Gabriel's Cutodial, Maintenance, And Housekeeping Frequently Asked Questions

Question About Restroom Odors
Question
"In old restrooms, after they are cleaned, we still have a problem with odors. We have traced the source of odor as coming from floor and urinal drains. Do you have any suggestion of how to treat? We have increased flow of water on each flush which helped some but did not stop problem."

Answer
Odor has to come from old soil that germs are processing (fermenting). Most likely: 1.) inside of a urinal drain neck, 2.) in floor drain pipe trap(s), 3.) in a urinal's vertical sides (if able to hold hidden soil), 4.) between the wall and the fixture, or 5.) Out-of-sight on the underside of a fixture.

If clean water is stationary between flushes, there should be no odor emanating from the fixture drain neck or drain trap. So, that leaves If the other areas have a soil buildup, wash surfaces as per our Restroom Cleaning video. (Video will appear in middle of page.)

If you have dry urinals after flushing, odors may emanate from the fixture drain neck or the sewer drain trap. Just pour our delimonine citrus product (Pursue-323) straight, let set 5 minutes, and flush well. Do it a few times and it should loosen the grease/jell material caught in the trap. Also, pouring an ounce or two of Pursue-323 down the drains of drinking fountains once every month or two will go a long way toward keeping the drains flowing well free of any odors.

Why do high-performance cold water detergents work best?

The technology use to build our detergents do not require heat to activate the cleaning process. Our detergents work virtually instantly to break up soil and emulsify the soils that cannot be dissolved by water. When wet mopping floors or wet washing other surfaces, the cold water helps lift soil from the surface to the top of the water film for easy and complete removal—squeaky-clean, residue-free results that ensures sanitary conditions.

When should I use Crème Cleanser?

Crème Cleanser is a high-performance abrasive paste that is excellent for film-free cleaning of stainless steel, aluminum, porcelain, glass, chrome, etc. Once the surface is initially cleaned, daily cleaning may be done with, depending on the soils, Walls 'N All-EFP or Fast-1-2-3® EFP. Crème Cleanser is used infrequently but is a must in your cleaning chemical arsenal—consumption of this product will be minimal. Click Here for detailed information on the 3 cleaning agents.

Why should all cleaning be done in cold water?

Grease is part of all soils. If not, soil would be in the form of dust balls. Grease will hold onto dirt when it is cold and release dirt when it melts. Grease floats to the top of cold water while it melts and moves about in hot water. Grease releases dirt into the water when the heat from the water melts the grease. The heat in the water moves from the water in the cold surface. The melted grease follows the transferred heat and attaches itself, without the soil, to the surface being cleaned. Since the dirt is gone from the grease, you cannot see the clear grease; if you rubbed your fingers on a kitchen floor just after being cleaned with hot water, you would see the tile shine, would you not. Think hard about the things you clean with hot water...floors, carpets, walls, etc. you should recall that surfaces cleaned with hot water seemed to streak, film, or quickly re-soil. The free-rinsing Gabriel FAST-1-2-3® EFP Detergent and Walls 'N All-EFP washroom detergent can prevent an after film.

Wet mopping is when a film of solution is laid down on the floor that will need to be picked up with a well wrung out mop or wet vacuum. Damp mopping, which is a well wrung out mop being used to pick up soil without previously laying down a detergent solution. Wet mopping is needed when the amount of soil to be removed is too great for a damp mopping procedure, for dissolving and picking up a grease or oil residue, or for when a grouted floor is mopped. Grout, being lower than the tiles, will build up with soil if a wet mopping solution is not first applied.

If you have a question that you would like a Gabriel Technical Representative to respond to, please send us an E-mail and you will be contacted with the answer.