Purification: the key to washroom hygiene?

The post-pandemic era is still heavily focused on intense cleaning to optimise health, hygiene and safety. Consumer awareness remains heightened and washroom hygiene should be top of the list of priorities for cleaning businesses.  

Washrooms aren’t always the most hygienic of places. Wet and humid environments create ideal conditions for bacteria to breed and spread, while the effect of toilet plume (the dispersal of microscopic particles due to flushing a toilet) contaminates the air with pathogens that can settle on surfaces. This frequently results in harsh chemicals being applied, which come with their own risks and considerations.

Advancements in cleaning technology present a new way forward for washroom hygiene.
 
Robert Scott’s own customer research found that 78% of cleaning businesses ranked sustainability as being much more important to their customers in 2023, compared with just 51% who said the same in 2022. For a sector like cleaning – worth nearly £59bn a year to the UK’s economy and with a historic heavy user of chemicals and contributor to waste and contamination – these figures demonstrate a clear need for the cleaning industry to go green.

Running a more sustainable business means using fewer harsh, harmful chemicals and cutting consumption of plastic. One development that aids this is the creation of air and surface purifiers, like the BSG AirCare range. These units effectively remove germs and odours using chemical-free, UVC light technology. They simultaneously produce purifying ozone-based photoplasma disinfection, to improve overall air quality and reduce organic matter – both on surfaces and in the air.

All of this means that they are significantly more sustainable than traditional cleaning methods. The natural solution presented by purifiers has been shown to deliver a 70% reduction of micro-organisms in the air and can destroy viruses including influenza, E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella, as well as bacteria, mould, and other micro-contaminants.

It’s little surprise that uptake of eco-friendly cleaning solutions is on the rise, but as the economic backdrop worsens it’s also not surprising to find that value for money is of increasing importance. Cost of living pressure means that it’s vital that truly innovative washroom technology is financially viable too. Our research also found that 68% of customers rated ‘demonstrating value for money’ as their biggest priority for 2023.

A key focus for value for money is the durability and longevity of cleaning products and solution. Similarly, unexpected costs associated with maintenance and wear and tear must be well managed and accounted for.

BSG AirCare air and surface purifiers can support with this. They run automatically and require very minimal maintenance, with a just a UV lamp change every 12 months to keep them working effectively.

Efficacy is also important, and you should take care to select the right sized units to suit the size of the washroom. Using a unit for a smaller space in a larger washroom can limit its ability to perform, so choosing the right solution is key to ensuring optimum cleaning and purification.

In a post-pandemic world, public expectations for washrooms to be safe and hygienic have understandably increased and businesses need to ensure that this area is a focus for their regimes – both for the safety and comfort of their customers, but also to protect their reputations.  

The advent of technology like the BSG AirCare presents an encouraging opportunity for businesses to improve the effectiveness of cleaning and reduce the spread of germs, all while gaining green credentials.