How to Keep Your Plastic Pallets Clean and Sanitary
Hygiene and sanitization in the food and pharmaceutical industries are a timeless concern, especially when it comes to equipment like pallets, which need to remain clean and sanitary to move food, beverages and pharmaceuticals. However, many underestimate the benefits of regularly cleaning pallets and overestimate how easy it is to properly clean them.
The type of pallet can impact how easy it is to clean and sanitize. Wood pallets are a popular choice, but they may not be as beneficial to the food and pharmaceutical industries as plastic pallets.
Benefits of Plastic Pallets
One of the main benefits of plastic pallets is that they are easier to sanitize because of the way they are made. Unlike wood, plastic pallets are built from a smooth, non-porous material that you can easily clean.
Wood is a porous material, which means it is full of tiny crevices. Dirt and bacteria can settle into these small spaces, making the wood surface almost impossible to clean completely. This dirt and bacteria can then be transferred to shipments, potentially contaminating them. The porousness of wood also makes it a magnet for any chemicals or substances that touch it, including cleaning chemicals and waste.
Plastic pallets are far easier to clean with confidence. Unlike wood pallets, which absorb liquids and hold them — resulting in a higher risk of bacteria and odor — liquids dry or slide off plastic easily. Since there are no small crevices for bacteria and dirt to collect on plastic, a quick wipe with a rag can help to clean off most contaminants. Any chemicals or disinfectants used to clean plastic won’t settle on its surface for long, meaning food shipments are less likely to become contaminated by cleaners.
Plastic pallets are fast becoming the standard because they are:
- Safe: Plastic pallets are molded with heat to form a single piece of equipment that isn’t held together with extra materials, like nails or toxic adhesives. Plastic pallets are much safer because they reduce the chances of workplace injury, such as being scratched or stabbed by a rusty nail. The lack of nails also reduces the chances of products being destroyed by stray nails or sharp, jagged pieces of wood.
- Lightweight: Plastic pallets come in many sizes, shapes, and constructions. One of the most common are the light weight nestable plastic pallets which are able to handle thousands of pounds of weight depending on its design. Nestable pallets are great for export as well as in-house storage. Since they designed to be nested within each other you can maximize space both within your warehouse and shipping container.
- Resistant: From a variety of weather conditions to everyday warehouse spills, plastic pallets are durable and long-lasting, thanks to their material. Unlike wood, which can rot and become brittle when exposed to liquids, plastic is unlikely to be ruined by liquids and less likely to develop cracks.
- Clean: Plastic pallets are washable by nature and so they are a great choice to bring cleanliness not only to the pallets but also to the loads that rest on them. With no cause of contamination coming from pallets the greater opportunity for a cleaner work environment.
Importance of Keeping Plastic Pallets Clean
Plastic pallets are popular in the food industry because they are easier to keep clean and sanitized. Contamination of any sort can devastate entire shipments, resulting in loss of revenue — and perhaps also reputation.
Though they cannot retain substances the way wooden pallets do, dirt, grime and grease can build up on the surface of plastic pallets. Allowing this waste to settle will end up reducing the life of the pallets because it wears down the plastic. If you want to learn how to protect pallets, you’ll need to know how to regularly clean and sanitize them.
In addition to warehouse dirt and grime, the types of food stored or transported on the pallets can affect shipments as well. Fresh produce can become contaminated if it’s stored or transported on unwashed plastic pallets that were previously used to store or transport meat products. The blood and bacteria can rot the vegetables an end up making consumers sick. The same can apply to the storage and transportation of pharmaceuticals, leading to contaminated medication.
A logistics company is responsible for ensuring that clients’ products are not contaminated. Contaminated products put the public at risk and may be recalled, which negatively impacts the manufacturer’s reputation and revenue.
Today, a dedication to cleanliness and sanitation is more important than ever, especially when it comes to food. Researchers have identified more than 200 different foodborne illnesses, which lead to about 48 million people getting sick every year. Approximately 128,000 of these illnesses are serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, and about 3,000 are fatal. The public needs to be sure that the products they are buying are safe and follow FDA regulations every step of the way, which includes warehousing and transportation.
Consistent cleaning can seem like a chore, but it’s crucial now more than ever. Luckily, knowing how to keep your plastic pallets clean is a lot simpler than you may think, thanks to equipment that is designed with efficiency and sanitary standards in mind.
How to Clean Plastic Pallets
The method you use to clean plastic pallets will likely depend on what you’re trying to remove. Generally, there are three easy ways to clean plastic pallets:
1. High-Pressure Washing
For really deep or hard-to-clean substances, such as grime and grease, a high-pressure washer is the best tool. High-pressure washers use a controlled stream of water to blast off stubborn dirt. The high pressure is strong enough to clean without breaking the pallet itself, thanks to the fact that plastic is far sturdier than wood.
Instead, the high-pressure stream of water cleans off grease and debris from several surfaces with one easy, portable machine. There are also options for hot or cold water, and the machines come with a hand wand and high-impact nozzles, allowing more control over the water stream.
2. Power-Washing
An industrial power washer is one easy way to clean plastic pallets, and it’s great for everyday cleaning, which helps maintain the longevity of plastic pallets. Ideal for sanitizing, industrial washers are a useful investment to aid your dedication to cleanliness. These washers are able to clean off everything, from dirt and allergens to powders and dyes, leaving your plastic pallet ready to use.
Unlike a high-pressured washer, which is ideal for more stubborn substances, a power washer is capable of washing several hundred plastic pallets per hour. Plastic pallets generally dry fairly quickly, but the power washer also comes with a dryer attachment that blows off up to 95% of the water to help speed up the cleaning process without sacrificing quality.
One of the biggest benefits of buying a pallet washer is its speed. In a short time, you can clean and dry 200 pallets and leave them ready to be reused right away. Or, you can pack up the freshly washed pallets to be used later. Regularly washing and sanitizing your plastic pallets will also help them last longer. The dirt that can build up on plastic will eventually weaken it, causing it to break.
3. Manual Washing
While manual washing seems to be self-explanatory, there’s a little more to it than just hand washing plastic pallets. Hand washing is one form of manual washing, but there is another form that uses a power wash to which the pallets need to be manually fed.
Hand washing pallets is the most economic option, but it’s also the least efficient. It takes up a lot of time to ensure adequate cleaning and sanitizing — plus, there’s a higher risk of leftover soap residue, which prevents it from being sterile. Hand washing requires knowledge of certain plastic palette cleaning tips to get stubborn dirt and grime off the surface. If your pallets are used for the food or pharmaceutical industries, you need to use disinfectant and soap that’s safe to be around food.
A manual power washer is a viable option for those who don’t have cavernous warehouses with thousands of pallets that need to be cleaned regularly. Smaller warehouses can take advantage of the benefits of a power washer by investing in a manual option, such as Cherry Industrial Equipment’s PPW-2500 Manual Pallet Washer.
Automated vs. Manual Washing
The importance of pallet-washing equipment is undeniable, but the type of washing equipment you choose depends on several factors. Mainly, the size and type of business. In food, beverage or pharmaceutical industries, hygiene is extremely important, and there are federal guidelines by which to comply.
The unfortunate reality is that manual washing is fallible, regardless of whether you use a washer. Hand washing is time-consuming and ineffective for larger warehouses — and while manual washers are better than hand washing, they still aren’t as efficient as automated washers. Manual washers still require human labor to feed the pallets into the machine, which makes the number of pallets cleaned dependent on the number of workers and their speed.
Fully automated washers, especially those with the dryer add-on, allow you to confidently clean and sanitize your plastic pallets in a way that adheres to federal regulations. Pallet washer capabilities help reduce the margin of error present with manual labor because these machines thrive on repetitive tasks. They also tend to be far more thorough than manual washing, and they provide consistency.
The standard of cleanliness that these machines provide is beyond anything manual labor can achieve. Automated washers are also safer to use, which reduces the risk of workplace injuries.
How to Sanitize Plastic Pallets
Cleaning is one thing — but are your plastic pallets sanitary as well? Clean and sanitary aren’t always interchangeable, and the differentiation matters more when it comes to handling food. Sanitizing and sterilizing plastic pallets is crucial in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Contamination by bacteria or allergens can both destroy products and the public’s trust in your business, so upholding high standards of sanitization is a best practice.
When cleaning plastic pallets, be sure to use heat. High-pressure steaming or using a high-pressure washer with hot water is a better way to ensure your pallets are sanitized. Heat is ideal for killing germs and bacteria, particularly those that disinfectants or other cleaners may have missed. Heat is an added measure to ensure sterilization of the pallets, allowing them to be safely used to transport or store food, pharmaceuticals or other sensitive items.
Heat is also useful for very stubborn stains, like caked-on grime or oil. If a high-pressure washer alone isn’t doing the trick, try using hot water. The heat from the water will allow the grime or oil to loosen up, making it easier to wash away. This avoids exposing the plastic pallet to excessive amounts of water pressure, which can do more harm than good.
However, you should also be careful of raising the temperature too much, since excessively hot water can ruin the plastic pallets. Alternately, you can also use high-temperature steaming to loosen the grime and oil before washing it off, providing an additional level of cleanliness.
Having a designated cleaning room or area is also best practice, especially for sanitizing equipment. The risk of contaminants attaching to the newly cleaned and sanitized pallets is increased if they’re washed and stored in a place that isn’t sanitary. A dedicated room for sanitizing plastic pallets allows you to clean and hang them to dry — and when they’re fully dry, they can be packed away. This way, you’ll be confident your plastic pallets are clean and sanitized when you use them next.
Pallet Washers From Cherry’s Industrial Equipment
For more than 30 years, Cherry’s has been dedicated to providing equipment to help improve warehouse efficiency and productivity. Our pallets and pallet washers are just some of the ways we do this. Our trained and knowledgeable staff and client-centered business model has helped make us America’s leading source for pallets and pallet washers.
Guarantee the cleanliness of your products by upgrading or replacing your automated pallet washer with one from Cherry’s. If you’re looking for more information or would like to request a quote, our knowledgeable representatives are ready to help. Just call 800-350-0011 or fill out the online contact form today.