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We’ve all been there and experienced that sinking feeling when walking into a public toilet and smelling that unique combination of bodily fluids mixed with nasty cleaner and not a particle of freshness insight (or sniff)! Even if it looks like the cleanest toilet ever, that distinctive odour is a real turn-off, and if it’s NOT clean – well, that makes things a million times worse!
Smell and cleanliness are both clearly as important as each other where washroom facilities are concerned and go hand-in-hand with creating a pleasant atmosphere for visitors to relieve and freshen themselves in. But is it the washroom smell, cleanliness or both that users appreciate most when visiting the washroom?
It’s perhaps hard to believe but different public toilets around the world have been classed as tourist destinations in their own right, and as such are subject to visitor scrutiny and star ratings on review websites such as TripAdvisor.
Take Hundertwasser public toilets for example, in Kawakawa, NZ. Well known as an intentional work of art designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, not only do these loos have their own Wikipedia page, but they proudly boast a 4/5 rating on TripAdvisor. That said, currently the top 2 reviews from 2015 state that they are “reasonably clean but could be cleaner” and “pretty smelly”, so it’s obvious the smell and cleanliness feature first in these visitor’s opinions before their thoughts on the artwork and features that make the toilets a tourist attraction in the first place!
It’s not only toilets as tourist destinations that make it onto the worlds’ biggest review platform, either. A lot of reviews for places such as hotels, stadiums, pubs, restaurants and theme parks are marked down for the state of their washroom facilities, making their overall star rating lower than perhaps it could be if only the toilet facilities had been up to scratch. What are the biggest complaints? Smell, cleanliness and overall visual appeal!
A simple search on TripAdvisor turns up 921 reviews that mention toilets in the title, and what’s interesting (and not unexpected) is that the majority of those who have taken the time to review are those who’ve had a bad experience whilst in the facilities! “Stinky”, “smelly”, “lousy” and “dirty” are just some of the most common descriptions for different washrooms around the world, alongside reviews averaging 2-3/5 for the establishments in question.
So is it really the smell or the cleanliness or both? Certainly, visitors aren’t hesitant when it comes to complaining about them in seemingly equal measures, so in order to stem the flow and stop bad opinions before they can be made, these need to be addressed where problems have been identified.
At Vectair, our longstanding experience in the sanitary solutions market has taught us a few things (more than a few, actually), and one of the biggest is that washroom users opt for clean, fresh scents as a preference when using the facilities. Using harsh chemicals may indicate the area has been cleaned, but the odour doesn’t inspire the desire to make a return visit unless strictly necessary! Likewise, the lack of any type of cleaning smell will repel visitors possibly even more, so an aircare solution is the most practical way of addressing the smell situation!
The ideal air freshening unit is one that is discreet and multi-fit, so can be hung or fitted to a range of surfaces. Scents such as mint, melon, citrus, apples and soap are all popular, as they create a sense of atmosphere and are all associated with cleanliness and sanitation rather than dirtiness.
Cleanliness can be a bigger issue – there are plenty of reasons in any establishment why cleanliness may not be as good as it could be, including staff shortages, level of traffic and even stock shortages of cleaning products and toilet rolls etc. That’s not to say that all possible measures shouldn’t be taken to ensure cleanliness is optimum at all times, but it can be hard to swallow the criticism if mitigating circumstances have caused the problem!
Washroom equipment such as urinal screens, dosing systems and even waste paper bins go a long way to helping keep things clean and tidy even if staff levels are low or the toilets are simply very busy! Providing solutions that enable visitors to help keep things tidy themselves means more positive feedback, and automated dosing systems will run standalone to keep urinals clean, sanitised and odour-free.
Even simple urinal traps help, as they help to keep water flowing and trap debris such as chewing gum and paper, preventing blockages and urinals out-of-order – another customer bugbear!
Just to emphasise the big part that toilets have had to play in our culture for centuries, there are at least 4 museums dedicated to them spread across different countries; the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets (New Delhi), the Toilet Seat Museum (US), the Toilet Museum (UK) and the Toilet History Museum (Ukraine). Classed as “speciality” museums, these may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but go to show that the humble toilet has played, and continues to play, a big part in everyone’s life – so much so that visitors will pay to go and admire the toilets of yesteryear!
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