New from Sherwood Chemicals, ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam tackles problem drains and gives savvy pest managers a potentially lucrative new revenue stream.
Any pest manager will be familiar with the situation of walking into a domestic or commercial kitchen, laundry or bathroom and being welcomed by the unmistakable smell of a blocked drain. The customer doesn’t know what the problem is – they just know it’s coming from the drain and they want it gone!
It is an unmistakable odour we have all had the pleasure of inhaling. For the customer it’s a daily experience, which gets worse once they use the sink, drain, bath or shower in question. Once more liquid is flushed through the drains, the smell is pushed up into the space. Most of the time the customer will have tried everything they can think of. Whether boiling water, bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice, caustic soda or sulphuric acid, just to name a few, they will have been tipped down the drain giving short-term (or zero) results with an added negative impact on the water quality downstream.
Pest managers will know that the smell is caused by bacteria feeding on decaying organic matter, hair and soap scum – and that this organic matter is the ideal food source for cockroaches and drain flies. A blocked drain can be the start of a much bigger problem.
The team from Sherwood Chemicals has developed a solution for the problem. ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam is a powerful foam spray for drain maintenance that eliminates, prevents and guards against the build-up of scum, mould and other organic matter. It uses a natural and biodegradable solution to fight o bad bacteria and bad odours.
The easily applied foam formulation is packaged in a pressurised can, meaning it is ready to use with no messy mixing of liquids or calculating foaming rates. Pest managers should flush the treatment zone with warm water to activate the spores then apply the foam using the flip up nozzle that is designed for use in drains and sinks.
“ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam uses a unique proprietary blend of ‘good’ bacterial spores in a very high concentration,” explained Elton Arderne, business development manager of Sherwood Chemicals.
“When exposed to nutrients – in this case the moisture and biofilm found in drains – the good bacteria essentially outcompetes all the bad (odour-causing) bacteria for the available nutrient source by producing enzymes that help break down the organic matter and unblock the drain.”
Mr Arderne says the results can be seen after just 20 minutes. The longer the product is left applied, the better the results.
Not only does the foam unblock drains and remove bad smells, it also removes an attractive food source for common pests. In situations where pests have already become a problem, he suggests treating surface areas with fipronil-based ClearOut Crawling Insect Aerosol and baiting with Clearout Cockroach Bait. ClearOut Crawling Insect Powder should be used in situations requiring a dust treatment.
Local field trials have produced good results. Chris Sands from Accurate Pest Management on the Gold Coast trialled ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam in a commercial kitchen.
“The site was impeccably clean, however the owner could not get rid of the bad smells coming from the drains. They tried all the Google searches you can think of with no real long-term changes,” said Mr Sands.
“I mentioned this new product to the owner, after speaking with John Ralph from Sherwood Chemicals, and they allowed us to have a go! We started the process by flushing the drains with warm water. With one can of ClearOut Drain Foam, we treated eight large 90mm drains and waited around 20 minutes for the odour to disappear. A follow-up afterwards confirmed success. I imagine the bad bacteria was living under the lips of the pipes and the probiotic foam finally got to the source.”
ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam is more than a component of an integrated pest management program – it gives pest managers the opportunity to offer a new service to existing clients and the potential for another revenue stream, in the form of a drain servicing program.
“For commercial clients such as hotels, pest managers can now offer a full drain hygiene program for the entire hotel – not just the commercial kitchen,” added Mr Arderne. “We all concentrate on the food preparation areas in these types of facilities and so we should, as it’s the highest risk area for the spread of disease and bacteria. However, hotel bedrooms are where the customer experience really happens. Who wants to stay in a room with smelly drains?
“The opportunity is for companies to offer drain hygiene treatment programs as part of their service once or twice a year with their other pest management services – and to charge for it. The other area of opportunity is in the domestic market, in the family home. There is always going to be soap and hair build-up in the drains. Why not offer it as an additional service?”
Pest managers could use drain servicing as a value add to obtain new business with a call to action marketing campaign that offers a cockroach, ant or spider treatment that includes a drain treatment for free if booked before a certain time.
“It’s all about value adding for your clients and also ensuring you have eliminated the potential insect harbourages to prevent future pest problems,” said Mr Arderne.
“As a formulation company we are always listening and looking to meet our customers’ needs. That’s how we can develop products like ClearOut Probiotic Drain Foam as part of the the ClearOut Commercial Solutions range.”
