ORLANDO—With an estimated 5,000 customers filling the trade show floor at last month’s eighth annual Grainger Show, here, one or two aisles were particularly crowded. Not surprising, considering that these were the aisles devoted to what some would call “among the essentials” of the hotel business, namely housekeeping and janitorial supplies.
According to executives at Grainger, the large distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products to numerous industries, including the hospitality industry, the popularity of this product category can also be attributed to housekeeping and janitorial supplies’ high “green profile.”
Once known for the chemicals and additives they used, manufacturers of these products have, in the course of the past decade, transformed themselves into much more proactive stewards of the environment. And as the Grainger event demonstrated, that effort has continued into 2012.
“Top trends in the lodging industry today include reducing water waste, conserving energy and removing substances from the environment that can be harmful to people or the planet,” reported Grainger product strategy manager Walter Gluzkin. “Accordingly, the use of industrial chemicals remains a big issue when it comes to going green.”
Lake Forest, IL-based Grainger responded to the chemical question last year by introducing the Ionator EXP as part of its Tough Guy private-label brand.
“It uses tap water that housekeepers can take right from the sink in the guestroom bathroom,” explained Dave Moisa, an associate product manager who is responsible for the Tough Guy brand, one of 12 private-label brands Grainger has in its portfolio.
“It’s a totally green product in that it entails a small ionized charge that goes through the water in the bottle, in turn transforming the water into a cleaning agent,” Moisa continued.
A trigger sprayer attached to the bottle lays the solution down on whatever surface is being cleaned. “It kills bacteria on contact. But it’s also good for sustainability because it allows the customer to eliminate the chemical component of the product entirely,” said Moisa.
Housekeepers like the product because in addition to the sustainability benefit, it’s also a time saver. “Being able to refill the bottle at the bathroom sink, it saves them having to go back out to their housekeeping cart in the corridor or find a water source somewhere in the building,” he said.
Last year was the Ionator EXP’s first year on the market, so while it was well received by customers, Moisa still described the year as a learning experience. “But this year we’re really starting to see market penetration grow and the product begin to gain a following,” he said.
Gluzkin and Moisa agreed that sustainability remains “a real hot point” with a lot of their customers. The fewer chemicals that are used, the better. But in situations where it’s not yet possible to eliminate chemicals entirely, Grainger and its suppliers are still creating products that represent a step forward.
“We have products where the chemical component makes them a lot less harsh than they used to be. They don’t damage the surface of furniture, for example, no less cause a potentially harmful allergic reaction in guests,” Gluzkin noted.
He cites another advantage. “Even when you do need to use chemicals in a product, you may not need to use as much,” he said, adding that “guests really don’t want to step into a room where there’s a strong chemical smell.”
On the subject of cost, Gluzkin said that for the most part, the new generation of green housekeeping and janitorial products don’t necessarily cost more than the generation of products they’re replacing. In some cases, the cost is less. With the Ionator EXP, there’s an upfront cost, but with repeated uses, the cost differential evens out. “The same applies to many other green products,” he explained.
Air filters are another example. They capture airborne particles, removing allergens from the air, including mold, lint and dust. “They may cost a bit more initially, but you probably don’t have to replace the filter for up to 90 days. So there’s not only a cost savings there, but a labor savings as well,” Gluzkin said.
Housekeepers and maintenance engineers may like the idea of being able to refill the Ionator bottle more easily, but in other ways—subtle or otherwise—they may be resistant to change. “Many housekeepers have been trained to believe that the best way to clean a room is the traditional way, using traditional products, regardless of how green they may or may not be,” Gluzkin reported. “More training is in order.”