Cleaning Cubical Partition Walls

[Bryan S. Bennett]

Looking for cleaning opportunities/ideas during the winter lull? Don't forget about these...

Consider office cubical partition cleaning. We have four full days scheduled with one client and then we will finish all of their carpets, another 2-3 days of work.

Here's Nick makin' it great!

 

[Mark Saiger]

I cheat sometimes on those.

Do most of the unit with a glided stair tool with psi down and controlled (swivel head too by the way)

And then if needs edging work, we will follow up with the upholstery tool....fast money that way and a little easier on the back and knees

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

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I cheat sometimes on those.

Do most of the unit with a glided stair tool with psi down and controlled (swivel head too by the way)

And then if needs edging work, we will follow up with the upholstery tool....fast money that way and a little easier on the back and knees

I contemplated the stair tool but we are doing below the desks....gets a little tight, not to mention changover time and working around computer terminals and electricity. Send me your zipper wand so I can bang it out in one night, lol!

 

[PrimaDonna]

@Bryan S. Bennett , how to you charge? Per cubicle, per panel or configuration of panel?

If you don't mind, what do you charge?

How long does it take to clean a cubicle?

Ever get any grief from employees that they have to take down all their stuff that his hanging on the walls and move stuff off the desk top so you can clean?

 

[billyeadon]

I like the Drimaster tool because you can put the handle on it and really fly on the vertical surfaces.

 

[Mikey P]

that PC tool must be making a real mess.



Like Bill, the Atari Drimaster would shred on this I bet.

The SS Pro would be ideal too. Probably the one time I'd actually use the trigger lock

 

[Desk Jockey]

Everybody beat me to it. The Sapphire will to a much cleaner job of it. I like the PC tool but over spray and dripping are a nightmare when doing cubes. I'd also have some concerns for over wetting with flood type tools.

Great idea to ask about partitions.

Don't forget chairs. We've been working a 20k PO chair cleaning project for the last year and its still going. They drop us off 20-30 at a time and we get them cleaned and refreshed and then they bring us another set.

 

[John Olson]

I always used the PMF Stair tool http://www.superiorcleaningsolutions.com/product-p/aw20.htm on the open back sides of them. Around the desk you kinda have no choice but to us a Upholstery tool and as they said the SS http://www.superiorcleaningsolutions.com/product-p/67-019.htm would be perfect for this. If you don't have one you can order one and I'll throw in a clear replacement cover and a carry bag. For the Prochem you should get a glide for it http://www.superiorcleaningsolutions.com/product-p/pc7strh.htm\

Oh and as for pricing since we were Janitorial we charged $7 a partition 3.50 a side

 

[Desk Jockey]

We get $10.00 a side, its an easy money maker provided you have more than just a few to cover the setup. We also do cleaning of the desk set, all metal & glass for an hourly rate. We periodically done this for a public entity as they expand departments.

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

@Bryan S. Bennett , how to you charge? Per cubicle, per panel or configuration of panel?
If you don't mind, what do you charge?
How long does it take to clean a cubicle?
Ever get any grief from employees that they have to take down all their stuff that his hanging on the walls and move stuff off the desk top so you can clean?

@Bryan S. Bennett , how to you charge? Per cubicle, per panel or configuration of panel?

If you don't mind, what do you charge?

How long does it take to clean a cubicle?

Ever get any grief from employees that they have to take down all their stuff that his hanging on the walls and move stuff off the desk top so you can clean?

Meg, for this project we budgeted for an hourly rate of $150/hr plus tax with the customer which they were fine. Last night we averaged about cleaning 5 stations per hour but this number is skewed lower because we had 3 different office areas within the building (long hose runs and each area was far from one another), one of which required a second repositioning of the truck at a new entrance and all of this includes setup/teardown.

No grief from employees because the building manager wants a knockdown clean for the whole building so she handles the communication. Most are gone by the time we start but the ones we run into are happy to see us. Our experience is most employees don't think this type of cleaning gets done enough. They seem to be happy with that their employer cares about keeping the building clean along with ensuring a healthy work environment.

If you have a quick setup you could easily increase the amount of stations to clean per hour. This is not the business we market for but our guys like it for the extra work and hours this time of year.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I like cleaning them. Good money, easy to clean and only minimal risk.

 

[Shane Deubell]

I'm a total hack, so we usually just use a spotter machine.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We use a portable mainly because we are usually several hundred feet away or many floors above the street.
It really doesn't take raw power anyway, just a finesse.

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

that PC tool must be making a real mess.



Like Bill, the Atari Drimaster would shred on this I bet.

The SS Pro would be ideal too. Probably the one time I'd actually use the trigger lock

Yes, Mikey the Prochem tool is messy and can't wait to change it for the SS. Just for us I like to milk the cow until no more milk, then I buy

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

We get $10.00 a side, its an easy money maker provided you have more than just a few to cover the setup. We also do cleaning of the desk set, all metal & glass for an hourly rate. We periodically done this for a public entity as they expand departments.

At $10 per side, that's about what we did last night, but we could've been more productive if not jumping around the building with hoses.

With increased productivity, $7 per side is still an option.

Monday night we have a ton too do, all in one area so I'm hoping that we can do better and be at $7 per side, for the customers sake. A porty would've been ideal too for cleaning, just the refilling and dumping part could be a disadvantage on efficiency if no local watering holes nearby.

Thanks for every chiming in about this, a boring subject for the other 99%'s of the world's finest.

Believe me, I learn a lot from everyone even though I've been cleaning for almost 10 years now, you guys and gals always up the ante to bring out the best to challenge me upward!

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

One other note from last night. Around 9m it was 10 degrees with a windchill in the negatives, possibly -6 degrees or lower. We noticed a reduction in vac pressure. What happened was the 2" vac line froze shut with ice right where we hook onto the vac inlet on the truckmount. Never saw that happen in 10 years. We've cleaned under much colder temps like Mark Saiger sees.

My guess is since we were at low flow with the Upholstery tool, it was cold enough to freeze. Solution line was fine no problem. We also keep every bit of hoses possible inside the building for warmth.

Anybody else ever have this happen? Possible Causes?

 

[Desk Jockey]

We take a plastic cart with removable handle. Throw 4-5-gallon headpacs of water to get us a good start. Portables are no fun but better than monkeying around with hoses unless you have good access. Lots of towel and hand wiping.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Anybody else ever have this happen? Possible Causes?

Happens all the time when we are out extracting in subzero temps.

 

[Desk Jockey]

This is the upholstery one.

You'll not knock it out of the park with either wall partitions or chair cleaning but it can be your foot in the door to get them to talk about cleaning. If you already have the carpet account it can be additional cleaning that is needed but often over looked.

 

[ronbeatty]

I use the Drimaster 3 tools, leaves the panel very dry. Cleans nice and even without any overspray.

 

[Mark Saiger]

One other note from last night. Around 9m it was 10 degrees with a windchill in the negatives, possibly -6 degrees or lower. We noticed a reduction in vac pressure. What happened was the 2" vac line froze shut with ice right where we hook onto the vac inlet on the truckmount. Never saw that happen in 10 years. We've cleaned under much colder temps like Mark Saiger sees.

My guess is since we were at low flow with the Upholstery tool, it was cold enough to freeze. Solution line was fine no problem. We also keep every bit of hoses possible inside the building for warmth.

Anybody else ever have this happen? Possible Causes?

Probably just a small air leak that with the velocity of the air moving through the hose and at that leaky connector had enough wind chill to freeze up.

Have had it happen one other time....

When that has happened, I found it helpful to remove the filter bag if there is one in that area for the time being.

Can just be the weirdest thing sometimes ....

I have also ran tape (duct or electrical) around a problem such as that to help seal....you have to get the tape to stick to the tape typically as it won't stick to what you really want it to ....LOL

 

[Royal Man]

They actually clean very well with encap juice and microfiber pads. And far less chance of knocking things over , getting papers and computers wet like with upholstery tool and hose. I just use a card board shield when spraying the encap juice.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We've had some that only had light pickup soil or just needed hand prints or spills cleaned up. A little dry cleaning with oms and towels or a little Avenge and towel will blend in really nice for that type work.

 

[bob vawter]

one of my best accounts was a co that put offices together using those panels...they would call me over to clean 400 maybe 500 panels at a time......3 man crew......one man bringing the dirty ones...one man picking up the clean ones...
and ME doin' them wit a floor wand...fi dollor a side!
had that gig for years

 

[mirf]

one of my best accounts was a co that put offices together using those panels...they would call me over to clean 400 maybe 500 panels at a time......3 man crew......one man bringing the dirty ones...one man picking up the clean ones...
and ME doin' them wit a floor wand...fi dollor a side!
had that gig for years

Never thought of that vendor or reseller. Good Idea, Thanks

 

[encapman]

You guys are killing yourselves. The easiest way to clean partition walls is to use a Strip Washer. Use a good bonnet cleaning solution like Encap-Punch. Wet the strip washer in a bucket of solution and wring it out. Then wipe the partition. I've cleaned a good number of partitions this way - including the tall floor to ceiling "air walls" that divide large banquet rooms. It's easy, it's low moisture, and it gets the job done.

 

[Shane Deubell]

You guys are killing yourselves. The easiest way to clean partition walls is to use a Strip Washer. Use a good bonnet cleaning solution like Encap-Punch. Wet the strip washer in a bucket of solution and wring it out. Then wipe the partition. I've cleaned a good number of partitions this way - including the tall floor to ceiling "air walls" that divide large banquet rooms. It's easy, it's low moisture, and it gets the job done.

Thanks Rick!

We'll have to try that out.

 

[Mikey P]

That would work on all but the area behind the pencil cup where coffee and food gets splattered every day...

 

[encapman]

True. You may need to treat certain sections using a specialty spotter, blotting it with a towel.
Encap-Spot would work well for this, since it's an encap spotter and doesn't require rinsing.

 

[Royal Man]

I did encapped one at a trucking firm. Dispatchers and truckers using them. It was really bad. Yet it cleaned up well and fast with juice. I used microfiber pads on Oreck drive blocks. This stuff was black!!