Air and water… See it work…

Air and water… Not a good combo

Early on we learned that mechanical action was a huge factor in the WATCH principles of cleaning. In warewashing that element comes in the form of impingement.

But if enough air becomes entrapped in the wash tank water the impingement force of the pattern is greatly diminished. Its unwanted affect there is the same as the desirable effect an aerated faucet nozzle provides in sinks to eliminate splashing.

In the machine’s wash tank that entrapped air is anything but desirable. At its worst, that air / water problem comes in the form of foaming. There the water is so full of entrapped air that pretty much all the pump can do is add more foam until it billows out of the machine and you get the call!

The normal cause of foam – aside from some knucklehead dumping pot and pan soap in the machine, lies in poor prescrapping and or a menu that’s super heavy in greasy residue. Those fats can react with the caustic in our detergent where it converts it into old fashioned (sudsy) lye soap.

That instance aside, the more common culprit is too infrequently draining and refilling of the wash tank. That oversight can allow the accumulation of soils to build to a tipping point when the detergents’ defoaming properties are simply overwhelmed.

Next up: How that defoamer works.

See it work… And sell it

Watching the seemingly never ending stream of TV ads for some new $30 a quart wonder cleaner being demonstrated ought to tell us something.

That something is that while we’re unimpressed by the simple fact that an APC will remove dirt, it’s not a yawner to a lot of people. And that attests to the fact that demonstration selling is alive and well – if it’s even only on the small screen.

Demonstration selling is powerful and, done well, it’s still one of the most effective ways to sell the performance of a degreaser. And there’s a way to amplify that presentation.

Pour the degreaser into a spray bottle then fill it with (hot) water in front of the buyer before cleaning that one quarry tile square. That’ll elevate the power of your demo beyond just telling them it’s diluted 1:10. Now pour half out and refill the bottle and repeat the demo!

Finally top it off by wiping that clean surface with a white cloth to prove how completely that film was removed. No matter what the strategy, demonstration selling works, and we operate at our own peril when we forget that truth.

Next up: Selling broken glass.