Aug

15

How to Keep Restaurants Clean: Secrets of the Industry

Cleanliness is an essential aspect that should not be taken lightly, especially by the owners of the food businesses. The customers can see the tables, floors, and bathrooms, and it will not take long for this to affect the restaurant negatively. Cleaning is undoubtedly a difficult job, especially in restaurants with high traffic. Yet, there are some pointers that can prove helpful. This article explains several expert’s ideas on maintaining a clean restaurant.

Schedule:

This is one of the most closely guarded secrets to maintaining the cleanliness of restaurants and other related businesses. Cleaning a house without a schedule and in between our free time is counterproductive because we cannot achieve the desired neatness. Develop a cleaning schedule that will clearly outline daily tasks for your staff in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Divide the tasks into different employees; some should wash and clean tables, others should sweep and mop the floor, clean washrooms, take out the trash, and rearrange and organize chairing areas. Even specify how each task should be done. It should be placed at strategic points in the company. Hence, everyone understands his or her part in maintaining high standards of cleanliness.

While cleaning include using quality cleaning tools and products.

It is also essential to avoid using cheap cleaning tools and chemicals as these can counteract all your cleanliness efforts. Purchase restaurant cleaning equipment and materials that meet commercial-grade standards or are specially made for restaurant use.

The microfiber cloths and mops clean the floor better than the regular cotton cloths and mops because microfiber picks up more dirt, grease, and other debris. Buy green cleaning products for use primarily in your restaurant’s kitchen and dining area. There should be many paper towels, disinfecting wipes, and other cleaning supplies that are easy to grab and use on the walls or the center table. It means that you don’t need to overcomplicate things or do it yourself when there are tools that can make the work of your staff faster and more efficient.

Cleanability Consideration in Design

In the case you are designing your restaurant or planning for a renovation, make sure to embrace the aspect of easy cleaning in your blueprint. Select materials such as stainless steel, marble, and tile that can easily be cleaned. Choose floors that can be resistant to grease. Provide sinks and janitorial stations in optimum locations so that cleanliness can be practiced regularly.

Do not stack utensils and other equipment to overwhelm the room. Ensure there is enough storage space at a higher level than the floor for mops, brooms, buckets, and cleaning products. Cleaning is an activity that requires discipline, and if you make it a little easier for them to do it, they will do it more often.

Ban Clutter

Mess and tidiness do not go hand in hand, which is why clutter results in the opposite of being clean. Hire a janitor whose main task is to ensure that the restaurant is clean by avoiding messes such as employee personal items, extra supplies, cardboard boxes, out-of-use equipment, and other clutter. Establish guidelines for the cleanliness of dining areas, kitchen areas, storage areas, and work desks to eliminate clutter and accumulation of dirt. Prohibit the use of any personal items within the working area, especially around the employees workstations.

Other examples of simple cleaning include removing clutter from rooms so that dirt and germs have limited surfaces to adhere to.

Clean Floors Thoroughly

Floors, in particular, are one of the most targeted areas for gathering dirt, stains, and buildup in restaurants. Sweeping and wiping the floors every now and then will not be enough. The general or routine cleaning should be done every evening after closing, while the intensive floor cleaning should be done once a week. First and foremost, it is recommended to sweep the floor, ensuring that you collect all loose debris and dust. Get a mop bucket that has an opening on the top section where you can store additional water. Mop heads should be changed often since they get dirty quickly and are prone to collecting grease.

These include cleaning under tables, mats, equipment, and other furniture that have been shifted during a more rigorous floor washing. If there are remnants of gum or food firmly stuck on the flooring, then a stiff plastic scraper should be employed to remove them. Allow the floor to dry to the natural extent to avoid early wearing off as they come into contact with feet or other accessories after mopping.

Clean Grease Traps Regularly

Grease traps are the number one culprit when it comes to bad smells in the kitchen, especially when the traps have not been cleaned for a long time. Thick grease also clogs pipes and leads to sewage backup if left for long even on a commercial kitchen. Design regular timings for cleaning out grease traps at least once, or twice in a week at most. Include grease trap cleaning appropriately in documents.

Some restaurant crews perform this monotonous task every time they close the business at the end of each week. Some people do it during the middle of the week and not when the weekend crowds are coming in, as this will mess up their noses. As a result, grease trap cleaning maintains the flow of kitchen drains.

Conclusion

It is challenging to maintain high degrees of cleanliness when the restaurant is nearly open 24/7. However, displaying dirty facilities in a dining establishment can significantly harm its reputation. The following insider tips include washing checklists, purchasing equipment and supplies from commercial grade, removing clutter, and cleaning floors and grease traps. Experts have recommended that in order to make a restaurant’s kitchen sparkle, the following tips should be followed. Remarkably, your restaurant may not be associated with messiness and grime if you make some effort to clean it.