If you own a restaurant, you need to create a sense of cleanliness from the moment your diners see the exterior of your building. To achieve this feat, once a year, you should hire pressure washing equipment and clean the outside of your establishment. Here are five tips to guide you:
1. Choose pressure washing equipment with professional-grade capacity
When you start looking at pressure washing equipment for your restaurant's exterior, you will find a range of choices from small machines designed for homeowners to professional-grade machines. Ideally, to get your establishment truly clean, you want to opt for the latter.
When searching for the right machine, look both at the pressure and the flow rate. Together, these two attributes define the machine's cleaning capacity and its effectiveness.
2. Start with a wide fan pattern
When you first start spraying the outside of your building with your pressure washing equipment, keep in mind that pressure washing can be extremely powerful. It is used not only to wash off wasps nests, spider webs, built-up grime and dirt. Rather, it is also used for stripping paint and other more aggressive pursuits.
To ensure your equipment doesn't cause any unwanted damage, start with a nozzle that has a wide fan pattern. That creates a gentler process. If it doesn't clean as well as you like, switch to a nozzle with a thinner fan pattern. In most cases, this is measured in degrees, and the lower the number of degrees, the thinner the fan.
Avoid 0 degree nozzles unless you have a special need such as removing hardened mud.
3. Clean from the bottom and rinse from the top
Unfortunately, when most people start spraying a structure with their pressure washer, whether it is a house, a restaurant or another type of building, they start spraying at the top. This makes sense as dirt and water run downward, but surprisingly, it isn't the most effective method.
Instead, start spraying the bottom of your building. Once a horizontal band of your building starts to look clean, move up slightly. When you reach the top of the building, it is time to rinse.
Remove the soap from the reservoir of the pressure washer, and rinse from the top down using clean water.
4. Use caution while blasting
While spraying your building, remember to exercise a bit of caution. Keep your jet of water away from outlets and lights, and do not spray at the electrical metre or the spots where service cables or wires enter your building.
If you have a restaurant in a building with siding, do not spray upward under the siding as that could pull it loose or otherwise damage the siding. Do not get water inside your building by spraying at vents.
5. Don't forget to clean other parts of your restaurant
When you have the pressure washing equipment, remember that it doesn't just have to be used for the outside of your restaurant. Ideally, you should hire the high pressure cleaning equipment once a year – spring is a great time as you can clean the outside of your building and your patio before the summer season starts.
While you have the equipment, use it to spray the sidewalk in front of your establishment. Pressure washing can remove cement stains as well as addressing the built-up debris in pavement cracks. Take the pressure washing equipment to your patio and clean not only the floor but also all of your outdoor dining tables.
Finally, bring your rubbish bins and your kitchen mats outside and give them an extra special spray down. By following these tips, you will have a clean and inviting restaurant exterior which will help to create a great first impression with new and old diners.
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