom that smells similar to raw sewerage. Was it worth the $36.96 per week savings?

I do think the industry will eventually change and return to local vendors working locally, but that will happen slowly as the death of the retailer finally levels off and a new breed emerges.
In the end, there is always a cost involved. I think that companies should dramatically scale back the amount of stores they give to a vendor and if your are inclined to use a management company, try to select one that is in your state or a close neighboring one. When the smoke clears, you may lose more in customers than you saved in cleaning costs.

Charles Cestaro
Servco Industries
charlescestaro@servcoind.com
877 4 SERVCO

Floorcare and Foul Weather Matting

I think one of the most overlooked items by many individuals today when it comes to floor care is controlling the dirt that enters there store or office building. The majority of the filt that deteriorates your entrances and lobbies are caused by what is under the shoes of visitors and workers. As the owner of Servco Industries for the last almost 35 years, I fully understand and have coached many retail store managers and facility managers on how to keep there buildings looking its best.

When we think of the elements carried under our shoes it is no mystery as to why we have a tough time keeping our floors brilliant in appearance without restoration work. Stripping and waxing of floors and carpet extraction is an expensive and messy proposition. Eliminating the frequencies of these types of services have always been a key ingredient with cutting costs. Items like chewing gum, tar, grease, sand and rock salt all play havoc in keeping floors in pristine condition.  A simple preventive solution is trapping as much of this dirt prior to it getting inside your facility.  Often walk off mats, or better known as foul weather matting can dramatically reduce the amount of dirt and foreign matter from entering a retail center or lobby.

When foul weather mats are utilized during inclimate weather, maintenace cost for restoration work decreases because the dirt is trapped on the carpets and not on floor’s surface. Mats are often overlooked and even when used, it is rarely used properly to maximize the results. Placing mats at entrances is crucial but allowing it to sit on the floor sopping wet and never picked up can be even worse then no matting at all. Your cleaning contractor should be exchanging the matting with a spare set you have left for them.  In between those cycles, while the mats are exchangesd they need to be dried and then vacuumed and extracted in prepartaion for the next swap. Each building or entrance should typically have 3 sets of foul weather mats. They should have a rubber backing to prevent them from sliding around under peoples feet as they walk across them.

Another helpful solution is keeing the outside entrances freshly swept and free of debris, rock salt and sand. This is particularly important during winter months in climates where snow treatments are used. It is typically thrown eveywhere on sidewalks and parking lots in over abundance.  Regular sweeping and periodic hosing or pressure washing these areas will stop the dirt from entering your building. We teach our cleaners here at Servco Industries to always sweep the exterior of the building each day to prevent these destructive particles from getting dragged under eveyones shoes and shopping cart wheels. Even worse when these particles get under the high speed propane burnishers they powder the finish, resulting in dusty fixtures caused by powdering floor finish. Your cleaning contractor or in-house cleaners should always be sure that clean pads  be used in conditions where abrassive items are potentially on the areas to be cleaned.  Curb appeal is an important ingredient and those that vist your building or shopping center will surely notice trash pails overflowing and a sidewalk with enough sand to start a private beach. Often many shoppers judge there shopping experiance based on the conditions of the floors and upkeep of restrooms. Don’t give them a reason not to return!

Good maintenace programs start with preventive maintemnace programs. If you want to know more about how we can help you keep your facility clean please contact me at charlescestaro@servcoindustries.com or vist us ar http://www.servcoind.com/

Choosing The Right Cleaning Contractor

There is much thought that should go into choosing the proper cleaning contractor to clean your office or shopping center. With the competition as fierce as it is today, pricing often dictates the company that is often choosen. But is this the proper way to find the right company? The answer is unquestionably no!

Companies that we call “low ballers” often put no thought into the actual needs of your facility. There goal is to get the job and hope that you as the customer will not hold them to the expected level of services. The right company will ask the proper questions about your facility, as well as staffing and expectations. Cleaning packages come in various sizes which consists of the most basic cleaning to detailed and highly managed programs. The so called “low ballers” often will use undocumented, non skilled labor and this can be a major problem and concern.

Since commercial office cleaning often requires over night cleaning when your office is closed many unexpected problems can occur. Poor cleaning is the least of your headaches when you consider the security of your office or building can be at risk.

Knowing who is cleaning your office is a key element. Some basic questions that should be asked are.

• What has been the contractors history and time in this industry?
• Do they do background checks on their staff.
• Who will have your keys and what training does he do with his staff to adress the responsibility that comes along with having them?
• What accounts do they presently service similar to your business?
• What are the limits of insurance and who is the carrier?
• Do they have a fidelity bond against theft?
• What training methods do they employ?

Answering these questions of course still holds no guarantee, but it gives you some insight into who this vendor is and what is his history. Choose a contractor that has been in this business for five years or more. Often that eliminates many of the problems that come along with fly by night unexperienced contractors. For 35 years, as the owner of Servco Industries I have witnessed first hand the problems associated with purchasing services strictly on pricing.

Don’t buy by price! Make the right choice by asking the right questions. There are competitive, honest contractors that can do the job at a reasonable price and give you piece of mind. Try to get three quotes and when one stands out as signicantly less know there is a reason.

Don’t make a costly mistake and risk the security, records and cleanliness of your facility. Lastly, ask one of your friends who they currently use to clean and often if they are having success with there vendor you will as well. If you want to know more about this topic please email charlescestaro@servcoind.com