How Great is the Role of Trolleys?

Do you use a trolley to do your housekeeping? Here’s why you should!

Housekeeping is one of the crucial ingredients of success when it comes to the hospitality businesses. It may often go unnoticed as compared to the work of managers but without the housekeeping staff there won’t be cleanliness, the factor often considered to be the decisive one in guest and customer satisfaction. It can be stressful and exhausting, especially when there’s poor planning which immediately affects productivity, though the lack of suitable equipment certainly slows things down as well. A great example would be the lack of trolley for housekeeping, the piece of equipment designed for efficiency.  

This being said, it’s important to acquire the needed carts, but knowing the wide variety available at stores there are things to be considered to make the right choice, otherwise there’s the risk of negatively affecting the employee’s work routine.

Features to Assess

The reason trolleys are the basics for the housekeeping department is the fact they’re created to have everything the employees need at hand instead of having to do countless trips back and forth to the supply closet, so the outcome would be better economisation of time and an increase in productivity at the benefit of the whole company or hotel. In other words, what you invest now in equipment would later pay off in job well done, and as a result positively affect profits. To be able to decide on the exact trolley for housekeeping needed, out of a wide range of options, you have to first calculate the best size that would suit the area where cleaning will take place, thinking of the ease of mobility through the corridors and rooms, as well as the spacing between shelves, the amount of cleaning supplies and their type.

Moreover, it’s crucial to look into the capacity of the specific design, followed by the flexibility for more versatile supplies (e.g. linen collection, mops, paper towels), and tool organisation. Having in mind time is money a trolley wouldn’t serve much if one has to waste time in trying to find a certain tool or cleaning product. Speaking of waste, a useful cleaning cart would be one that has a separate garbage compartment also, along with a detergent chamber and restock shelf to further cut down on the trips to get the necessary supplies and allow employees to carry out quality work much faster.

Bearing in mind the load can be heavy, more so when carried from room to room, the housekeeping trolley has to be sturdy so the materials it’s made of have a say in the choice too. To be sure you buy quality created to serve time and time again, look for construction made of strong materials such as aluminium and reinforced polymer. In terms of properties, you might find the smooth and easy-to-clean surface, casters with brakes, organisers, plastic buckets and adjustable compartments handy but don’t forget the wheels and the handles either as they are responsible for carrying the load around. In case you require more accessories, the solution would be to look for more advanced carts that can fit everything you need in the design, or opt for a customised alternative.

The Much-Needed Benefits

Now that you know how to pick, it’s nice to give the benefits a thought to convince you as to why buying a trolley for housekeeping is the right investment. Starting from the flexibility of carts with a greater number of shelving and compartments, they make it easy for the staff to carry a greater volume of items, not strictly cleaning supplies but supplies needed for the rooms too so again there’s the time factor. When there are cuts in the labour costs and a boost in productivity, naturally the revenue rises. Though they’re meant for cleaning, they wouldn’t do much good unless they’re easy to clean which is exactly what you get with the easy-to-clean surface and zipped garbage bags; Imagine a cleaning cart that’s a nightmare to clean afterwards!

The lightweight yet sturdy design, ergonomic handles and compartments to store items safely are all aspects that make the trolleys secure and easy to operate and when there’s secure material handling equipment, there are lesser risks for accidents and injuries, as well as damages to the equipment.

Assessing the Disruptions

Even when the suitable trolley for housekeeping is acquired, it wouldn’t do the staff much favour unless it’s stocked properly. This refers both to the quantity and the type of supplies needed to get all the cleaning and housekeeping work done; when it isn’t poorly stocked, employees wouldn’t have to run for supplies and leave the cart unattended. Since it’s also connected to the safety of the staff, it’s recommended to do some training as soon as the new equipment arrives, to show the best ways to stack it up without doing it in such a manner that would pose the threat of accidents, like placing the heavy items on the top shelves instead of the bottom or misplacing them from their rightful compartments.

In case the trolley can’t hold up as much as there’s a load to carry, it’s best to avoid overloading and do the refill in between shifts or after a break. Likewise, consider it as housekeeping etiquette to always position the cart next to the wall and out of the way of guests and customers, otherwise the path is obstructed. If some of the items are too heavy, it’s better to learn how to pick them up correctly and ask for help, if necessary to avoid MSDs same as with doing the right movements when cleaning knowing how physically straining it can be. Additionally, it’s essential that there’s a bigger stock of towels and linen because the last thing you need is housekeeping being late due to a lack of either of these.

Time is of the essence, so the staff should be distracted the least possible with extra tasks. Finally, the training also must consist of learning how to do regular check-ups to make sure the trolley is in order; this way not only would the employees prevent accidents from happening, but they’d notify an issue as early as possible, enabling a timely repair. To sum it up, trolleys are crucial for successful housekeeping!