Guests expect high standards when visiting respected hotels, standards that should undoubtedly be replicated in the care home environment.
Comfort and cleanliness are the most important factors when providing guests with a ‘home away from home’ feel – a crucial experience for both care homes and hotels to deliver. In fact, from the moment people enter a care home, it’s important to make a positive first impression. Guests expect to be greeted with a homely, clean and friendly environment, while their friends and families need to be assured their loved ones are in safe hands – your cleaning practices will be a key indicator of this.
People will expect friendly staff, as well as clean, tidy and fresh smelling public and private areas – however, there’s a fine line between a clean and a sterile environment. Striking the balance of meeting health standards while maintaining the ‘home from home’ feel is the key to happy residents and reassured loved ones.
The difference between cleaning and disinfecting 
Care homes face unique challenges, as cleaning standards should be appealing on a multi-sensory level to ensure an inviting atmosphere, but must also, crucially, stop and prevent the spread of germs and disease. It’s also often recommended that a different product should be used to clean each area and surface, which makes the cleaning process complicated, time consuming and product heavy.
But it’s important to understand the difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning removes “soil” or dirt from a surface, but doesn’t kill microorganisms that can cause disease, odours and spoilage. You must both clean AND disinfect to reduce the risk of cross-contamination and diseases. Disinfecting a surface that has not been effectively cleaned is not only inefficient, but ineffective as well!
Disinfection best practices
To help you meet care home cleaning standards while maintaining a welcoming environment, here are three key best practice tips:
- Remove all ‘soil’ first, then let the disinfectant do its job. Well formulated cleaning products, that work first time, allow you to be effective whilst also saving time. For efficiency, use a multi-purpose product that both cleans AND disinfects in one go, such as Flash Professional Multisurface and Glass Spray Cleaner.
- To prevent the spread of germs and disease, clean and disinfect surfaces regularly, paying special attention to highly touched areas including door knobs, taps, lift buttons, hand rails, chairs, phones, tables, remote controls and light switches.
- Stringent cleaning standards can mean establishments use harsh bleaches that give off a sterile, pungent odour – which can ruin your homely atmosphere and create an uninviting environment. P&G Professional’s Flash and Febreze professional cleaning is efficient, easy to use and, importantly, pleasant smelling. The C4 Fabric+Air Refresher product eliminates odours and freshens public areas.
Choosing the right professional products that clean, disinfect and leave a fresh, inviting atmosphere could make all the difference in creating the right ‘home from home’ environment to give residents an enjoyable experience and loved ones peace of mind.
