Gulf Construction Online - Designing bathrooms for effortless cleaning

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Brenta touchless faucet ... thanks to an easy-to-clean coating, these taps are easy to keep clean.

Designing bathrooms for effortless cleaning

01 January 2024

Efficient bathroom cleaning is crucial for hotels, especially those with high occupancy rates. Not only does hygiene significantly impact guest satisfaction and online reviews, but also affects operating costs – the more efficiently a hotel’s bathrooms can be cleaned, the more economical the whole process will be. By designing bathrooms with the right products, the time wasted on cleaning can be avoided.

Hygiene has become increasingly important for hotels in recent years, and this is reflected in review sites. The time required by housekeeping to clean hotel bathrooms depends on three factors: Effective organisation of cleaning procedures, the right choice of cleaning products and equipment, and thoughtful bathroom planning with the right sanitary products, according to Geberit, a leading Swiss sanitary solutions provider.

“Solutions that prevent soiling and make daily bathroom cleaning easier are in demand,” says Louise Pitt, Head of Marketing and Communication (Gulf Office), Geberit International Sales. “Touch-free and easy-to-clean fittings are part of a hotel’s quality standard and support the profitability of the business.”

Pitt highlights five areas of a bathroom that she terms as “cleaning time wasters”, namely, fittings, washbasins and the drain, WC ceramics, actuator plates, and shower areas.

Fittings

Cleaning frequent-use washrooms in semi-public areas such as hotel bars or lobbies can be time consuming. The less users touch the surfaces, the easier it is to clean, she points out. Touch-free electronic wall-mounted faucets are particularly beneficial here. In hotels, built-in washbasins are particularly suitable. They provide an almost continuous, easy-to-clean surface.

The degree of soiling and hence the frequency at which cleaning is required is generally higher in semi-public hotel areas than in hotel bathrooms. For these areas, Geberit offers slim and timelessly elegant solutions with the Brenta and Piave touchless washbasin faucets. Thanks to an easy-to-clean coating, these taps are easy to keep clean, she says.

Washbasins and the drain

With ceramic washbasins, as with all ceramics, the more rounded the shape and the smoother and more dirt-repellent the surface, the easier and quicker it is to clean. Geberit’s special KeraTect glaze increases the ease of cleaning by creating a virtually pore-free, extremely smooth surface.

The magnetically attached cover and comb insert in the Geberit ONE washbasin.

“Limescale, minerals, dirt and germs have virtually no chance of adhering to it, and cleaning effort and cleaning agent consumption are significantly reduced,” Pitt says.

A comb insert in the outlet saves additional time. This is located behind the cover in the Geberit ONE washbasin with CleanDrain, and acts as a hair strainer. The magnetically attached cover and comb insert can be removed and cleaned with a single movement. In addition, a horizontal drain prevents splashing and ensures significantly less water and limescale residue, she adds.

WC ceramics

Design, hygiene and ease of maintenance are key factors in the choice of WC ceramics in hotels. This is where the easy-to-clean Geberit Rimfree WCs come into their own. Without a flushing rim, deposits and unpleasant odours cannot build up in these WCs.

Geberit toilet seats with the QuickRelease function facilitate cleaning.

Geberit’s latest generation of Rimfree WC ceramics features the patented TurboFlush flushing technology, which ensures particularly thorough and quiet flushing of the WC ceramics. The gently contoured WCs and the optional KeraTect special glaze also contribute to faster cleaning.

Another aspect of cleaning is the toilet seat. Geberit seats with the QuickRelease function eliminate the need for time-consuming disassembly. To remove the seat, the seat and cover are opened 90 degrees and removed in one easy step. After cleaning, they can be replaced. On the latest models, the QuickRelease function can be locked to prevent hotel guests from removing the seat and cover.

Actuator plates

Touchless flush actuators improve hygiene and reduce contamination. Regardless of whether the touchless actuator plate is sensor-controlled or not, an easy-to-clean coating makes cleaning easier. This can be retrofitted to any Geberit concealed cistern.

Shower areas

Stubborn dirt and limescale deposits translate to increased cleaning time and effort. Floor-level shower solutions like the Geberit Setaplano offer a welcome respite, simplifying cleaning and maintenance. This extends to water drainage as well, where shower channels like those in the Geberit CleanLine range offer exceptional ease of cleaning. Their smooth, open drainage surfaces provide minimal nooks for dirt and bacteria to accumulate. The innovative comb insert design enables effortless removal for cleaning, while the channel itself features an easy-clean coating for further convenience.

With Geberit floor-level showers and CleanLine drainage solutions, achieving a clean and hygienic shower environment is effortless, saving valuable time and effort for both hotel staff and guests, says Pitt.

The globally operating Geberit Group is a European leader in the field of sanitary products. Its production network encompasses 26 production facilities, of which four are located overseas. Headquartered in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, the group has around 12,000 employees in approximately 50 countries.