Cleaning is a Science: International Experts Shared Knowledge in Tallinn

Experts from ISSA emphasized that cleaning is not merely an opinion, but a science that requires a shared understanding across Europe.

On April 8–9, 2025, experts from ISSA visited Tallinn with the aim of sharing experiences on developing the cleaning sector and working together to ensure that professional qualification exams within the EQF framework could be more broadly implemented across Europe. This opportunity was made possible by the Erasmus+ learning mobility project No. 2024-1-EE01-KA121-VET-000236654, which supported the invitation of international experts to Estonia and enabled knowledge exchange in an international environment.

During the two-day program in Tallinn, activities included on-site observation of both the theoretical and practical parts of the qualification exam, participation in exam preparation training, a consortium meeting hosted by SOL Baltics, and a presentation on the processes of the CIMS quality standard.

The main objective was to exchange international experience in the cleaning field and to gain an overview of how EQF-based qualification exams are organized in Estonia—and how such a system could potentially be implemented more widely across Europe. Additionally, the aim was to explore how the quality of cleaning services could be improved through a unified standard across the continent.

During the meeting, ISSA experts shared in-depth knowledge about the CIMS (Cleaning Industry Management Standard), which is an internationally recognized quality management framework for the cleaning services sector. CIMS is the first consensus-based management standard that defines the core characteristics of a successful and high-quality cleaning organization.

The CIMS standard focuses on five key areas:

• Quality systems: Ensures the presence of a documented quality management system that promotes continuous improvement and consistent service delivery.

• Service delivery: Standardized cleaning procedures and protocols that ensure thorough and effective cleaning processes.

• Human resources: Emphasizes the importance of well-trained and qualified personnel, ensuring that cleaning tasks are carried out by competent and reliable professionals.

• Health, safety, and environmental stewardship: Encourages the use of environmentally friendly products and practices, minimizing the use of harmful chemicals and improving indoor air quality.

• Management commitment: A commitment to quality, efficiency, and overall customer satisfaction.

Implementing the CIMS standard helps cleaning organizations improve operational efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge in the market. Through standardized processes and quality control measures, consistent and high-level cleaning services can be delivered that meet client expectations.

Cleaning Begins with Design

Throughout the two days, the role of building design and interior architecture in delivering effective cleaning services was also highlighted. Cleaning planning should begin already at the building design phase and should involve cooperation with property maintenance professionals. This allows for the creation of sustainable solutions that save both time and labor resources.

An instructive example was the glass roof of Fiera Milano, one of the largest exhibition centers in Europe. The complex includes multiple pavilions and buildings, many of which feature extensive glass surfaces, including large glass roofs and facades. These glass elements give the buildings a modern and spacious appearance, but maintaining and cleaning them is challenging and requires specialized methods and equipment. Before the 2015 World Expo, a massive glass cleaning operation was undertaken—it took 130 people an entire month to complete the task. The project was so expensive that such an extensive cleaning of the glass surfaces has not been repeated since.

Need-based cleaning in Iceland – an experience that takes cleaning to a new level

October 2024 was special for our team – we were able to work with specialists from a large Icelandic cleaning company, Solar ehf, for 2 weeks to develop and streamline their cleaning processes.

Our goal was to find practical solutions that would help make cleaning more efficient and needs-based, and to improve the quality of the service. This opportunity opened up thanks to the Erasmus+ mobility project 2023-1-EE01-KA121-VET-000133792, which supported our learning mobility and gave us the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences in an international environment.

Cleaning in Iceland – Current Situation and Challenges

Iceland has a population of approximately 376,000 people, with a significant portion working in the service sector, including the cleaning industry. A large number of cleaning professionals in Iceland come from Poland, making the workforce international and diverse. Cleaning quality in Iceland is assessed using the INSTA800 standard—a quality assessment system that allows for objective measurement and control of cleaning results.

How Did We Improve Solar ehf Cleaning?

1. Analysis of Cleaning Methods and Equipment

Our first step was to conduct a comprehensive review of the cleaning methods and tools in use:

• How often is cleaning performed, and what principles guide it?
• What is the reasoning behind the current selection of cleaning soaps and equipment?
• What are the biggest challenges in cleaning today?

Based on our analysis, we provided recommendations to help simplify and improve the work. Our goal was not to change things for the sake of change but to find solutions that would solve existing problems and make cleaning more efficient.

2. Optimizing the Moistening of Cleaning Textiles

A major focus was placed on the correct moistening of cleaning textiles. We conducted tests on microfiber cloths, determining the exact amount of liquid needed per cloth and describing the moistening process. Through these tests, we found that for Solar efh cloths, the optimal moisture level was 20 ml per cloth. These test results were also documented in training videos, ensuring a consistent understanding among employees.

3. Optimizing the Use of Cleaning Soaps

Our analysis showed that the cleaning company used various cleaning soaps, many of which were stored in spray bottles. After reviewing usage data, we found that in one year, the company consumed 974 bottles of cleaning solution.We conducted a test and discovered that emptying a single spray bottle required 800 sprays—a highly repetitive motion that is physically demanding and ergonomically unfavorable for cleaning staff.

As a result, we identified that a single universal cleaning soap is sufficient for daily cleaning, with one additional product needed in winter to remove salt residues. One of the biggest challenges was finding the easiest and most convenient dosing solution. Together with the team, we tested several solutions, including measuring spoons, cups, and pipettes. The final solution turned out to be a tablet-based system, where the cleaning solution is prepared in the cleaning room using water and a dissolvable tablet. This ensures precise dosing and reduces chemical exposure.

4. More Efficient Floor Cleaning

During the development process, we conducted a test comparing two floor-cleaning methods:

• The current method, using traditional mops
• A new method, using a floor squeegee combined with cloths

The results were significant. To clean the same area, the current method required 1.5 kg of mops, while the new method only needed 150 g of cloths. This means that by adopting the new method, the amount of textiles requiring laundering could be reduced by 10 times, leading to substantial savings in water, energy, and detergent usage.

Results and Impact

✅ Solar’s key personnel gained new knowledge and skills, enabling them to better organize daily cleaning operations.
✅ Training videos ensure that all employees understand cleaning processes in the same way, improving consistency and efficiency.
✅ Reduced consumption of cleaning soaps, leading to lower environmental impact and more sustainable cleaning practices.
✅ Reduced physical workload for employees, as physically demanding tasks were replaced with more ergonomic solutions.

A Valuable International Experience

Training in Iceland was also a great learning experience for us as a company. We had the opportunity to share our decades of experience, apply our expertise on an international level, and prove that our knowledge and approach to cleaning are world-class. This experience reinforced our belief that cleaning can be simple and highly effective when approached with knowledge and purpose.

Solar’s feedback on our work was overwhelmingly positive—they stated that there are no better trainers and cleaning industry practitioners in the world than the Puhastusekspert team! This is a huge recognition for us and a strong motivation to continue our mission—to create a cleaner world through knowledge and expertise!

How did the ergonomics project come about?

Cleaning can be good for your health, but it can also be harmful. It all depends on HOW you clean, it depends on knowledge and skills.

In 2020, we launched the Cleaning Handbook in Estonia. We started to look for the latest perspectives on cleaning ergonomics, working through a range of materials and data. We realised that this is a serious issue, affecting the lives and health of many people. The health effects are often felt many years later and are difficult to attribute to specific cleaning activities. For example, in Finland, cleaners were absent from work due to illness for an average of 19 days in 2023, compared to an average of 11 days for all occupations. It is 73% more, than averagely. Musculoskeletal disorders are a common cause of sickness absence and cleaners are more likely than usual to take disability pension due to mental health problems.  In the European Union, more than 4 million people are employed as cleaners. If the situation is similar in other countries, then in EU is expected to have 76 million days of sick leave per year for cleaning workers. According to ESG principles, the S(ocial) factor is concerned with people’s wellbeing, and cleaning ergonomics is relevant here.

So the idea was born to bring together cleaning professionals from different countries and to start researching the issue, writing a project and creating materials that are accessible to all, thanks to the support of Erasmus+. 89% of cleaning companies have fewer than 50 employees and lack the capacity to deal with ergonomics in depth themselves. For them, the material created in the project  will be of great help.

During the project:

• We carried out an international survey, to which 267 cleaners and 147 cleaning managers responded.
• We carried out Smartwear tests in Finland to find out more precisely which parts of the body can be affected by which jobs, and how they are done.
• We analysed cleaning ergonomics materials available in the world.
• We tested the training materials we developed in the training of cleaning workers.

Key findings:

• 93% of the cleaners who responded to the survey felt pain in some part of their body when working.
• In the context of ergonomics, we must look at the mental impact as well as the physical strain. 72% of cleaning supervisors and 46% of cleaning workers experienced mental strain at work, 43 % of cleaning supervisors and 69 % of cleaning workers experienced physically demanding.
• The amount of load is individual and depends, among other things, on age and the muscular condition of the individual.
• However, according to the Smartwear studies, regardless of the subject, the load of moist and wet mopping can be more than double that of a scrubber dryer

The project resulted in:

• 20 educational videos and pictorial guides on common occupational accidents and diseases
• Training material for teaching cleaning ergonomics.

Author: Helge Alt, Tarja Valkosalo
Article published in European Cleaning Journal on January 13, 2025

Improving the competence of managers in the field of cleaning at LPUAA

The Professional cleaning and facility management association of Latvia (LPUAA) in cooperation with the project’s leading partner OÜ Puhastusekspert is starting the implementation of the Erasmus+ project 2024-1-EE01-KA210-VET-000246665 “CleanSkil: Bridging the Estonian-Latvian Competency Divide”. The project is implemented with the support of Erasmus+, which is an EU program to support education, training, youth and sports in Europe. The project implementation period is from 01.09.2024 until 28.02.2026.

The project solves the problem of the significant gap between Estonia and Latvia in the field of professional education of cleaning personnel managers. In Estonia, occupational standards for cleaning management personnel have been approved according to EQF (European Qualifications Framework) levels 4 and 5, and for more than 20 years, training and examination have been conducted according to these occupational standards, issuing more than 4,000 qualification documents. In Latvia, educational institutions do not offer professional training for cleaning managers, and there are no professional standards in this field introduced by educational institutions in practice. The availability of qualified personnel is an essential factor in the implementation of cleaning functions, and the lack of training opportunities in Latvia is therefore an important systemic problem that needs to be solved.

The goals of the project:

• to carry out the training of masters of cleaning works and managers of cleaning works in Latvia in accordance with Estonian EQF 4 and EQF 5 levels and relevant professional exams;
• analyze and present conclusions related to the suitability of the Estonian cleaning training system for application in Latvian conditions.

The direct target group of the project are participants delegated by LPUAA members with defined experience requirements in the management of cleaning works.

6 tips to get rid of dust

Dust is inescapable. It kind of just happens. Dust is dirt that can have a direct impact on our health. In addition to allergies, it can affect even healthy people because dusty rooms can contain more mould spores than normal. Breathing in dust and spores uses up a certain amount of the body’s energy to cope with them, resulting in reduced immunity. If a person weakened by this then comes into contact with a virus, they are more likely to fall ill. We also tend to feel more tired in such spaces.

Experience and studies show that it is particularly important to regularly remove dust from high surfaces and hard-to-reach places, such as on top of cabinets, ventilation ducts, curtain rails, etc. That is because settled dust has time to bind more particles that end up straining our bodies. Studies show that people who spend time in rooms with dust on higher surfaces are up to 40% more likely to contract seasonal illnesses.

Tips for easy dust removal:

1. Use a slightly moist microfibre cloth to wipe dust from both surfaces and floors.
2. Fold the cloth – if one side gets soiled, turn to the next clean side. This way, you can clean large areas with just one cloth.
3. Avoid sweeping floors with a brush and cleaning hard floors with a vacuum cleaner that blows air out of one end. These methods kick dust up only for it to settle back down after a while. An effective way is to use something like a floor squeegee to gather up dust, hairs and the like.
4. Remove dust from higher surfaces regularly, for example, every one or two months. This prevents dust from falling down onto lower surfaces and keeps the air cleaner.
5. Avoid wetting dry loose dirt, including dust.
6. A good tool for sweeping higher surfaces is a flexible duster with a microfibre textile that can be machine-washed.