The evolution of cleaning technology

FOR MANY years the words “cleaning” and “technology” were rarely used together in the same sentence.

This is because cleaning was traditionally a simple process – one that involved the use of water, soap, a great deal of manual labour and very little else. But times have changed and technology is now playing a major role in helping to take the hard graft away from cleaning. So, where did it all start?

Unsurprisingly, the earliest cleaning aids tended to be derived from nature. Vinegar and lemon juice were both discovered to be natural cleaning agents while abrasive substances such as sand and crushed eggshells were widely used for scrubbing applications, such as removing residues from pots and pans. And soft cloths and ostrich feathers were used for dusting.

Soap has been in existence since around 2800 BC and is thought to have been invented by the Babylonians. Early soaps consisted of a mixture of animal fats, wood ash and water and these were used for a range of applications such as washing clothes and removing stains as well as for personal hygiene.

Ailments and challenges

However, the task of cleaning has always involved hard work which meant operators through the ages have no doubt suffered from a range of work-related ailments such as back strains, musculoskeletal disorders, sore hands and general physical exhaustion. So there has long been a need for inventors and pioneers to come up with solutions designed to ease the burden for the cleaner - while also making the whole process more efficient.

The laborious task of floor-cleaning became considerably less onerous in the late 1400s with the advent of the humble mop. These early mops were used by sailors to swab ship decks and were comprised of lengths of thick rope attached to a wooden handle. The rough texture and absorbent qualities of the rope “mop head” enabled the deck hand to scrub surfaces quickly and efficiently.

Various refinements have been introduced to mops over the centuries. American inventor Jacob Howe patented a mop holder in 1837 while Armenian Peter Vosbikianinvented a sponge mop in 1950. This used a lever and a flat strip of metal to squeeze the mop dry. Meanwhile, householders were making their own mops out of old pieces of cloth, a handle and a long nail – a “mop nail” – which had a wide flat head that was used to hold the various elements in place. 

However, mops only proved to be useful on hard floors. Many homes were furnished with rugs or carpets and these presented their own challenges. Various methods were used to clean them such as sweeping or beating, or employing home-made agents such as tea leaves or a clay paste.

A breakthrough in cleaning

A breakthrough then occurred in the early 20th century thanks to engineer Hubert Cecil Booth. Born in 1871, Booth’s day-to-day job involved designing suspension bridges and building fairground rides. But his focus changed completely in 1901 when he witnessed the demonstration of a new carpet cleaning machine at London’s Empire Music Hall.

Booth quickly realised that the prototype being shown held one major flaw: it blew rather than sucked. The machine was designed to expel air in a bid to raise dust from a carpet. This dust was then channelled into a purpose-designed collecting bag, resulting in a somewhat hit-and-miss process. When Booth suggested that the dirt could be sucked up through a filter instead, the inventor dismissed his suggestion as impossible. So Booth set out to prove him wrong. 

He experimented by placing a handkerchief “filter” over his mouth and suckingup dust from the arm of a chair, nearly choking himself to death in the process. But Booth eventually developed his own machine and set up the British Vacuum Cleaner Company.

The first vacuum cleaner produced by Booth was much too large to be used inside buildings, so he would take it to people’s houses and feed the hose through thewindow. He would then suck up dirt from the customer’s carpets, attracting a small audience as he did so.

The inventor became notorious for disrupting the traffic and frightening the horses on London’s busy streets, but no-one could deny that his machine actually worked. It was eventually used to clean such prestigious buildings as Buckingham Palace, the Royal Mint and Crystal Palace.

Fast-forward to the 1930s and by now the vacuum cleaner had become a domestic appliance courtesy of William Hoover, who had opened a huge factory near Wembley where he sold his own machines to British householders.

However, vacuum cleaners tended to be too expensive for the average person’s budget and electrical power provision was poor in many homes. Therefore, most householders continued to clean their carpets, rugs and curtains in the more traditional low-tech fashion until after the Second World War. 

The emergence of steam cleaners

Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, steam cleaners were emerging as a direct result of the prohibition era. 

In 1926 a man named Frank W Ofeldt was operating his own illegal whisky still in Pennsylvania when he discovered that his garage floor had become very clean due to the fact that steam was being forced out at high pressures through a small hose. 

Ofeldt, who came from a family of steam engineering pioneers, quickly realised the potential of his discovery. He understood that while steam alone was able to relocate the grease, it was incapable of actually removing it. So he began working on a cleaning contraption whereby wet steam could be mixed with a chemical. The machine he eventually developed became a powerful cleaning tool and it was not long before steam cleaning appliances were being commercially manufactured. 

Sensors and robots

While these are all examples of early cleaning technologies, we tend to associate the term “technology” today with smart solutions such as sensors and digital devices. In fact, sensors appeared in public washrooms as early as the 1980s.

Australian inventor Oliver Wareham patented touch-free taps in 1984, claiming that these sensor-activated appliances would help to prevent bacteria transfer in hospitals and food preparation environments while also reducing the risk of flooding and water waste. 

But to all intents and purposes, cleaning and hygiene remained relatively low-tech formost people. This began to change in the 1990s, however, with the invention of the first cleaning robots. These were hailed as a ground-breaking innovation, even though early models had a tendency to collide with walls, stop short of objects and leave parts of the floor uncleaned.

The 1990s also saw the advent of personal digital assistants, which were hand-held devices featuring a touchscreen and stylus. These enabled cleaners to submit reports in real time in a bid to streamline cleaning rounds. However, with no internet connection available these battery-powered units required the use of a flash-drive or a solid-state memory for storage.

The internet revolution

The arrival of the internet and the mobile phone - and the smartphone in particular - represented a major turning point in cleaning technology.

Early mobiles were relatively simple tools that were mainly used by cleaners and supervisors for transmitting SMS messages and taking low-res images of clean-up situations. But these devices then found a niche in staff-checking systems whereby employees dialled an automatic landline number at the client’s site to verify their presence. If they failed to do so, a text message would automatically be sent to the cleaning company to inform them of a potential no-show.

At around this time, public washrooms were also becoming increasingly high-tech – and not always with efficiency uppermost in mind.

in the early 2000s a number of venues installed “talking toilets” in a bid to engage visitors and attract more custom. At the De Balie cultural centre in Amsterdam, for example, the lavatories would make quips and offer helpful advice and instructions to users. Besides their novelty value, these actually served a purpose in the days before the indoor smoking ban. The De Balie centre would randomly remind guests to avoid smoking in the loo while also urging them to wash their hands after using the facilities.

Another odd techno trend that became fairly common around this time was the see-through washroom. The interior of the toilet cubicles would be clearly visible from the outside when they were empty. But once a guest had stepped in and locked the door, the walls would fog up and the facilities would become reassuringly private.

Such facilities started cropping up in avant-garde bars and restaurants whose managers sought to shock and awe.

New York’s SoHo venue Bar 89 was one such example, while a Thai-Vietnamese restaurant – also in New York – adopted a similar model. Here the diners using the loo would be given a clear view of their fellow customers outside, who disconcertingly appeared to be staring straight in at them. But what these guests were actually seeing was a series of erotic art films that were being projected on to the other side of the one-way mirrored glass.

Another technological trend to emerge at around this time was the urinal video game. Launched in 2011 by British company Captive Media, the games were played via an LCD screen installed above pressure-sensitive urinals. And they allowed visitors to play virtual football, drive a car or operate a tank while using the loo.

The early part of the millennium saw the arrival of another rather unsettling technological trend. Holograms – which were increasingly being used in theme parks and other attractions - began to find their way into the washroom. For example, A Japanese-fusion restaurant in New York named Morimoto used hologram mirrors to immerse the washroom visitor into a seemingly infinite series of cherry blossom reflections. 

And in the ladies’ washrooms of the Katsuya sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, women would be startled at the sight of eerie hologram geisha faces appearing fleetingly in the mirror behind them as they washed their hands.

Handheld technology

The world of digital communications opened up in earnest after the iPhone was launched in 2007. Android alternatives soon followed and suddenly the internet offered a huge range of possibilities. The “internet of things” became a much-uttered catchphrase as everyone attempted to integrate digital solutions into everyday practices to make them more efficient. 

Smartphones are now widely used in the cleaning industry. For example, cleaners now use them to remotely monitor washroom visitor traffic and check on dispenser refill levels. Essity’s own digital solution –Tork Vision Cleaning – uses sensors in the washrooms and dispensers to “connect” the facility. Cleaning and maintenance staff are then able to remotely monitor the washroom via a smartphone or tablet to check when soap and paper supplies are running out or when high traffic means a maintenance check might be likely. 

Such data-driven systems free up time that the cleaner would otherwise have spentmanually checking washrooms. They also enhance the user’s experience because washrooms are kept clean and well stocked at all times.

Meanwhile, cleaning robots have been progressing significantly since those early 1990 models. One pioneering machine was the iRobot Roomba, launched in 2002, which was able to detect dirty spots on the floor and change direction when encountering an obstacle.

Humans were initially required to monitor a cleaning robot’s water supply and battery levels, which made operating the machines a headache. But today’s robots can sense when their battery is running out or when the water supply is running low. They will then direct themselves to the nearest refilling or charging station and address the situation themselves. So, today’s robots are becoming more viable - and also more affordable. 

Many models are able to work to a mapped path and will automatically adjust their parameters for different floor surfaces. They can operate together as a fleet, communicating with one another to ensure that every area of a floor is covered and that no path is unnecessarily cleaned twice. And they will capture data as they work so that supervisors can analyse their performance. This allows them to improve the management of routines, locations and mapping.

The impact of COVID

The cleaning industry underwent a dramatic change in 2020 when COVID swept the globe. It altered the face of cleaning, mainly because public buildings fell empty. And investment in high-tech washroom systems were put on hold as public toilets everywhere were locked shut.

Suddenly those hologram images and ‘talking toilets” seemed irrelevant and frivolous as the topics of health and safety became paramount.

However, see-through toilet walls enjoyed a reprise during the first summer of the pandemic. These were installed in public parks in Tokyo and were again made from "smart glass" which turned opaque when the cubicle was locked and in use. But the aim here was not so much to provide a talking point as to allow COVID-wary people to assess the cleanliness of the facilities before venturing inside.

As people become more concerned about their health, scientists are developing a range of washroom systems designed to analyse the visitor’s urine, temperature and heart rate to detect the early signs of illness. For example, one cloud-connected toilet seat developed by the New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology is capable of tracking blood pressure and blood oxygen levels. 

Meanwhile, mirror-based technology has also began to enjoy something of a reprise. A “smart ladies room” was recently introduced into a shopping precinct in China. This uses augmented reality-powered digital screens in the ladies’ toilets to allow women to virtually try on make-up. The screens act as intelligent mirrors that enable female visitors to see how a particular lipstick, blusher, eyeliner or eyeshadow would look on them.

Washroom technology

Back in the washroom, technology is continuing to help improve efficiency, optimise hygiene and enhance the visitor experience.

For example, washroom traffic can be speeded up in busy facilities such as airports with the aid of sensor-operated lights above each cubicle. These turn green when a toilet is empty and red when it is occupied to make it easier for visitors to pinpoint those cubicles that are available for use.

And many large washrooms are now using “smiley” feedback panels allowing visitors to rate their washroom experience by pressing a red, amber or green button. Such systems provide valuable data for washroom managers while enabling them to respond immediately to any poor feedback. 

Technology has come a long way since the earliest mops, vacuum cleaners and steam-cleaning equipment. It is expanding exponentially and creating an ever-increasing range of possibilities for the cleaning and hygiene sector. And it is poised to expand our horizons beyond anything we could possibly imagine. 

Hiccoughs will occur from time to time and manufacturers will step up to address them. But digital cleaning is here to stay and the technology will only improve as the relationship between humans and technology progresses and the systems become more sophisticated. And the result for us all will be cleaner spaces, enhanced efficiency and a happier workforce.

​Amelia Baker​​​ is regional brand activation manager at Essity Professional Hygiene​​​​

For more information, visit www.tork.co.uk/visioncleaning​ or essity.com

TEL: +44 (0)1582 677400​​​​