It seems obvious to say that restaurants need to look clean. Presentation is everything – after all, who wants to eat out in a venue whose tables are littered with the remains of previous diners’ meals, where escapee chicken nuggets and yesterday’s French fries lurk in forgotten corners?
But the need for stringent standards of hygiene clearly goes beyond the visible grime when it comes to eating establishments. Surface level cleanliness won’t cut it when public health is at stake – restaurants simply can’t take the risk. A 2016 survey of over 1,000 consumers by food safety management company, Checkit, found that 66% of people cited bad food hygiene as a reason not to return to a restaurant, while a whopping 75% would never visit an establishment that had been implicated in a food poisoning or hygiene incident unless it had since changed hands.
When it comes to hygiene, restaurants need to be squeaky clean.
Disinfecting properly in restaurants – What do you need to be aware of?
Cleaning is one thing – the vacuuming, sweeping and washing carried out to remove visible dirt, dust and allergens from a surface. Disinfecting is quite another – applying chemicals such as bleach or alcohol to surfaces or objects for a certain period of time, to actually kill germs rather than simply move them elsewhere. Clearly this approach is vital in a shared space that’s frequently used by large numbers of people, where germs could otherwise readily take root and multiply. Disinfecting means deep cleaning a restaurant – and the more widespread, and often, the better.
But which areas of a restaurant should be disinfected? Focusing on the following most frequently used touchpoints is a good place to start.
• Surfaces: tables and chairs in the restaurant, walls, windowsills and buffet islands, sink areas, taps and surfaces in toilets, worktop surfaces in the kitchen. The Midi-Wipe CATERING range is specifically designed to make cleaning fast and effective, with one wipe killing 99.999% of bacteria (including the virus that causes covid-19) in as little as 30 seconds – making them ideal for busy restaurants, bars and kitchens
• Condiments: items such as salt and pepper that are left on tables for customers to use should be disinfected regularly, preferably between customers
• Door handles, door plates and light switches
• Rubbish: disinfect bins in restaurant area and toilets, as well as rubbish bins and areas concerned with food disposal/waste within the kitchen
Regularly disinfecting kitchen and bar equipment, till points and cash registers is also important – keeping staff safe through frequent cleaning of their shared tools should be just as much a priority as the health and safety of customers.
Choosing the correct cleaning equipment
From the front door to the back, from the teacups to the table tops, you want your restaurant to be sparkling clean throughout – and you’ll need the right equipment to help make it happen. Don’t be without:
• Cloths and wipes: our disinfectant Midi-Wipe CATERING range is effective against many viruses and bacteria including covid-19. Proven to clean, sanitise and disinfect any catering environment, and kind to hands, they make disinfecting quick and easy, and are a popular choice for many restaurants and hotels. Our Washroom version is also very popular for toilets and washroom areas, with a fresh citrus fragrance to leave the room smelling fresh and clean.
• Disinfectant sprays: use in conjunction with our disinfecting wipes to double down on the fight against the toughest germs
• Dustpans and brooms: soft bristles, hard bristles, straight edged or curved, you need the right kit for your venue’s floors
• Mops and buckets: whether deep-cleaning the kitchen or going for a sparkling front-of-house welcome, floors harbour more bacteria than you might think, so choose the right mop for the space
• Scrubbing brushes: for some of the more stubborn types of dirt, brushes are your friend
• Gloves: deep cleaning is hard on the hands so good quality cleaning gloves are a must – unless you’re using our wipes, which are dermatologically tested and gentle on the hands
• Dishwasher and glass washer detergents: manual or machine, for crockery or cutlery, do your homework on the best kind for your needs to avoid annoying repeat washes
• Floor cleaner: leave your floor clean enough to eat off
• Floor polish: the job’s not done till you can see your reflection!
• Furniture polish: your restaurant furniture works hard, often subjected to accidental spills and scrapes from customers; treat it now and then with the polish it deserves
• Degreasers: Deep clean your kitchen with antibacterial degreaser
• Washing up liquids: Choose wisely – some smell nice but have limited grime-busting power…prioritise cleaning performance over smell (without having your restaurant reek of Swarfega of course…)
• Hand soaps and dispensers: from vanilla-scented crowd-pleasers to floral fragrances that remind you of your Granny, stocking up on hand soap is a post-pandemic must
• Air fresheners: a priceless weapon in the fight against smelly loos
Start your cleaning revolution
But even in the shiniest of eating establishments, where restaurant deep cleans are the daily norm, there’s always more you can do – the spread of viruses and other common illnesses is a year-round phenomenon.
That’s where ready-to-use wipes come in.
Versatile and handily portable, they are ideal for those between-customer moments, in high traffic areas. Our EN-accredited catering wipes bring the added reassurance of being approved for use in areas where food is prepared and consumed, while also offering outstanding microbicidal performance. (That’s just a big word for ‘good at killing bugs’ – they are effective against viruses including Norovirus, Influenza A, Herpes Simplex, Hepatitis C, Bird Flu, Coronaviruses, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19…so you really can be confident you’re killing the most worrying germs with them).
In fact, with our Midi-Wipe CATERING wipes, you might not even need the mops and brushes anymore. (We didn’t put cloths and wipes at the top of the cleaning kit list for nothing you know). It’s time to transform your cleaning strategy – you’ll never again compromise on clean, and your customers could eat off the floors…
