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Hardly any other industry has to deal with such a large flow of customers and goods. In a supermarket, every type of dirt you can imagine is produced. In addition to the street dirt brought into the market by the many customers, it is not unusual for something to fall down and leave greasy dirt behind. Cleaning with water alone is not sufficient here, as water and grease do not mix. For this reason, simple all-purpose and household cleaners contain soaps.
Many manufacturers try to get around the soap problem by relying on highly alkaline products, which have a high pH and are therefore strong, caustic alkalis. These products do not contain soaps themselves. However, these are formed during the cleaning process by saponification of fatty contaminants.
Products with a pH value significantly above 12 have a skin corrosive effect. This significantly increases the requirements for protective equipment. Normal disposable gloves, for example, are then no longer sufficient. In practice, the necessary protective measures can hardly be implemented; who wants to put on “full protection” every time just to fill the cleaning machine?
Another problem with highly alkaline cleaning agents is that they are not only corrosive to the skin but also to the material in the long run. When cleaning with a scrubber-dryer, a minimal amount of residual moisture always remains on the floor covering. The water evaporates and the alkaline components concentrate, leaving a highly corrosive solution just before it dries completely. The corrosive effect is so great that so-called “glass corrosion” occurs, as is known from the advertising for dishwasher tabs. The result is a dull and dirt-prone surface.
The limescale problem and the resulting greying of the porcelain stoneware is conventionally countered by regular (e.g. twice weekly) acidic intermediate cleaning. In practice, however, this is hardly feasible, since even the correct application of a product presents a certain challenge with frequently changing cleaning personnel. In addition, acidic cleaning agents are usually less effective on non-mineral soiling.
Some manufacturers try to compensate for the poor cleaning performance of their products with environmentally harmful or even toxic ingredients such as solvents. Sooner or later, such substances enter the food cycle and end up on our plates! Often a look at the back of the detergent canister will help. If there are warning signs such as “toxic” or even “hazardous to water”, these products should not be used for daily maintenance cleaning – for the sake of your employees and the environment!
So which cleaning agent is the right one for cleaning porcelain stoneware floors in food retailing?
We recommend the haid-tec® porcelain stoneware cleaner for cleaning porcelain stoneware floors in the food retail trade. In the development of the haid-tec® porcelain stoneware cleaner, we have dispensed with soaps and instead use high-tech surfactants.
The high-tech surfactants
The cleaning effect of the high-performance surfactants is supported by the alkaline setting of the haid-tec® porcelain stoneware cleaner. It is not subject to labelling. Another important component of our porcelain stoneware cleaner are special complexing agents. These ensure that the lime from the water and dissolved dirt remain in solution and cannot adhere to the floor covering.
We deliberately avoid environmentally harmful or even toxic ingredients in our porcelain stoneware cleaner. It has been awarded the European Ecolabel for the third time in a row*. However, this does not mean that it is less effective – on the contrary. In order to be awarded the European eco-label, a cleaning product must prove in a test by an independent testing institute that it is equally or better effective than a comparative product that has a greater impact on the environment.
Soap cleaners and highly alkaline cleaning products will damage your flooring in the long run. The haid-tec® porcelain stoneware cleaner fulfils the high requirements for cleaning in the food retail trade and meets the customers’ demand for safe and clean floors. It maintains slip resistance while relying on sustainable ingredients.
With over 3,000 objects walked on and over 5 million square metres of floor area, David Haid is a proven expert in the cleaning of porcelain stoneware floor coverings. As an author in our haid-tec magazine „BODEN-ständig“, he shares his expertise from over 15 years of professional experience with you and provides valuable tips, especially for challenging cleaning projects.
If you have any questions, he will be happy to help you at any time and can be reached via the following channels.