For businesses in the food and pharmaceutical industries, from young start-ups to long-established companies, storing products and produce safely in reliable walk-in cold rooms is an important part of the job.
Cold rooms offer a hygienic, professional way of storing your bulk orders or surplus supplies but they need to be looked after to ensure your goods are being stored in a sterile environment and conditions that keep your products fresher for longer and safe for human consumption.
If you hire a cold room for your business, then it is vital that you maintain the space; so here’s our cold room cleaning instructions and maintenance tips.
What is the Best Cold Room Cleaning Procedure?
Hygiene is vital when it comes to the preparation and storage of food or medicine. The thorough organisation, maintenance and cleaning of your cold room is a hugely effective way of ensuring that your product stays safe to consume or administer.
How to clean a cold storage room…
A good cold room cleaning procedure includes keeping the floor and surfaces clean and clear at all times. You can use a vacuum cleaner for any build-up of dust on the floor and tackle surfaces with a cloth, warm water, and mild detergent or specialist cold room cleaning products. Make sure you clean any spillages and discard spoiled products immediately. This will help prevent bacteria growth.
After cleaning, you should also check that the cold room is dry. Aside from causing a slippery floor, excess water can be a safety hazard by creating a buildup of ice in your cold room.
How Often Should I Carry Out Cold Room Cleaning?
There are different levels of urgency for making sure your cold room is the safest environment possible. Some tasks on your cold room maintenance checklist should be carried out daily, while some cold storage cleaning chores can be completed on a weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly basis.
Daily Cold Room Maintenance Checks and Cleaning
- Spillages should be cleaned up IMMEDIATELY
- Check the cold room temperature is correct for your products
- Inspect the evaporator for a build-up of ice
- Check the compressors in the walk-in cold room for oil leakage
- Check the Freon levels in the cold storage room
Weekly Walk-In Cold Room Cleaning and Maintenance
- Clean the cold room door seals and check for any cracks and general wear and tear
- Thoroughly clean all surfaces and floors with appropriate cold room cleaning products
- Neatly organise your products at the end of the week if necessary (preferable organise as you go)
Monthly Maintenance of Cold Rooms
- Calibrate the cold room temperature
- Check the proper temperature remains when the modular cold storage has a full load
- Clean the evaporator and fins – important for temperature maintenance
- Clean the evaporator casing and all blowing fans
- Check the control valves are fully functioning
- Check the reverse blowing is working properly
- Check the defrosting function as this is crucial for an effective walk-in cold room
- Carry out a system functional test to check there is no malfunctioning
One advantage of renting a cold room with Dephna is that we regularly check and maintain cold room temperatures, so you are only responsible for interior hygiene and cleanliness of your cold room for the duration of use.
How to Stop Mould From Growing in My Cold Room?
Mould can be common in a walk-in cold room due to the moisture in the air. Although it can be removed with some good quality cold room cleaning products and elbow grease, it’s definitely best to avoid the problem entirely.
When warm air seeps into your cold room, condensation will form on the walls which then makes way for mould to grow. This can happen from staff not closing the cold room door correctly, but it’s more commonly caused by cracked or damaged cold room doors and seals, which is why it’s important to inspect them regularly.
Here are some ways to keep your cold storage room mould free:
- Inspect your air tight door seals regularly and repair or replace when needed
- Ensure a fully-functioning and clean vent is available in your cold room
- Check for leaks and repair them as soon as they are identified
- Dispose of any food that is past its ‘use by’ date to stop the spread of mould spores
- Avoid using paper or wood in your cold room when possible
How Do I Safely Store my Products in a Walk-In Cold Room?
You should organise your cold room in a way that makes it easy to find products and examine their health. Check all perishable items daily to reduce food waste, and make sure to not put any of your stock directly next to a fan as this will negatively impact the flow of cold air. Be careful not to overfill the shelves as this may also affect the cold room refrigeration equipment.
Be careful not to leave the cold room door open for a significant length of time as this will cause a spike in temperature, remembering that the ideal temperature of a refrigerator is 0ºC-5ºC. Storing produce at a cold room temperature higher than 5ºC will dramatically increase the probability of the food or medicine becoming exposed to harmful bacteria.
What are the Benefits of Renting a Cold Room?
Since the cleanliness and maintenance of your cold room are important for ensuring high business standards, renting a commercial cold room is a great way to remove a bulk of the stress of the upkeep.
Our cold storage facilities are already certified and suitable for use in the food industries, and for any other business requiring a chilled environment to store products. They are well maintained and equipped with state-of-the-art cooling systems. Also, if you face any issues that require repair or maintenance due to technical faults – we’ll take care of it for you.
Hygiene, especially for those working in the food industry, is a top priority. That’s why our cold rooms are built from 100 mm composite hygienic panels. They are constructed to the highest standard and require no capital outlay from you, which makes them suitable for any business big or small. You can also find our frozen storage at the same locations as our commercial kitchens, delivery kitchens and dark kitchens to rent.
