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- Buckets That Prevent Dirty Mop Water
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String mops and buckets are still common tools in a janitor鈥檚 closet, but their effectiveness is being called into question: Are they in fact re-depositing dirty water on the floor rather than aiding in its removal? For many, the answer is 鈥測es鈥� 鈥� even when soiled water is changed frequently.听听The traditional string mop and single-chamber bucket with wringer are an antiquated cleaning combo, says Mike Gosson, president and owner of听, Syracuse, New York.听It鈥檚 a system that, by design, forces the user to dunk a dirty mop into the cleaning solution, thereby contaminating the听 water.听鈥淲hen someone mops the floor, and they immerse the mop back into a single-cavity bucket, the contaminant goes back into the solution, and any grease and oil that was picked up will flood to the surface,鈥� says Christopher Meaney, vice president of sales and marketing for ABCO Cleaning Products, Miami. 鈥淲hen [a user] re-immerses the mop, the mop will absorb [the soil], so the last thing that comes out of that bucket is dirty water.鈥滲ut is a little dirty mop water such a bad thing when mopping a floor? After all, mops are for cleaning floors, not high touch points. According to distributors the answer is a resounding 鈥測es,鈥� as the effect of dirt on floors goes far beyond appearance.鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about cleaner floors, it鈥檚 about safer floors,鈥� says Meaney. 鈥淚n a restaurant environment, for example, any organic contaminant, oil, or grease will seal out the porosity of a quarry tile and create a condition where the static coefficient of friction is going to diminish, so you鈥檙e going to have a higher likelihood that the floors will be slippery, especially when they鈥檙e wet.鈥漊sing dirty mop water can also aid the spread of soil to other areas of the building.听鈥淭he problem with dirty mop water is it allows the dirt to be tracked throughout the rest of the facility,鈥� says Scott Uselman, director of sales for听听in Houston. 鈥淛ust like cross-contamination with hands, the same thing happens with feet. They take that dirt from the surface and track it onto the carpet.鈥漊sing dirty mop water can also increase the custodial staff鈥檚 workload by making it more difficult to clean the floor the next time around, or by requiring additional cleaning processes to undo damage caused by mopping.鈥淚f you鈥檙e working in a building that has floor finish, all you鈥檙e doing is putting a skim coat of dirt back onto the floor, and very quickly that floor finish is going to discolor,鈥� says Meaney. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to force the custodial staff to strip the floor because of the aesthetics.鈥�
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