The cleaning cart and organization
To choose the ideal cleaning trolley for your community, your cleaning company or your medical facility , you must first clearly define the scope of intervention of the agents.
The method before choosing the trolley!
The first crucial point is to define the cleaning method best suited to your sector of activity. If you represent a local authority, a hospital, or a cleaning company in the service sector, the cleaning trolley model chosen will differ depending on the entity, as the method is radically different for a different purpose.
Storage capacity is one of the main selection criteria. You must ensure that the trolley offers enough space to store mops , cloths, spray bottles, etc., as well as products and consumables that need replacing, such as toilet paper , bin bags , and paper towels.
Multiple compartments and well-organized shelves make it easy to store cleaning products and consumables that will need to be replenished, whether in hotels or in communities.
Robustness of the household trolley
The robustness of the cleaning trolley depends on the materials used: for example, trolleys made of Rilsan such as the Danish manufacturer DIT international or of high quality recycled plastic such as Numatic are more resistant to chemicals and especially disinfectants commonly used for cleaning.
The ergonomics and maneuverability of the trolley are among the main factors considered by the staff, and you should definitely consult them. Opt for good quality swivel casters to facilitate movement on all types of flooring. If the trolley will be used on uneven surfaces, up stairs , outdoors, etc., manufacturers like Numatic offer "large wheel" versions of their cleaning trolleys .
The space required will need to be checked if you have to use corridors, elevators and plan for storage in a room suitable for the size of the trolley.
The different types of household trolleys
There are many types of cleaning trolleys, and our Voussert catalogue offers a wide selection of models.
• The street cleaning cart is designed for cleaning outdoor spaces such as parks, streets, and sidewalks. It is robust and often equipped with large wheels to facilitate movement on uneven surfaces . This type of cart typically includes large waste bins, tool holders for brooms and shovels, as well as compartments for storing garbage bags and other supplies needed for waste collection.
• The double-basin mop trolley , specifically designed for floor washing and disinfection, uses a mop head with tabs, which can be either microfiber or cotton. It features two separate buckets : one for clean water and the other for dirty water. Note that an unwritten color code dictates that clean water goes in the blue bucket and dirty water in the red. This separation helps keep the water clean longer, which is essential for effective cleaning and optimal disinfection. The double-basin mop trolley is similar to the two-bucket mop trolley. is often equipped with a mop jaw press for wringing out tabbed fringes.
If your cart is configured without a press, you can also use the one-mop-per-zone method . In this case, prepare your blue bucket of solution with all the mop heads you will need in the bucket, then as you use them, place them in the red bucket.
• The household trolley with recycling . With the introduction of recycling programs, trolleys have had to adapt. In this context, there are now trolleys with two or more waste collection streams . These models are designed to facilitate the sorting of recyclable and non-recyclable waste. They have several compartments or bags of different colors , each intended for a specific type of waste (paper, plastic, glass, organic waste, etc.).
What about high surfaces? Your trolley can be equipped for high surfaces with buckets placed on top of the trolley, usually 6 liters. Here too, the basic principle is to have a blue bucket and a red bucket, and the rule is to have clean cloths prepared in the blue bucket of solution and to collect the soiled or contaminated cloths in the red bucket.
Accessories and options on a household trolley
Cleaning trolleys are equipped with various accessories and options, which optimize cleaning according to the types of environments.
Common accessories include storage bins for cleaning products and cloths, integrated bin bag holders, and broom and dustpan holders. On some cleaning trolley models, shelves and racks provide additional space for various equipment, while bucket holders facilitate the transport of clean and dirty water.
For more advanced options, closed compartments allow for the secure storage of hazardous or expensive cleaning products . This is often the standard practice in the hospitality industry to project a positive image without customers having to see the products and supplies. Additionally, there are waste separation systems, such as recycling bins.
You can also find cleaning trolleys with swivel wheels, equipped with brakes and easy to maneuver.
Cleaning protocol and cleaning cart
The method defines your equipment
The choice of a cleaning trolley is based on the work method defined with the staff. Indeed, the cleaning trolley will be chosen based on the cleaning protocol, and not the other way around.
The first point is the floor cleaning system, which will determine the number and type of buckets on the cleaning cart, as well as the type of wringer (jaw wringer or roller wringer) if the method requires one. There are several types of floor cleaning methods and therefore several types of mop heads : folding heads with tabs, folding heads with snaps, folding heads with pockets, mop heads with hook and loop fasteners, and mop heads with Velcro.
If waste collection is done on this household trolley, a garbage bag support must be provided (which can be 1 stream, 2 streams or more in the case of selective sorting).
The cleaning trolley can be equipped with surface buckets (usually one blue and one red) to hold the cloths, and more specifically the blue bucket for the clean solution, blue cloth, and the red bucket for the dirty or contaminated cloths.
The cleaning trolley can then be equipped with a product basket, a broom holder , shelves if there are two vertical supports...
In summary, you should always define your work method BEFORE defining the cleaning trolley . Custom assembly of the cleaning trolley is possible.
The following paragraph discusses the most common household trolley compositions.
Household trolley: its contents
The floor-washing trolley consists of a chassis with two buckets. The buckets come in various sizes, most commonly between 15 and 25 liters. The buckets are color-coded: blue for clean water and red for rinse water . The red bucket, located below the wringer, is used for rinsing.
The type of press can be of three types: jaw press (the most widespread), flat press, roller press (more efficient but much more expensive).
It is possible to fit a product carrier basket onto the trolley's drawbar.
This type of trolley also comes in a compact version called a "bibac," which combines the two buckets into one large, two-part container. This type of trolley is primarily intended for small spaces, cluttered or hard-to-reach areas.
The case of the medical / hospital / nursing home environment
The most common method is the pre-impregnation method . This method involves pre-impregnating mop heads in a disinfectant cleaning solution in a long, deep container specifically designed for this purpose. A number of these mop heads , stacked one on top of the other , along with the required amount of solution, are used to clean rooms, areas, etc., ensuring that each mop head is impregnated with the necessary and sufficient amount of solution to effectively clean the surface.
No wringing is required ; the saturated mop head at the end of the chamber, for example, is collected in the dirty mop bin or net. For this method, a pre-impregnated cleaning trolley with a suitable configuration must be chosen.
Rilsan coating on a household trolley: what are the advantages?
The Rilsan coating process is a powder coating used to protect metal surfaces against corrosion and wear. It involves the electrostatic spraying of Rilsan powder onto metal surfaces. On household trolleys, this is a process that the Danish company Dit International has mastered since 1963. The main advantage is increased resistance to disinfectants, corrosion, and premature wear , making this range of trolleys a benchmark in hospitals, retirement homes, nurseries, and paramedical facilities.