Cintas Introduces Five Simple Steps to Keep Restaurant Floors Clean This Winter

Snow and ice can wreak havoc on unprotected floors. To help restaurants limit the impact of winter weather on their floors, Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS) today introduced five simple steps for cleaning and maintaining restaurant floors during the cold and inclement months. A recent Harris Poll indicated that 68 percent of restaurant patrons would not return to a restaurant with dirty floors.

“From ice melt to gravel, patrons track several different types of soil into a restaurant,” said Brian Garry, Senior Director of Foodservice, Cintas. “This can result in unsightly residue lines, scratches to floor finish and other issues that shorten the life of the floor. By taking steps to protect, maintain and deep clean floor surfaces, restaurants can limit permanent damage and keep floors looking good throughout the winter.”

To protect floors from the assault of winter weather, Cintas suggests restaurants take the following steps:

1. Roll out the Mats. Stop dirt and debris from entering the building at the door. With a dual floor mat system in place, a rubber scraper mat outside your facility effectively removes soil from the shoe surface, while carpet mats in the entryway capture any residual dirt or soil.

During winter, a restaurant should also increase the number of mats used. Place mats in high traffic areas, such as in the walkway from the kitchen to front of house, throughout corridors leading to restrooms, and in front of the order counter or bar. This will help reduce wear patterns, limit the potential for slips and falls and prevent puddles of water from forming.

Professionally laundered mats will increase the effectiveness of the program. Vacuuming only removes 10 percent of dirt from a mat, so ongoing mat maintenance is just as important as the placement of the mats.

2. Dedicate Staff Member to Frequent Mopping. Dedicate one staff member each shift to the task of regularly wet mopping entryway areas and other floor surfaces throughout the restaurant. This can help reduce the accumulation of water and remove salt lines from ice melt. Determine cleaning frequency by traffic flow and weather severity. For example, heavy snow will likely result in increased water accumulation, so floors should be mopped more often during this period.

3. Regularly Refresh Cleaning Tools. As floors become dirtier, so will the cleaning tools. To keep floors looking their best during the winter, change out the solutions in mop buckets and rinse and launder mop heads more frequently.

The type of cleaning chemicals used will also have an impact on the soil removal and efficacy of the floor care program. Make sure chemicals will effectively remove salt residue while also cleaning the floor surface.

4. Schedule a Deep Cleaning. In the summer months, deep cleaning restaurant floors may be required less often due to the limited buildup of soil on floor surfaces and between grout lines. However, in the winter it is very important to increase deep cleaning frequency to prevent harmful substances from corroding hard floor surfaces or discolored carpet surfaces. According to ISSA, one square yard of commercial carpeting captures one pound of dirt per week – twice as much in inclement weather. By effectively flushing out dirt and debris tracked into the facility, restaurants can substantially improve the appearance of floors with a regular deep cleaning program.

5. Conduct Staff Training. To keep staff aware of potential floor care issues, make sure each staff member is properly trained and understands the correct processes for cleaning floors. In addition to providing education on the proper technique, it is equally important to educate staff as to why keeping floors clean in the winter is important. If necessary, engage assistance with incentive programs. This increases the opportunity for full participation.

“Restaurants should not let their image suffer with the weather,” added Dave Mesko, Senior Director of Marketing. “With the right floor care program in place, restaurants can limit the impact of winter precipitation and keep floors looking great year round.”

For more information about Cintas’ solutions for foodservice, go to www.cintasfoodservice.com.

About Cintas:

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types primarily throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services and document management services for approximately 800,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

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