UNIT 5- CLEANING SCIENCE

 Cleaning is carried out for the following reasons:-

a) Aesthetic appeal – The environment is made visually attractive and appealing

b) Hygiene – Effective, frequent cleaning controls, the growth and reproduction of pathogenic bacteria and other germs.

c) Maintenance – Surface and articles, however good in quality will have a long and functional life only when they are cleaned on regular basis.

d) Safety – Cleaning is done for safety against health hazards, fire hazards and slip hazards.

 Types of soil:-

a) Dust- This is composed of loose particles deposited from the air. It contains both organic (human and animal hair, dead skin cells, plants) and inorganic (sand, dry earth) matter.

b) Dirt – This implies dust held together firmly by moisture or grease on rough surfaces.

c) Tarnish – This is a discoloration or deposition on a metal or alloy surface caused by chemical reaction with certain substances found in air, water and food stuffs. Different types of metals get tarnished when they are exposed to air (copper gets a greenish color called ‘verdigris’).

d) Stain – This is discoloration caused on a hard or soft surface by a substance containing dyes, proteins, acids or alkalis. Stains cannot be removed by routine cleaning process. It must be removed as soon as they occurred, by using solvents to dissolve it or an acid or alkaline to neutralize it.

e) Foreign matters-These may be dead flowers, contents of wastepaper basket and ashtrays, as well as stains from the deposition of foreign substances (as opposed to the result of a chemical reaction).

f) Grime: dirt ingrained on the surface of something.

 Nature of soil:- All the above types of soil may be categorized under at least one of the following heads, depending on the nature of the substance responsible.

a)      Inorganic or mineral:    A homogeneous chemical element or compound, solid, liquid or gaseous substance, having a chemical composition resulting from the inorganic processes of nature.

b)      Organic:     A substance that has a plant or animal origin. Organic compounds are basically hydrocarbons i.e. they essentially contain the elements like carbon, hydrogen & oxygen.

c)      Osmological:  these are substances containing either organic or inorganic matter that emit an unpleasant odor.

d)      Bacterial:  some soils may contain live bacteria or their spores, which may cause diseases or infections.

e)      Entomological:     These soils harbor insects, especially those that are carriers of disease & infection.

Principles of cleaning:-

These are the basic rules to follow in any kind of cleaning activity, whatever the nature of surface or the soil

·       All soil should be removed

·       Soil should be removed without harming the surface being cleaned or the surrounding surfaces

·       The surface should be restored to its original state after the cleaning process

·       The simplest method should be tried first using the mildest cleaning agent

·       Cleaning should proceed from high to low wherever possible

·       While wet cleaning or polishing the floor, the cleaner should walk backwards while cleaning in front of him

·       Suction cleaning should be preferred over sweeping wherever possible

·       Sweeping should be done before dusting and dusting before suction cleaning

·       Stains should be removed as soon as they occur

·       The cleaner should take all safety precautions while cleaning. In particular, cleaning agents and equipment should be stacked neatly to one side.

·       The cleaner should start cleaning from the farthest end of an area working towards the exit.

Methods of cleaning:             

 ·       Sweeping: This is done to collect dust when the floor surface is too rough for a dust mop

·       Dusting: This is fine, dry powder consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter lying on the ground or on surfaces or carried in the air.

·       Damp dusting: This is the most preferred way of cleaning in hotels as surfaces can be wiped as well as dusted, removing any stick or dirty mark at the same time.

·       A suitable lint-free cloth at the correct level of dampness should be used so as to avoid leaving any smears.

·       Moping: This is the preferred way to remove dust, sand or grit from the floor

·       Scrubbing: This is the process to remove dirt, grime, etc. from something by hard rubbing while washing/ cleaning.

·       Polishing: This process uses soft pad or brush to remove some soil and put the shine back on the surface.

·       Buffing: In this process surface is rubbing with a piece of soft material in order to make it shine.

·       Suction cleaning: Vacuuming with high-filtration machines to remove dry-soil form the surface.

·       Burnishing: This process uses an ultra-high-speed floor machine (1500-2500 rpm) to restore a deep gloss to the floor finish.

·       Stripping: This refers to completely removing old wax, soil and debris found on the surface.

 

Cleaning and Hygiene Principles

The housekeeper must follow the given principles while cleaning −

·       Carry out the cleaning procedures in sequence. Say, sweeping → Dusting → Mopping/Suction Cleaning → disinfecting → Air Freshening.

·       Must take care while cleaning and polishing; not to damage various surfaces and hamper their appearance.

·       Should start cleaning from extreme inner end continuing towards exit.

·       Should park the chambermaid’s trolley such that it leaves space for corridor traffic.

·       Must take proper precautions while handling cleaning equipment, detergents, and guest luggage.

·       Must remove hard water stains and spider webs as soon as they occur.

·       Must never use guest room linen for cleaning or blocking room entry.

 

Safety and Security Principles

The housekeeper must follow the safety rules mentioned below −

·       Protect their body from harmful chemicals by wearing thick gloves.

·       Protect their eyes by wearing masks or goggles if required.

·       Must use of caution sign to mark wet floors.

·       Clean spilled liquids immediately to reduce chances of slipping.

·       Handle cleaning chemicals carefully while transporting, disposing, or refilling the containers.

·       Mix any chemicals required in the presence of proper ventilation.

·       Must not open un-labelled chemical containers.

·       Use swivel head mops to avoid inappropriate body posture while cleaning.

·       Wear close toe-non slip footwear while working.

·       Use appropriate body postures while working to avoid cramps.

·       Request for peer assistance while moving heavy loads such as furniture.

·  Report to the supervisor in case of any accident due to mishandling of flammable liquids or otherwise.

 

Frequency of Cleaning-Cleaning tasks may be divided according to the frequency of their scheduling, which depends upon:

·       The level of soiling,

·       The type of surface,

·       The amount of traffic,

·       The type of hotel, and

·       The cleaning standards set.

·       The greater the amount of soiling, the greater will be frequency of cleaning carried out.

Cleaning tasks are carried out as per one of the following frequency:-

·       Daily Tasks

·       Periodic Tasks

·       Special cleaning Task

·       Spring cleaning Task

1.      Daily cleaning task: These are routine operations carried out on a day-to-day basis by the staff of the housekeeping department. These include the regular servicing of guestrooms, cleaning of bathrooms and toilets, suction-cleaning of floors and floor coverings, and so on.

2.      Periodic cleaning task: These are carried out on a weekly, monthly, quarterly (every three months), half-yearly or annual basis. These may include the polishing of metal surfaces, dusting of hard-to-reach areas, and so on.

3.      Special cleaning task: Spring-cleaning is a special type of periodic cleaning. Some of the usual periodic tasks in a hotel include the shampooing of carpets, washing of walls, cleaning of chandeliers, and stripping and polishing of floors.

The higher the standards required, the greater is the task carried out daily and greater the amount of soiling, the greater will be frequency which is carried out.

 

Design Features that simplify Cleaning

1.      Smooth textures; straight, neat, and smooth lines; and medium toned colors are some of the design features in a surface that make for easier cleaning.

2.      Surfaces with these features collect less dust compared to surfaces with rough textures, intricate raised patterns, and grooves.

3.      Medium-toned colors show less dirt than surfaces of darker or lighter shades.

4.      Furniture should be so designed that cleaning under and behind them is easy.

5.      Furniture on castor wheels and glides are easily movable, making cleaning under and behind them easier.

6.      Bed frames should not have a raised edge. Though raised edges help to keep the mattress sunk in place, they may graze the hands of GRAs badly during bed-making.

7.      With regard to carpets, the shorter the carpet pile, the easier the cleaning.

8.      Upholstery too should have the minimum of decorative features such as buttons, gathers, etc.

9.      Surfaces such as solid wood are now being substituted by laminates wherever possible.

10.  While solid wood requires regular buffing and polishing, laminates are low-maintenance surfaces.

11.  A regular damp-dusting is usually sufficient for laminates. The drawback of laminates is that they lack the richness and elegance of solid wood.

12.  Wood-polishes are stain-resistant and long-lasting, are a boon to housekeepers as wooden surfaces become fairly easy to maintain with the use of these polishes.

13.  Another high-maintenance surface that requires constant polishing is brass.

14.  Brass becomes easily tarnished, and more so in coastal climates.

15.  Laminated brass surfaces are easier to maintain as they do not require regular polishing, and should be preferred in hotels.

 

 

 

 

UNIT-4 HOUSEKEEPING CONTROL DESK

 HOUSEKEEPING CONTROL DESK is the central hub of the housekeeping department. This is the area in the department where all information is received and from where messages are conveyed to housekeeping and other staff present in various parts of the hotel. Thus, the control desk may be considered the nerve centre for to and fro communication in the housekeeping department. The location of control desk is normally adjacent to the Executive Housekeeper’s office. This desk is manned 24- hours otherwise the lifeline of housekeeping communication would stop.

Role of housekeeping control desk; is to facilitate communication to various parts of hotel. This role can be exercised in many forms which are as follows:

1.      Receiving guest requests

2.      Forwarding the guest request to the concern person/section/department

3.      Receiving maintenance regarding guest rooms, guest floors, public area and other sections related to the housekeeping department

4.      Updating mini-bar consumption by the guest in rooms on daily basis or providing the consumption to the front desk before guest check-out from the property

5.      Updating guest room status (DL, DND, OCC, DIDP, VDI, VCL, OOO, OS, SOP, WC, NL, EHK, HWC etc.)

6.      Providing room alerts regarding departing guests, expected arrivals to the room attendants and supervisors

7.      Issuing and managing the guest room keys used by the attendants, supervisors and manager.

8.      Maintaining different register used by the daily functioning of the department

9.      Maintaining and managing the lost found records and articles respectively.

10.  Updating notice board on daily/shift basis

11.  Coordination with other departments

 

FILES AND REGISTER MAINTAINED AT CONTROL DESK

Register maintained at housekeeping control desk are:

1.     Key control register: Most important register maintained by the control desk, as all the keys handed over to the different housekeeping staff, as per shift has to sign for the particular key.

KEY CONTROL SHEET Date……………..
Key code/ floor/section	Name of the staff	Signature	Time out	Issued by	Time in	Signature	Received by

2.     Log book: It is used to record all the important information regarding guest/guest room and messages (inter or intra) to be forwarded to the next shift.

  

3.     Maintenance register: it is used to record all the maintenance work required in guest rooms and public area.

MAINTENANCE REGISTER                           DATE…………..
AREA	MAINTENANCE	GIVEN BY	FORWARDED TO	REMARK

4.     Guest message/call/request register: To note down any relevant messages pertaining to guest rooms and adjoining areas. E.g. Maintenances, requests, special instructions etc. It helps in keeping a track of the completion of the activity and the duration of the same.

GUEST CALL REGISTER
DATE	AREA	MESSAGE	GIVEN BY	TIME IN	GIVEN TO	TIME OUT	ACTION TAKEN

 

5.     Babysitting register: babysitting is provided as service by most of the hotel

BABY SITTING REGISTER
Date & time	Room no./ area	Name of the guest/age &number of children	Time of baby sitting		Name & signature of housekeeping staff delegated	Remarks
			FROM	TO

6.     Lost and found register: Any personal item/article of guest found anywhere in the Hotel premises is recorded in this Register with the relevant details.

LOST &FOUND REGISTER
S. no.	Date	Description of item	Name of the guest	Room no./location	Reported by	Deposited by

7.     Missing and breakage register:  the entire item missing or broken form/in the guest room should be recorded properly.

MISSING/BROKEN ITEM
S. no.	Date	Description of item	Room no./ location	Name of guest	Reported by	Signature

Files maintained at housekeeping control desk are:

8.     Room checklist file-all the room inspection checklist, filled by supervisor, kept at the control desk

9.     Carpet shampoo file:  in this file all carpet cleaning records are filed;

10.  Room status file: this file contains previous housekeeping room status reports, which kept in order for reference

11.  Duty roaster file: all the records related to the duty roster of different shifts are filed in a register for the future reference.

12.  Inventory checklist file: This file records all the inventory checklists (filled/ compiled by the GRA, supervisors)

Gate Pass: An employee is required to possess a gate pass, issued and authorized by the head of the department whenever a hotel property is removed from the hotel. It may be for repair or cleaning purpose or discarded item or auctioned article or gift given by the guest to any employee. In these entire cases, gate pass is issued by the head of the department an approved by the security head. And when an employee receives any gift from the guest, he/ she have to request for acknowledgement letter, stating that the specified item is the gift from the guest (NOTE: most of the properties discourage employees to accept any gift from the guest).

Gate passes are made either for returnable articles or no-returnable articles. For returnable articles triplicate copy of the same is generated-one copy retain within the department, second for the employee record and third copy goes to security approval. Security department has to track the return of the articles and maintain record for the same (in case the item is gone out for some maintenance/updation).

For non-returnable articles two copies are prepared, one goes to the security and second goes to the employee for any future reference.

 

SAMPLE GATE PASS

ABC HOTEL                                  FOR RETURNABLE/ NON-RETURNABLE MATERIAL
S. NO.	ITEM DESCRIPTION	QUANTITY	REMARK
AUTHORIZED BY ……………………………….   TIME OUT…………..                       TIME IN………………..                        DATE………………..   NAME AND SIGNATURE OF SECURITY OFFICER…………………………………………………..   NAME AND SIGNATURE OF THE EMPLOYEE………………………………………………………..

LOST AND FOUND PROCEDURE Housekeeping comes into contact with many items left behind by guests, thus lost and found department of many hotels is maintained in housekeeping.

The lost and found items are classified as follows:

1. Valuable items.
2. Non valuable items.
3. Perishable items.

Procedure:

1.      Any guest item found in the hotel premises must be reported and handed in to the Housekeeping control desk immediately, for proper recording and storing process.  Only Housekeeping Department is authorized to keep Hotel Lost and Found articles. However, certain items found after events in banquets i.e. banners or furniture may be kept in Banquet Store due to their large size under the condition that Housekeeping is informed, so that these items can be included in Lost & found Records.

2.      Executive Housekeeper or his/her assistant are responsible to notify the guest who left their items through their corporate e-mail addresses (whenever possible) with copy to Director of Sales.

3.      Length of keeping-time for Lost & Found items are as follows:

·       24 hours for perishable items such as food, fresh drinks, flowers etc.

·       3 months for non-valuable items such as soft drinks, less expensive clothes, toiletries etc.

·       6months-1 year for valuable items such as documents, cash, jewellery, credit card, ATM card, ID card, passport, cellular phone, camera, unopened wine or champagne etc.

4.      Dirty clothes are laundered before kept in Hotel Lost and Found Store. After laundering, clothes are wrapped in non-transparent bag or envelope.

5.      Record is maintained on a two-copy booklet. Lost & Found Slip contents are: finding date, finding location, guest’s name (if any), article description, and finder’s name & signature.

6.      Lost & Found data are recorded in Lost & Found Logbook and in the computerized guest profiles.

7.      Lost & Found reports are sent by email to Duty Manager with copy to Assistant Manager and Telephone Operator on daily basis

8.      Guest can collect lost and found article by them/ with help of authorized representative/ item can also be sent to their address, after verifying the details of guest and item

9.      Any Lost & Found articles not claimed after the designated keeping-time will be released to the finders/ given for charity, as per the organizations policies.

 

KEY CONTROL

Key-cards: A key is a device which is used to open a lock. A system of key control is essential to the security of a lodging property. All keys whether metal or electronic should be adequately controlled.

Metal room keys are being replaced by electronically coded key-cards. A key-card, while not actually considered a key, is a plastic card which stores a digital signature that is used with electronic access control locks. It is normally a flat, rectangular piece of plastic. The key-card is used by presenting it to a card reader; wiping or inserting of magnetic stripe cards, merely being brought into close proximity to a sensor.

Key-cards have the capability of being randomly coded at the point of registration, which re-emphasizes the guest perception of room security. Key-card control is computer-based and therefore creates the necessary audit trail automatically. Master keys can be changed in a matter of a few keystrokes and lost key-cards are easily removed from the system. One of the best security features is the ability of the computer to investigate each door lock and get a printout of everyone who accessed a particular room.

Types of keys: Most lodging properties use at least three types of keys:

1.      Emergency keys,

2.      Master keys,

3.      Guestroom keys.

1. Emergency Key: The emergency key opens all guestroom doors, even when they are double locked. It can be used, for example, to enter a room when the guest needs help and is unable to reach or open the door. The emergency key should be highly protected and its use strictly controlled and recorded; it should never leave the property. One procedure for emergency keys is to have them locked in a safe or safe deposit box and signed out by the individual needing one. The log should be dated and signed by the individual taking the key.

2. Master Key: A master key is designed to open a set of several locks. A master key opens all guestrooms that are not double locked. Depending upon the need, the master key may be further established as

1.      Section Key (Housekeeping attendant master key)

2.      Floor master key (supervisor key)

3.      Grand master key

1. Grand Master Key: Key operates all locks in the Hotel except double lock doors

2. Floor Supervisors Master Key: Key operates all sections on the floor/ floors supervised by the particular supervisor.

3. Housekeeping Staff Master Key: Key operates all rooms serviced by particular room maid or housekeeping staff.

 

Principles in key control system

·       Keys should be stored separately and securely.

·       No unauthorized person should be allowed access to any key, either to examine or handle it

·       Keep a log book of all keys signed out.

·       Establish protocol for distribution of keys.

·       Use keys that do not identify the property’s name, address, logo, or room number.

·       Perform an annual key audit

·       When keys are lost or stolen; locks program is to be changed/renew

·       Place well-secured key-box/board at the housekeeping control desk

 

Key-Belts: It is a belt/ tag, which ties/hang around waist or attached in trouser loop. It is used by the housekeeping attendants and supervisor so that key will remain attached to the body during their shift. It is used to manage the safety of the key card used by the employees.

 

Changing door locks

Whenever a new key/reprogramming/ updation (RFID), certain precautions are necessary-

 

• Request raised by Front office/ housekeeping department (Approved by General Manager)
• Maintenance Department contact supplier/ service provider company
• Door lock is changed / updated
• New key cards are coded by the check-in computer and read by the lock on the hotel room door.
• Maintain record/ log entry (Front office/ Maintenance department/ Housekeeping department/ General Manager)

 

HANDLING TELEPHONE CALL While taking a message the following procedure has to be followed:

1.      The telephone must be answered within the first three rings

2.      Greet the guest/ caller warmly.

3.      Announce department and introduce yourself, whenever possible/ required.

4.      Announce guest name (as it appears on the telephone screen) and ask “How May I Assist You”?

5.      Listen the Guest request / messages properly and note it in ‘Guest Call Register’

6.      Repeat and confirm the message / request with the guest/caller.

7.      Thank guest for calling in housekeeping/ department.

8.      Pass on the message immediately to the concerned person or department.

9.      When taking a message, staff member has to ensure to collect accurate and adequate information and pass it on to the appropriate person.

10.  Follow up with the concerned person and take update on the task until it is completed.