Cleaning restrooms and changing rooms

There are many reasons why careful cleaning is required in restroom areas: Depending on the environment, many people use toilets, shower areas and changing rooms, for example in office buildings, production facilities, hotels, restaurants, sports halls or shopping centres. In restrooms, this inevitably leads to people's skin coming into contact with various different surfaces that have been touched by practically all users – such as door handles, taps or toilet flush buttons. In this way, microorganisms can pass from one person to the next. This must be avoided by following defined cleaning sequences.

Special requirements for cleaning restroom areas

If cleaning is inadequate, microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are able to multiply particularly successfully as a result of moisture, heat and small crevices. They are able to feed on organic substances such as dead skin cells. Dirt such as lime and lime soap deposits, urine scale, rust, etc. presents particular challenges when cleaning. Aggressive cleaning agents often have to be used, which can damage surface materials. All of these special requirements must be taken into account during cleaning – in order to achieve the required standard of hygiene, on the one hand, while avoiding damage to surfaces, such as joints or fittings, on the other.

Virus, bacteria or fungus?

Irrespective of whether you are looking at viruses, bacteria or fungi—some of them are pathogenic for humans. Dirt can offer a breeding ground for microorganisms until they find their way into the human body. For this reason, cleaning plays an important role when it comes to hygiene.

Colour theory: Four colours to improve safety

To ensure safe and hygienic cleaning and to prevent the spread of germs, there is a colour system for different areas. Four easily distinguishable colours – red, green, blue and yellow – are used. Each colour represents an area. This prevents a cloth that was used to clean a toilet from then being used to clean a kitchen counter. While cleaning utensils such as buckets and cloths are available in these colours, there are also cleaning agents based on this colour scheme.

The colours yellow and red are used in the restroom area:

Cleaning agents

When using acidic cleaners to clean different materials in the restroom area, note should be taken of the specific acid on which the cleaning agent is based. This is because not all acids are the same. A look at the safety data sheet will help. Cleaning agents based on hydrochloric, formic and phosphoric acid are particularly aggressive. When carrying out maintenance cleaning, anti-limescale cleaning agents are usually used with amidosulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid and/or citric acid, in particular to avoid damaging fittings such as shower heads, mixing valves and taps.

Deep cleaning in the restroom area

Wall tiles, washbasins and mirrors, toilet bowls and urinals and, of course, their respective fittings must be thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis for the reasons mentioned above. This means that the cleaners must take special care, as it is likely that the various materials will have different reactions to the cleaning agent.

The surfaces should not be sprayed directly with acidic deep cleaner, so that the acid cannot cause long-term damage as it travels through the crevices. The cleaner should therefore be applied to the cleaning cloth or a sponge pad. The fittings may only be cleaned using scratch-free sponge pads (white pad surface) in order to prevent scratches. This also applies for mirror surfaces. To prevent lasting damage to the fittings, the acidic cleaning agent must be rinsed off very thoroughly. Calcified tap aerators on water outlet valves should be unscrewed and placed in an acidic solution overnight. Toilet seats and lids must be cleaned using an all-purpose cleaner or alcohol-based cleaner, as acids may change the colour and possibly cause light staining. It is not possible to then return them to their previous state. Doors, door frames and partition walls should also be cleaned thoroughly using all-purpose or alcohol-based cleaners. In addition, only non-scratch sponge pads should be used here.

Other items, such as seats or coat racks, are scrubbed manually using a mild alkaline cleaning agent or everyday cleaner and a hand brush, then rinsed with clean water and dried with a yellow cleaning cloth.

Floor cleaning

Today, fine stoneware tiles are a preferred construction material in restroom areas, as they have a "microporous" structure due to their manufacturing process and therefore have excellent anti-slip protection, which is particularly important in wet rooms (slipping hazard due to moisture). They are also highly resistant to acids and alkalis and are available in almost any colour and surface texture (from ground, polished, matt or textured through to a natural stone finish).