There are a lot of benefits to plastic pallets, but one of the biggest is how incredibly easy they are to clean.
Unlike wooden pallets, there are no nooks and crannies for dust or other contaminants to hide in on plastic pallets. And the material itself won’t absorb bacteria that could potentially affect other shipments further down the road.
Some of these cleaning benefits are due to the unique properties of plastic, which provides a substantial advantage for pallets over wood.
Others can be put down to how plastic pallets are designed and the processes by which they are cleaned. A plastic pallet can be cleaned and sanitised. It eliminates the potential contamination from wood and metal.
You can learn more about these 2 types of pallets side by side in our plastic vs wood pallets article.
In this article on cleaning plastic pallets, we’ll first take a look at why plastic pallets are so easy to clean, and then run through a few ways to ensure maximum levels of hygiene.
The Importance Of Pallet Cleaning
In order to avoid contamination, either from bacteria or physical elements such as spills, splinters or nails, a professional pallet cleaning is absolutely necessary. This is especially true with food grade plastic pallets, where plastic is the norm for this exact reason.
Just one batch of compromised product could potentially devastate an entire shipment, resulting in an outbreak of disease in worst-case scenarios.
Richard Stier reiterates this in a Food Engineering Magazine piece on pallets:
The rule of thumb is that anything moving into the production area is moved on a plastic pallet. A plastic pallet can be cleaned and sanitised, and it eliminates the potential contamination from wood and metal.
Richard Stier – Food Engineering Magazine
The design of plastic pallets also helps them to be washed more thoroughly.
For example, the open deck allows water and cleaning products to reach every exposed surface, while the robust construction material is more than capable of handling regular scrubs over a longer life than wood.
In comparison, closed-deck pallets are also superior in cleanliness compared to wood, as you can see in our Hygiene Pallet Series.
Each hygiene pallet supports ultimate hygiene standards with a fully smooth surface that reduces the risk of unwanted pests and dirt accumulation.
How To Clean Plastic Pallets
Part of the beauty of plastic pallets is that they can be cleaned in several different ways, depending on what has been recently shipped, and what sorts of contaminants need to be addressed.
The standard options are to simply wash or steam a pallet. Both of these methods are very effective at removing simple spills or other particles such as dust, but when a pallet really needs to be scrubbed, high-pressure cleaning is the best option.
This more thorough clean is usually reserved for quarantine areas such as international shipments where the rules can be very strict.
Want us to clean your plastic pallets for you? At Eco Pallets Australia, we provide a high-pressure cleaning service; simply get in touch with us to arrange an appointment.
Next Article: The Best Pallet Stacking & Storage Methods
