Office Cleaning with Dr. Bronner’s

How does a company that makes cleaning products keep itself clean? I spent an afternoon tailing some of Dr. Bronner’s custodial team to answer that exact question.  

I’m very familiar with the ins and outs of house cleaning. I’ve even spent some time cleaning a school. But this was my first hands-on experience with keeping an office and manufacturing facility shipshape. Come along with me for an overview of what I learned. Whether you’re just curious about what goes on around our factory, or perhaps you take part in cleaning a facility yourself, I hope you’ll learn something new.  

I discovered that in many ways, the methods are similar to how I care for my house, though on a much larger scale. But I also found that amongst this 6-person custodial team, there is some serious flair.

Meet Azucena

Azucena Vargas de Cruz is a 30-year veteran of the custodial industry and has been with Dr. Bronner’s for five years. She takes immense pride in her work and is a trailblazer for the maintenance team that cleans our facilities. Azucena says she appreciates the freedom she has in her role to try new ideas and find new ways to utilize Dr. Bronner’s products. When she showed me her latest cleaning concoction, featuring the Dr. Bronner’s All-One Toothpaste, I realized how far her ingenuity and creativity went.  

In previous companies she’s worked for, Azucena had used harsh, toxic chemicals, but since she began working at Dr. Bronner’s, she learned how easy it is to clean with non-toxic solutions. Studying videos and tutorials on low-tox cleaning, Azucena became increasingly convinced that the safer cleaners, if they are mixed at proper concentrations, do a better job than their toxic alternatives. Nowadays, she doesn’t need to measure ingredients precisely as she knows the recipes and amounts by heart and she shares her know-how with the rest of the team. They regularly look to her to solve stubborn cleaning situations and to find better ways to get things done.

Her cleaning areas at the plant are in the main building (we have three clustered together) and include the employee breakroom, the employee lounge, 6 bathrooms, and collecting trash from the main traffic area before ending her shift.  

For anyone tackling a large area, she advises each individual to create a consistent routine within that area, whatever works best for you. Find a place to start and take it step by step. The custodial crew does not clean the production floor or equipment, which is one job given to the teams that manage each section of the floor.

Personalizing spaces with a signature scent

One personal touch Azucena brings to her work is utilizing unique scents and combinations so that not only the crew, but also the entire Dr. Bronner’s staff, know she’s been through an area to clean. Sometimes she’ll make a unique blend of essential oils. Lately, she’s been using Sandalwood, with its distinct exotic sweetness that conveys freshness and cleanliness.  

She rotates through different scents so that visitors to the factory will have a different scent experience on each visit. The Janitorial Lead Jose Barrera says that it’s a bit of a game among the crew to guess what scent blend Azucena is using each day.

Ingredients for facility cleaning

What the custodial crew uses to clean the whole facility mirrors what I have in my home cleaning cabinet, just in larger containers. Here are the ingredients that go into their solutions:  

• Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Biodegradable* Cleaner – for all-purpose cleaning 

• Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree Pure-Castile Soap – for all-purpose cleaning 

• White distilled vinegar – for deodorizing areas and cleaning glass & mirrors 

• Baking soda – for mild abrasion and deodorizing 

• Essential oils – for aromatherapy 

• 90% isopropyl alcohol – for disinfection of oft-touched surfaces 

• An additional EPA Safer Choice disinfectant, required to clean biological contamination like blood 

• Toothpaste – for cleaning – more on that in a moment 

Sal Suds is the main ingredient, used to clean most surfaces around the factory.

Reusable tools for office cleaning

The custodial crew’s tools are fairly similar to what I use at home. Durable and washable, soft and lint free.   

• String mop to wash floors 

• Flat pad to dry floors 

• Smaller flat pad for washing windows  

• Microfiber cloths – a large stack for cleaning & drying many different surfaces 

• Various brushes for corners (wedge), toilets, and more. 

Although Azucena uses spray bottles much of the time, she often prefers to keep her solutions in buckets, dunking in a cloth and wringing it out before use. This is a matter of personal preference.

Preparing the solutions for office cleaning

Cleaning spray with Sal Suds

• 5 oz (150 mL) Sal Suds  

• 25 oz. (740 mL) water  

• Tea tree essential oil

Glass cleaning spray

• 2 oz. (60 mL) of 30% cleaning vinegar  

• 28 oz. (830 mL) water.  

As a sidenote, I paused when she told me about this dilution with the cleaning vinegar, which is not an ingredient I use at home. I use standard kitchen strength vinegar, which is 5% acidity and I dilute in half with water. But when I did the math with this dilution which uses more water, I realized we both end up with the same concentration in the Glass Cleaning Spray.

Multi-surface scrub – with toothpaste!

This is the solution that Azucena felt is her showpiece. This idea simmered in the back of her mind for a while before she tried it. Having watched my Bar Soap Factory Tour video where I dissolve bar soap in water to make various cleaning solutions, she wondered if toothpaste could be similarly dissolved, bringing its slight abrasiveness for extra scrubbing action. A month before I met up with her, she gave it a go, and it worked wonderfully, saving her time and effort.  

• 1 tsp. (5 mL) Dr. Bronner’s All-One Toothpaste 

• ½ tsp (2.5 mL) baking soda 

• 2 oz. (60 mL) Sal Suds 

• 5 oz. (150 mL) water 

• 1-2 tsp. (5-10 mL) vinegar 

Mix the first four ingredients thoroughly. Immediately before use, add the vinegar. Either keep this solution in a bucket and dunk in a rag, or transfer this to a spray bottle.  

Azucena uses this solution on bathrooms, sinks, mirrors, ceramic, stainless steel, and even when there are stubborn spots on floors. She used to use just Sal Suds and water but has found this mild abrasiveness to be extremely effective. She might use this solution with a scrubbie if a surface can withstand a little deeper of a scrub, though finds that she usually doesn’t need to.

Bathrooms

Sinks & toilets 

For general cleaning of fixtures, Azucena uses the Cleaning Spray with Sal Suds. She sprays and wipes this down. When surfaces have any build up of soap scum or grime, she brings out the Toothpaste Scrub  

Tile/granite walls 

She gets the best shine by spot cleaning the walls where needed with the new Toothpaste solution. 

Mirrors 

Azucena uses the Glass Cleaning Spray, but instead of spraying the mirrors directly, she prefers to spray a microfiber cloth then wipe the mirror. She finds this leaves a more streak-free shine.  

Deodorizing 

Azucena has found that the best way to deodorize the floors of bathrooms is with her Glass Cleaning spray.

Laundry

For the most part, laundry at the factory is about washing rags. For whites, the crew uses Sal Suds and baking soda, followed with vinegar in the rinse cycle. 

They also wash mopheads and rags using 8 oz. (240 ml) Sal Suds and 1 box baking soda + a little vinegar in the rinse cycle dispensed via the fabric softener compartment.

Kitchens & break rooms

Counters & stovetop 

These are all cleaned with the Sal Suds spray or bucket of solution.  

Coffee pots 

To keep the coffee pots brewing beautifully, Azucena cleans them regularly by running vinegar through them and then running clean water through. 

Stainless steel fridge and other appliances 

Once again, they turn to the Sal Suds and water solution, always wiping in the direction of the grain.  

Executive break room

The sink in the Executive Break Room posed a special challenge as the water seems especially hard, leaving stubborn water spots and other mineral deposits. Azucena encouraged me to join her in this task and thanks to her Toothpaste Scrub, those spots lifted right up and away. It even eliminates grime or odor on the underside of the sink flange, an oft missed spot that contributes to musty smells. This sink also has a garbage disposal, which she deodorizes with vinegar and baking soda.

Floors

The three hard floors in the plant that Azucena cleans are tile, wood, and laminate. Azucena cleans these with a string mop dunked in a solution of Sal Suds and water – wringing out the mop well before applying it to the floor. For fun, Azucena adds essential oils to the mop bucket. To be sure floors are ready for immediate use, she dries the floor with a flat mophead pad.

Carpets 

To clean carpets with the carpet machine, the crew uses a drop or two of Sal Suds and water. That’s it.

Offices

Wood and laminate desks  

The day I was following her around, Azucena blended up water with the Sandalwood Jasmine Pure-Castile Soap for cleaning the office desks. (This is a scent that we sell in a limited release in the fall. Sign up for my newsletter to be notified when it’s available.) This removes grime and gives the desks a deep rich color and shine. After cleaning, she dries them with a dry microfiber cloth for the best shine. 

Computers 

Azucena is careful with computer screens and uses a microfiber cloth barely moistened with alcohol on the screens. Any more than that can damage the screen. She also uses alcohol for the keyboards, spraying the cloth and then wiping the keys. 

Windows

As with the mirrors, Azucena washes windows by spraying the cloth with the Glass Cleaning Spray and then wiping the glass.

Walls 

Any marks or grime on walls, Azucena tackles with the Sal Suds Cleaning Spray. 

Stainless steel door plate 

Many of the office doors have stainless steel plates which receive many handprints throughout the day. Azucena polished these up with her Toothpaste solution and then gave them a final wipe for shine with the Glass Cleaning Spray.

Disinfection

While Azucena does not disinfect every surface, she does use 90% isopropyl alcohol to kill any residual germs on oft-touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches, and toilet flush handles. 

On a rotating basis, the custodial crew tackles air vents, the bottoms of tables, and the undersides of chairs to be sure there is no unseen grime escaping the cleaning cloth. For these spots, they’ll use the Sal Suds Cleaning Spray or pour the solution into a bucket to dunk a cloth and scrub.

Cleaning healthy, cleaning well

The Dr. Bronner’s HQ is a busy place and every area is heavily used. While the custodial crew works incredibly hard to keep the facilities clean and ready, their methods and cleaning solutions are at the same time incredibly uncomplicated. There has been no sacrifice of quality by using these non-toxic cleaners and the benefit to the custodial crew themselves, with the decreased exposure to hazardous compounds, is immeasurable. Also, there are no residual fumes in the air to impact others who enter the spaces.

I so appreciate this opportunity to trace the footsteps of the custodial staff. I want to give a special thank you to Azucena for sharing her time and all her knowledge, as well as to Jose Barrera, the Janitorial Lead, for helping to orchestrate this day together, and to Adolfo Brito, who works second shift with Azucena. And lastly a shout out to the multi-talented Ernesto Borges, who works with our Magic Foam Experience team and is also a superb photographer for taking all our pictures.

* Sal Suds cleaner shows >60% biodegradation after 28 days per ISO 14593.

Further Reading:

• Mopping with Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap or Sal Suds
• The Low Cost of Green Cleaning
• My Cleaning Cabinet