Air Freshening – Not Just a Fragrance

The importance of air freshening in the washroom is often underrated. Ceris Burns of Kennedy Hygiene Products, talks to three individuals from property management and hygiene service who explain the crucial role that air freshening plays.

John Harding is Building Manager at the International Press Centre building, London EC4, with Property Management company Nelson Bakewell.

The International Press Centre is a 16 storey building occupied by approximately 450 people, primarily solicitors, accountants and some companies linked to neighbouring Fleet Street.

Competitive property market

Harding explains: "As the property market has become more and more competitive, people have started to demand more from commercial property rental. These days they even pay close attention to the condition of the washrooms and those sorts of things. An air freshening unit gives an immediate impression of cleanliness and helps towards creating a pleasant overall ambience. First and foremost the unit must function efficiently, but the aesthetics of the dispenser also have a part to play. For this reason we prefer to install integrated matching washroom dispensers such as the Kennedy range. Our washrooms smell good and look good, a winning combination that means nil complaints from owners or tenants".

Alan Donnelly is Senior Contracts Manager with Property Management Service Company King Sturge. King Sturge employs approximately 2500 staff and manages property across the U.K and Europe.

King Sturge has recently installed Kennedy Hygiene Products' Cresta programmable air freshener into 6 of their sites.

Odour controlled effectively

Donnelly explains: "It is our common practise to install air fresheners in the washrooms of all our properties. It's important because washroom malodour doesn't just affect the washroom itself. I remember one office site in particular being a problem. It is occupied by approximately 800 staff and on some of the floors washrooms are located in common areas such as the main entrance and the lobbies. Before we installed the air fresheners, unpleasant smells wafted into these common areas when washroom doors were opened. We installed the Cresta programmable air freshener which brought an immediate solution to this unsavoury situation".

Facility managers are not the only ones to sing the praises of air freshening.

A fragrant door opener for the service provider

Shireen Pope is Director of service provider Capital Hygiene. "If it smells clean, it really does give the impression that it is clean", says Shireen. "The air freshener is the only unit that gives us instant results in the washroom. It makes a big difference and being a hygiene service provider, it's definitely a door opener for us. We started out 3 years ago and have grown from 3 to 15 staff in that short time. Without doubt, air fresheners have certainly opened a number of new contracts for us".

70% of all washrooms have air fresheners

Once it was a luxury to have an air freshener, however, over the last few years, establishments have started to spend more voluntarily on the provision of washroom facilities. Some companies will even stretch to luxury chrome units. "Around 70% of all washrooms are now kitted out with an air freshener. After saying this it doesn't mean to say that they are all serviced!" laughs Shireen.

Company managers are much more in the know. They spend more on washroom hygiene provision and are also more demanding. They are more astute and being wary of getting tied into contracts, shorter 3 year contracts are now the norm. In brief, establishments provide smarter washrooms and are better at keeping service providers on their toes!

The combined air freshening solution

The solution is to find and eliminate the malodour at source rather than just trying to mask it with an air freshener. A truly clean solution is a combination of quashing the malodour and installing a good air freshening unit.

Shireen explains: "You get to know the smells. In 7 out of 10 cases, in men's toilets it's the urinals that cause the smell. Sometimes the problem is as simple as no ventilation in the washroom or an old mop in the cleaning cupboard!"

Detect, Eliminate, Clean, Deodorise

"In any case, the malodour must be detected and eliminated, the area thoroughly cleaned and then at this point we install air fresheners. In men's washrooms we install sanitizers to prevent smells, in addition to air fresheners placed directly above the urinals to counteract malodour".

"We pride ourselves in service", adds Shireen. "If our customer has a problem we jump. After saying this we have to have reliable, efficient washroom products to enable us to provide an effective solution".

The ideal Air Freshener

An air freshening unit needs to be well designed, compact, efficient, be and look good quality, whilst being pleasing to the eye. No mean feat.

Capital Hygiene installs Kennedy's Cresta Programmable air freshener in washrooms on an on-going basis. "It's important for us to be able to set the unit at different frequencies and the Cresta provides for this. For example, in a male washroom we would set the unit on high and use a strong fragrance such as vanilla. Meanwhile, in offices and conference halls a low frequency setting, say every 28 minutes coupled with a lighter fragrance would do the trick".

"We tend to alternate fragrances so people don't get bored and also to ensure that our customers notice that the unit has been serviced", concludes Shireen.

A New Complete Solution at the Cleaning Show

Kennedy Hygiene Products will be launching a new complete solution for air freshening this spring. SPA, an unconventional fully programmable air freshening unit and Freedom in Fragrance^TM, a tasteful and effective new fragrance range. The new solution is to be showcased at the Cleaning Show at the NEC, this March.