Do your brushes clog?

Discover how you can solve this frustrating problem

Brushes becoming clogged with debris is an often-encountered obstacle during cleaning. When brushes are clogged, their efficiency and efficacy decrease. You will also find that, if the brushware is not properly cleaned between uses, the clogging will only worsen over time, and it will become more difficult and time-consuming to clean.

More importantly, if the brush is not cleaned properly between uses, it becomes a cross-contamination threat. The debris trapped inside can harbor harmful microorganisms and even attract pests. A study by Campden BRI found that 47% of the cleaning equipment sampled was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This underscores that the cleaning of cleaning equipment is vital.

Two of the largest global food safety standards, BRCGS and FSSC 22000, also recognise the importance of cleaning the cleaning equipment.

Consequently, not cleaning your cleaning tools could have serious implications for your product safety and quality. This could result in costly product rejection and recalls, harm to the consumer, and a non-compliance from your auditor.

Protect your brand and your business

When it comes to optimizing your food safety in regards to cleaning tools, the appropriate selection and maintenance of the tools you use are essential.

Tool selection

Studies conducted by Vikan and independent test laboratories and published in the Journal of Hygienic Engineering and Design showed that before the introduction of Ultra Safe Technology, all food industry brushware had significant hygienic design issues. This means that all brushes were difficult to clean. UST introduced two main advantages to improve cleanability and avoid clogging of brushes:

1. New UST technology ensures that the deep holes and crevices that you see in drilled and stapled and resin set brushware are eliminated. This takes away a serious contamination trap.

2. The unique bristle pattern not only aids efficacy, it also ensures that the brush is easier to clean and significantly reduces bristle clogging. 

Tool maintenance

At Vikan, we recommend conducting a risk assessment to ensure the optimal cleaning schedule and procedure for your cleaning tools. There are many variables, such as the food stuff you produce, the surface to be cleaned, wet or dry cleaning methods, direct or non-direct contact with food, the chemicals you use, etc.

The decision tree below can be used as a generalized guide to the thought process that needs to be applied.

However, for more comprehensive advice and guidance, please download our white paper, Optimising Food Safety Through Good Cleaning Tool Maintenance, or email us at cs@vikan.com.

Here to help

You're invited to trial Ultra Safe Technology and see whether it can help you improve food safety and quality, cleaning efficacy, and audit compliance.

We offer free samples of Ultra Safe Technology brushes and brooms. Please contact our customer service department for more information.