Public restrooms can see a lot of activity over the course of a given day or week. Especially popular parks, malls, commons areas, and entertainment venues. Of course, keeping them in good condition and properly sanitized is about more than just managing unpleasant odors. It’s also about making sure that everyone who visits can enjoy a clean and properly sanitized lavatory facility.

This includes:

  • Park bathrooms
  • Beach changing areas
  • Business with common areas
  • Commercial properties open to the public
  • Shopping malls & communal retail spaces
  • Apartment buildings with common public areas

If these public bathrooms are left unattended for long, they can become contaminated, rife with bacteria, and unhealthy. In some circumstances, it can even become a serious liability concern. Especially if you have a commercial property that has public bathrooms in a common area or promenade.

Though even in a public park or a beach changing area that is busy on weekends, during special events, kids’ sports games on weekends, or during the summer, the restrooms in the park can get pretty dirty and laden with unhealthy bacteria. This can be a serious health issue in any men’s or women’s public bathroom. It can be very concerning for family bathrooms with changing stations for small children.

Fortunately, a lot of these restrooms have the same sort of fixtures and need the same things that can be cleaned with high-quality products.

Flexible Scheduling For Cleaning Public Restrooms

Routine cleaning and maintenance must be at the top of the list for any public park or building with a restroom that is open to the public. Especially on the weekends or if there is a special event happening. Busy times in the summer season can also inundate parks and beach changing areas with people, which ratchets up the need to keep bathrooms clean, tidy, and properly disinfected.

So, it’s clear that your public restroom cleaning schedule will need to be customized to busy, peak times. This means more frequent cleaning sometimes, and less frequent cleaning during quiet, off times of the year. In times of very high activity, the restroom cleaning might need to be increased to multiple times a day to keep all the fixtures clean as well as ensure that all the dispensers are full and waste bins are emptied.

Then during the wintertime, some bathrooms, like those in public parks, might see significantly less traffic. In some instances, the restroom might only be open on weekends or afternoons during cold months of the year.

If your park restrooms are closed completely during a certain period of the year, plan to give them a full cleaning before reopening for the season. Cobwebs and grime can start to collect when a restroom has been locked up for a period of time.

How To Clean Public Restrooms

While each public bathroom has its own unique needs and foot traffic level, the same things should be cleaned, disinfected, or addressed in virtually every public restroom. Staying fully focused on good cleaning and hygiene practices ensures a clean, safe public restroom environment for everyone who uses it.

This includes key areas including:

  • Floors
  • Toilets
  • Sinks & fixtures
  • Wiping down high touch surfaces
  • Refilling soap & hand sanitizer dispensers
  • Emptying waste cans & biological containment bins
  • Refilling paper towel dispensers
  • Dusting horizontal surfaces

 

Cleaning Public Bathroom Floors

Restroom floors can easily attract bacteria. Especially during times of heavy use. The floors can also collect paper trash, stray paper towels, and excess moisture from hand washing, which can make for dangerous slips and falls. Public restroom floors need to be picked up frequently. Public restroom floors need to be sanitized to prevent bacterial buildup in the corners and grout. This goes far beyond what an ordinary mop and bleach can handle. Traditional mops tend to move bacteria around. They can also spread bacteria, if the same mop is being used to clean other floors in your facility. This is where professional-grade microfiber mops come in handy.

Cleaning Public Toilets

Public restroom toilets need cleaning, wiping and sanitizing regularly, depending on the amount of use. During times of peak use toilets could probably use attention several times a day.

Cleaning Public Bathroom Sinks

Public bathroom sinks see just as much if not more action than toilets does. They are the primary place where handwashing happens. The fixtures and drains are prone to spatter and marks. Taking enough time to clean and dry these can provide a hygienic and sanitary environment to help avoid spreading germs to the public.

Handles & High Touch Surfaces

High-touch surfaces in a public bathroom like door handles, switches, and buttons on air dryers can collect a lot of fingerprints and germs. These locations need to be properly sanitized while also helping to bring a pleasant look to your park restrooms. All while helping to prevent the spread of illness.

Dispensers Filled

Sinks rely on soap dispensers and high-touch surfaces need hand sanitizer stations to kill germs and prevent the spread of illnesses. These dispensers, the toilet paper rolls, and the sanitary napkin dispensers, all need to be topped up or completely refilled every time the public bathroom is serviced. This might include multiple refills in a day during high peak times of the year and special events.

Trash Receptacles & Biological Waste Bins Emptied

Trash bins, paper towel baskets, and biohazard receptacles all need to be cleaned before they are filled to capacity. This is the sort of thing that should be done when the soap and hand sanitizer dispensers are refilled. You might have to empty these bins out multiple times per day during peak times or special events.

The Benefits of Green Cleaning Products

One of the problems with traditional cleaning products is that they can leave behind strong chemical odors. Especially in public bathrooms where good ventilation is sometimes a challenge. That’s one of the reasons why professional cleaning companies like Building Services Inc are proud to offer an ecologically friendly green cleaning system. It leaves behind a natural fresh smell, rather than harsh toxic chemical odors.