Want cleaner floors? Look to biological cleaners.

When traditional cleaning chemicals don't perform, restaurant owners look for new solutions. One restaurant chain knew what they wanted in a floor cleaner. With 25 eat-in, take-out, and catering operations, the restaurant chain needed a cleaner that could really "move grease." And when the floor was clean, it needed to not just look better, but function better, too — no slipperiness.

That's where a biological floor cleaner came into the picture. Bio-formulations take a double approach to countering fats, oil, and grease on restaurant floors. First, the surfactants break up grease, as in chemical floor degreasers. Then the bacteria go to work, degrading the grease into harmless by-products. And bio-formulations keep working well after the chemical products quit.

The result? Cleaner grout, brighter floors & and a much better smell. The restaurant chain tested it for themselves and found an added benefit — it was the answer to their slippage problems, too. The results are simple: more satisfied customers.

DeepClean Field Report
Novozymes Technical Service group recently took DeepClean II into the field to assess how a new formulation made in the laboratory translates into "real world" applications. DeepClean II is a biological floor cleaner that contains BioS 3112, a unique patented spore-forming bacterium that can degrade long-chain fatty acids.

As there is no known test to determine the ability of a floor cleaner to loosen food particles, field trials were arranged with a local janitorial service company and a local quick service restaurant (QSR). The janitorial company used DeepClean II in three different kitchens at a local hospital and the QSR also used DeepClean II in their kitchen area. The main purpose of this study was to obtain subjective impressions of the cleaning ability of DeepClean II.

After four weeks, five questions were asked pertaining to the performance of DeepClean II or the condition of the floor after continued use of DeepClean II as compared to the period before use. A rating scale of 1 to 5 was used to interpret their responses, where 1 = "Much worse than before", 2 = "Noticeably worse than before", 3 = "The same as before", 4 = "Noticeably better than before", and 5 = "Much better than before". The people doing the actually mopping, the account manager from the janitorial service, and the QSR manager were all interviewed.

The averages of all responses:

• Overall cleanliness:   4.5
• Visual appearance in grease-impacted areas:   4
• Floor traction:   5
• Ability to loosen food particles from the floor:   4.5
• Brighter grout:   4

• "No film rings were left when puddles dried out."
• "It didn't just spread grease out."
• "DeepClean II left a smoother finish compared to what we were using."
• "There was a progressive improvement over the 4 weeks."
• "There were no harsh fumes or chemical smells like some solvent degreasers have."

Back to top

Household cleaning market status report
Increasingly, bio-products are being utilized. Trends in the industry, including the drive for convenience, unit size decrease, and specific products for targeted application, will be accepted if efficacy warrants. The market is expected to grow approximately 2% in the next five years, which is actually a 9% decline when adjusted for inflation.

Total U.S. market in 2003 is placed at $3.3 billion, according to Mintel. Of this, the distribution is 36% through mass merchandisers, 58% through supermarkets (down 11% over 5 years), and 6% through drug stores. Major drug stores are targeting household products sale. Dollar stores post strong increases with Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree topping the category.

The category of surface cleaners account for 73% of the total household product sales at $2.4 Billion, including toilet bowl cleaners at approx. $400 million and drain cleaners at approximately $200 million. Rug and upholstery cleaners is the second largest major category with approximately $600 million in sales.

The top four household companies in the U.S. (Clorox, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, and SCJ) account for 70% of household product sales. Clorox and SCJ account for over 80% of drain cleaner sales.

Interestingly, dual compartment packaging has been utilized in liquid household cleaners. This development could be important for future development of stable and effective bio-cleaners.

(Note: Freedonia claims the market is $4.1 billion with expected growth to $4.6 billion by 2007)

Back to top

New regulations, adopted in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. and proposed in Maine, provide specific VOC content limits for various categories of products. These regulations become effective on January 1, 2005, although products regulated under FIFRA are not required to be in compliance until January 1, 2006. Non-compliant products that were manufactured prior to the effective date may continue to be sold after January 1, 2005 as long as they are labeled with the date of manufacture or a date-code. Click here for the link.

Back to top

The 14th International Chemical Control Update and Recent Developments Seminar will be held September 28th at the Holiday Inn, Charlotte, NC.

Topics to be discussed at the seminar:

• European REACH Program
• The latest new chemical notification developments in China
• The latest new chemical notification developments in the Pacific Rim
• Update on Canadian new substance notifications and MSDS requirements
• New Chemical notification requirements in Japan
• Cost effective global notifications

Back to top