Keep Students Healthy by Caring for Your Classroom Floors
Despite best efforts, educators and students still need their administrations’ help to reduce the spread of germs. After all, simply using hand sanitizer or chemical-laden wipes doesn't always halt diseases. This year, the topic is especially pertinent: Doctors are reporting increased incidents involving hand, foot, and mouth disease countrywide.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, this viral condition spreads rapidly wherever people are in close contact. Although it rarely ends in encephalitis or viral meningitis, hand, foot, and mouth disease inevitably leads to missed classroom days. And the more days children miss during the early elementary years, the less likely they are to read at or above grade level. In fact, a little more than half of children who were absent just nine days during the school year had literacy issues.
To their credit, most teachers and janitorial staff members have initiated cleaning protocols for desks, door handles, cafeteria tables, library nooks, and other shared spaces. However, they often overlook a place that can harbor disease-causing germs: floors.
Lifting Flooring Particles and Bacteria to Promote a Healthier Student Body
Whether an educational center features carpeting, tile, or another type of industrial space flooring, its spaces deserve to be spotless. Otherwise, students can’t enjoy a clean, healthy space to learn.
Traditional carpet cleaning and floor sanitizing methods (e.g., mops, brooms, and vacuum cleaners) are status quo in most schools across the country. But they cannot pick up all the embedded particulate — including germs and microbes — locked deep into fibers and grout. Plus, most cleansing processes use tremendous amounts of water, which can lead to mold growth. Mold isn’t just unsightly; it’s highly dangerous for those with sensitive respiratory systems.
Without a smarter cleaning system that makes use of modern dry polymer, schools can’t guarantee their environments are conducive to effective, hygienic education. And that means more youngsters risk losing out in the long term.
Attacking Germs and Dirt Before They Sicken Kids and Faculty
From restrooms to cafeterias to gymnasiums, school spaces get filthy quickly. Not only does this lead to poor air quality and increased potential for illness, but it also leaves a bad taste in visitors’ mouths. As one study indicated, filthy bathrooms change people’s perspectives on the building management. What school wants to earn a bad reputation from guests, parents, and students because its porous, foul-smelling bathroom grout hasn’t been revitalized and properly sanitized?
When MilliCare ’s technicians use their environmentally sensitive, low-water proprietary grout line care systems to lift odors and stains, they not only restore the look of a school space, but also the story it tells. Plus, patrons can choose from 40 colors to completely reinvigorate the grout without necessitating construction. Giving a floor a facelift is far less expensive than purchasing new flooring or merely “dealing” with a rampant spread of a condition like hand, foot, and mouth disease.
Another school hotspot, the library, also greatly benefits from thorough floor cleaning and a dry-centered system. MilliCare uses 99 percent less water than other methods, leading to lowered humidity, which is better for books and computers. At the same time, the allergens, dust, particles, and germs are lifted from textile surfaces, leaving a hygienic place for children to explore and learn without getting sick.
Although it’s not possible to completely stop the spread of viral or bacterial illnesses, schools have a responsibility to protect their populations. As a partner, MilliCare offers tremendous value for every school constituent, as well as a way for educational facilities to extend the life of their tile, textiles, and floors.
Interested in learning how MilliCare can help your school expel nasty germs, dirty floor stains, and bad-smelling grout? Contact the MilliCare team today for a no-obligation initial consultation.