News
New machine is most user-friendly and versatile
Predicted to be the most popular machine Steam Australia Qld has to offer, the Steamworks Steam Pro Super is not only the most user-friendly and versatile machine in the product range, it also offers the best value for money.
New Machine!
New diesel powered, industrial use, vapour steam machine! This European product produces an incredible volume of steam and pressure, unlike any seen in Australia before. Steam Australia is proud to make this machine available. Call Neil for more details.
Hire Available
Steam Australia Queensland can now offer short term hire throughout Brisbane and some regions!
Hire is weekly or monthly from as little as $40 per day. Contact Neil or Richard to take advantage of this new system.
50% Rebate in Queensland
Up to 50 % rebate is available to businesses in Queensland as part of the $55 million BWEP funding. Check out www.seqwater.com.au for more details and to check your eligibility.
Backpackers' bed bugs get the bite
By Tim Dick Urban Affairs Reporter
September 6, 2005 From Sydney Morning Herald
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
The Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has a plan to stop bed bugs biting Australia's most lucrative tourists: backpackers. Under the plan, all new hostels will have to provide washed mattress protectors and pillow covers to reduce the extent of bug infestations. The rules will make every hostel use dense foam in its beds "designed to eliminate potential harbourage of vermin including bed bugs" while providing coverings for mattresses and pillows, washed after each backpacker.
The City of Sydney has no power to apply the rules to existing hostels, as they are applied during the development approval process in the conditions attached to a hostel's consent.
Jeff Lewis, a spokesman for the Lord Mayor, said bed bugs presented backpackers with a continuing problem, with marked infestations occurring either at least every second year.
"It's a health issue that needs to be resolved," he said, with the council planning to use the plan as a way to "educate" hostel operators into following its example.
Alison McDonagh, the business development manager for the hostel operator YHA, supported the rules, saying bed bugs were "incredibly expensive" to eradicate once they infested a hostel.
It supported the rules, despite a slight increase in hostels' operating costs, because bed bugs were bad news for tourism, but she said the council needed to do more about illegal hostels.
"The council needs to crack down on the places which have no approval," she said. While the plan will force hostels in Kings Cross and near Central Station to comply with minimum standards such as space-per-person, mattress size and laundries, those operating without approval are unlikely to abide by the rules. "The ones that are illegal just throw as many people in as they can," she said.
The rules extend the 28-day limit on how long people can stay in backpackers' hostels in the city, ban triple bunks and discourage carpets, also to cut down on the spread of bed bugs.
Last year the Herald reported council findings that almost eight out of 10 eastern suburbs backpacker hostels had infestations.
Waterwise Cleaning!
Tackling a bakery oven that has built-up grease and carbon deposits usually means a lot of hard work for a cleaner as well as the use of lots of caustic and degreasing chemicals.
One process for cleaning ovens can involve degreasers suspended in water applied with cleaning sponges, scourers or cloths. This method is messy and time consuming. It involves a lot of repetitious action as well as the potential overuse of chemicals due to the inefficient application process.
Another option is the use of high pressure dry steam. This has the benefit of concentrating the cleaning actions as well reducing the use of chemicals and water. Recently, Advanced National Services cleaned the supermarket bakery ovens pictured and through the use of Steam Australia's Vega steam vacuum machine it produced the dazzling results below.
The combination of steam and dry foam administered chemicals produced excellent results with minimal water usage or chemical wastage. Advanced National services estimated that the cleaning process used no more than two(2) litres of water in the Steam Vacuum machine. The Agar Chemicals used in conjunction with the steam vacuum were effective in removing the grease and carbon deposits. It was estimated that the alternative to the steam based cleaning process would have used at least twenty (20) litres of water. This economy is not only good cleaning practice and environmentally sound but it also demonstrates a consideration for the wider community's welfare.
Advanced National Services
October 2005 - Steam Australia is to make its first appearance in WA this month at the inaugral Fine Food expo in Perth. It will be a great opportunity for WA hospitality businesses to see first hand the many benefits steam has to offer. Steam Australia's great range on display is sure to once again be a great place for visitors to stop and see what all the fuss is about.
September 2005 - Steam Australia had a very successful month exhibiting at the Hospitality and fine food expo in Sydney.
Congratulations to Turramurra Village Cakes who were the very lucky winner of a Steam Pro which was given away during the expo. "The machine will come in more than handy" said Mr Foy who is looking forward to maintaining the highest level of cleanliness in his store.
April 2004 - At the recent Hospitality and Fine food expo in Brisbane, Steam Australia were a finalist in the Best new product category
Feb 2004 - The first conveyer belt cleaning system was installed in a bakery in the UK this month. The trials had been hugely successful and will be launched in Australia in the comming months. The new steam belt cleaning system is a huge advance from the traditional method of scrubbing and washing by hand. It will more than pay for itself for the end user by reducing up to 5 hours of labour per belt per day.
Feb 2004 - Car Magazine Auto Salon has trialed the Robby Pro steam machine for use on cars. The trial was so succssful they have writen a 3 page editorial praising it's uses in the March issue. They cleaned the whole car inside and out, they even made the engine shine.
Nov 2003 - HACCP - Steam Australia have been endorsed by HACCP Australia. This is great news for businesses looking to set up their kitchen in the most efficient manner. Steam Australia's machines have been given the big thumbs up by HACCP.
The following article was published in Clubs Management magazine December 2003
Getting steamed up about food contamination
Is your kitchen clean? Really clean? If you have any doubts at all, maybe it's time to think Ôsteam clean'.
The use of steam cleaning equipment is revolutionising the hospitality industry overseas and all the experts, companies like the Sydney-based Steam Australia, are predicting that Australian outlets will shortly follow the trend as the full benefits of the process become better known.
Food safety and hygiene is one of the most serious issues facing clubs and other stakeholders in the hospitality industry. The Australian and New Zealand Food Safety Authority (ANZFA) is flexing its muscles more than ever before and any establishment caught breaching its stringent regulations faces horrendous fines Ð and the threats of litigation.
Recently, a restaurant in Melbourne was fined $100,000 after a number of customers suffered severe attacks of food poisoning. The victims have since instigated a class action involving huge claims for compensation and the restaurant is not expected to survive the litigation. Unfortunately, this is no isolated case. HACCP Australia, the project management company, which has long developed and managed comprehensive food safety programs, setting standards for all sectors of the food industry, estimates that the number of food poisoning occurrences in Australia is now well in excess of two million each year.
Hospitality outlets, and particularly clubs with their large bistro and catering operations and traditionally high staff turnovers, are especially vulnerable to the threats of food contamination and management teams are realising that a totally new approach to food safety and hygiene procedures is needed. Is steam the way to go, they are asking?
What are the benefits of steam cleaning over more traditional methods?
Steam Australia proprietor, Mark Rosenberg lists the main advantages of the latest machines on the market: no chemicals Ð and only a small amount of water - are needed in the process; the blasts of dry steam penetrate to every corner, cleaning, sanitising and killing harmful germs; the machines are safe and extremely user friendly; they are flexible enough to handle any cleaning job (big, small, high, low) as the machines come in a wide range of sizes; and they are highly cost effective.
Says Rosenberg: It's so much safer and better than the old mop/sponge and bucket method which needs chemicals that can be left as residue on whichever surface is being cleaned. The dirt is merely smeared about, into corners and edges. Over time, the residues, dirt and grease build up providing the perfect environment for the growth of harmful organisms with their risks of both direct and cross-contamination. In contrast, steam cleaning (at temperatures of 130 to 180 degrees C) removes dirt and dissolves grease at the same time, leaving only a residue of pure water rather than those potentially-dangerous residues. When using a steam and vac machine the surface is instantly left dry.
Steam Australia's machines were recently put through tough laboratory and hospital tests in Yorkshire in England. The tests were sponsored by the USA and UK arms of the international Hygenica company to determine the effective killing of microbes and other bacteria in self-generated slime (biofilm) in moist conditions such as kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, etc. The results were impressive. Using steam, 90 to 100% of germs were killed within 3 seconds. According to clinical microbiologist, Dr Peter Kite who led the research, the use of superheated steam marks a major advance in the constant fight against disease-causing microbes.
Back in our club kitchen environment, steam cleaning can produce the same impressive results not only for floors, walls, sinks, storage areas and working surfaces, but for equipment like ovens, stove-tops, range hoods, fryers, refrigerators, coolers and freezers. All can be cleaned and sanitised to ANZFA standards, leaving everything sparkling clean and importantly, mould/germ free.
And Rosenberg says the same applies right throughout the premises, whether it's a lobby, food serving/display areas, dining room, bar and lounge, gaming area, staffroom, office or restroom.
Thanks to today's advanced technology, our new steam cleaning machines can handle any cleaning/sanitising job from tables, chairs and other furniture to upholstery, drapes and blinds, carpets and even windows.
Summing up, it seems cleaning by steam is certainly something that the clubs, which have not yet made the changeover, should be investigating. According to all the gurus, it's a win/win/win situation. Clubs can minimise the very real risks of food contamination (and consequently the threats of heavy fines and litigation) yet, at the same time, reduce their labour, energy and chemical cleaning bills. Club patrons can enjoy cleaner, more hygienic and safer surroundings. And last, but by no means least, as the latest steam machines require no chemicals and use only a small amount of water in the cleaning process, the environment is emerging as the other big winner through less waste chemicals and a saving in water and the energy to heat it.
Steam Australia and Mark Rosenberg can be contacted on 1300 79 50 50. The company's website is www.steamaustralia.com.au