Keep Public Restrooms Clean with Steam

Ask just about anyone what comes to mind when they think of public restrooms and the answer will probably be words like “gross” “disgusting” “germy” and “nasty.” Some public restrooms are better maintained than others but the reality is, multiple people using a restroom in one day is bound to lead to some germs being spread. Mental Floss elaborates on just how dirty public restrooms are, “To understand the bathroom environment, researchers examined the microbial makeup of the floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers at four different restrooms—two female and two male—at San Diego State University. First, the brave researchers cleaned the bathrooms; then they took samples from the various surfaces, first hourly and then daily for eight weeks.

They analyzed the various germs found in each area. Unsurprisingly, they discovered that fecal bacteria flooded the bathrooms first.  “When you flush the toilet it goes airborne and spreads these viruses throughout the bathroom,” Michael Schmidt, professor and vice chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina, told HealthDay… The cool, dry, oxygen-rich public bathroom turns out to be terrible at fostering bacterial growth, and fecal bacteria quickly die, accounting only for 15 percent of the germs in a public toilet. However, bacteria that thrive on skin tend to weather hostile environments better and these make up the majority of bacteria discovered in the WC… The researchers most commonly found Staphylococcus, a genus of gram-positive bacteria that reside on skin and mucous membranes.”

There are a lot of reasons that many public restrooms look dirty often but one of the main reasons is that it is impractical to be constantly in there doing a deep clean multiple times per day. There just is not enough time to shut down a bathroom for a prolonged cleaning session during the day when multiple people need to use the restroom. One of the most effective and practical solutions to this problem is steam cleaning. Not only is steam cleaning far more effective than chemical cleaning products, but it is quicker and easier to use. The problem with public restrooms is that there are a lot of areas to clean – in and around the toilet, the stalls, the floors, the counter, around the trash can and many other locations. And all of those locations are not just flat, simple to clean surfaces but have small crevices and difficult to reach places which chemical cleaners often miss. Further, chemical cleaners cannot get into cracks and crevices to lift and remove bacteria – but steam cleaners can. Steam cleaners can clean porous and non-porous surfaces and get into the tiniest of crevices to lift, remove and clean up to 99% of bacteria. Also, chemical cleaners leave behind a biofilm that is impossible to see but actually contain pathogens that are harmful. Steam cleaners clean with just the power of water heated to such a high degree that it produces a steam that is capable of superior disinfection without leaving behind a biofilm. Steam cleaning is the ultimate cleaning tool for public restrooms, making the process quick, easy and effective so that they look clean and fresh instead of germy and gross.

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