KUU PEDRO >> "The company I work for, ABM, cleans all sorts of stuff, but I'm good at cleaning elevators, so that's mostly what they assign me to. Don't want to do it forever, but I get satisfaction out of making the elevator nicer. Elevator cleaner
High traffic means elevators should
get a scrubbing five days a weekEvery elevator is different. The tools you use are mostly metal polish and brass cleaner, vacuums and rags and brushes. The big thing is the threshhold, the tracks where the doors open and close. You want the metal sheen to be the same both inside the elevator and whatever floor it's on.
To get it up to par, you really have to get down on your hands and knees and vacuum the debris out of the tracks. Some buildings don't have electrical outlets in the hallway near the elevator; I don't understand that. Maintenance and cleaning should be part of a building's design.
Most threshholds are stainless steel. Vacuum it, polish it, move on the panels and buttons. You just wipe them down with rags and cleaner.
Some elevators are dirtier than others; depends on how long they go between cleanings. So many people ride the elevators that they need to be cleaned all the time, five days a week, maybe. Imagine if hundreds of people got in and out of your car all day long! It'd be a mess."
Burl Burlingame, bburlingame@starbulletin.com
At Work is a feature on Hawaii's work force.
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