How Do Food and AG Industries Keep Their Facilities Clean?

While cleanliness is a priority for all industries, it’s especially important for food and agriculture facilities. Flour mills, beverage manufacturers, bakeries, and more must all abide by numerous regulations to ensure their products are safe for consumption. As such, facilities that put industrial cleaning and maintenance tasks to the side risk being shut down while putting the health and safety of their employees and customers at risk.

Of course, keeping a food production plant clean is no simple task. The ingredients and components used to create these products aren’t always easy to manage. Over time, various types of residue can damage the facility’s equipment and infrastructure. So, how do food and agriculture industries keep their facilities clean? The answer is multivariate, involving a combination of preventative maintenance and powerful cleaning activities.

Maintenance Painting

Painting an industrial facility is about much more than updating its appearance. More importantly, industrial painting aims to protect a property’s surfaces, equipment, and inventory, inside and out. These durable, often glossy coatings resist moisture, dust, debris, and provide extra protection against impact and other threats. Additionally, high-quality industrial coatings are relatively easy to clean, saving time and resources necessary for proper facility maintenance.

Specialty Coatings

Food and agriculture facilities might also incorporate specialty coatings for various surfaces and equipment to serve specific purposes. For instance, there are food-safe coatings and tank and silo linings, high-temperature floor coatings, primary and secondary containment systems, etc. Using the optimal coatings for different parts of a facility helps keep it clean, safe, durable, and functional.

Abrasive Blasting

Before applying industrial paints or specialty coatings to a given surface, though, the surface must be thoroughly cleaned, free of all food residue, old paint, etc. To get the job done quickly and effectively, most food and agriculture plants employ abrasive blasting techniques. These cleaning methods blast the surface with pressurized streams of particles, such as small bits of sponge, grains of sand, or even dry ice. The ensuing pressure and friction loosen up even the most stubborn debris to prepare the surface for painting. Sandblasting has become one of the most popular forms of abrasive blasting.

Floor Care

Industrial floors often get taken for granted, but their condition matters just as much as the condition of a facility’s walls and machinery. Worn down, cracked concrete floors can harbor plenty of dust, debris, moisture, and other unwanted materials. Additionally, they’re less safe to walk upon and much harder to keep clean. Investing in concrete resurfacing solutions helps food and agriculture facilities maintain a safe and clean working environment.

Rust Control and Encapsulation

Rust can become a major issue for all industrial facilities, and food and agriculture plants are no exceptions. In particular, steam exhausted from food production equipment can condense on the ceiling and eventually lead to a redox reaction (i.e. rust). If ignored for too long, this rust can severely damage a facility and even contaminate some of its products. So, in order to keep their facilities safe and clean, food and agriculture industries will apply rust prevention coating systems that prevent moisture and oxygen from reacting with metal surfaces. These USDA and FDA approved coatings can last over 10 years and also help prevent bacterial and other contaminants from spreading.

A Holistic Approach to Food & Ag Cleaning

Keeping a food and agriculture facility clean requires a coordinated, proactive approach. At Painters USA, that’s exactly what we offer. We deliver deep cleaning services, floor repair and resurfacing, interior and exterior painting, specialty coating solutions, abrasive blasting, and much more to our clients based on their unique needs. To learn more about us and our many services, contact Painters USA today at 1-800-999-8715.