Regular cleaning is important for all your restaurant’s furniture, but there’s one type that gets overlooked more than others. Like your tables, chairs, bar stools, and hostess stations, your restaurant booths need to be cleaned just as often. Perhaps it’s because this type of seating can’t be moved around as easily but you do not want to skimp on cleaning these.
Besides sanitary purposes, regular cleaning and maintenance are crucial to making sure your booths stay in good condition for many years to come. No one wants to sit in a crumb-y booth! Follow our tips below to make sure your booths have optimal longevity and are clean from top to bottom.
Check for Leftover Food in Booth Cracks
The small strip of booth between the seat and booth back is unfortunately where food, dirt, and maybe even silverware like to hide in booths. This should be cleaned out regularly to prevent bugs, rodents, and smells from trickling from the build-up. Slipping cloth into the narrow space and dragging it toward the aisle can get a lot of the stray food out of the booth and onto the floor where it’s easier to sweep up. It sounds gross, but letting the crumbs pile up can be even worse.
Maintain the Wood Areas or Wood Booths
Your restaurant booths were made with beautiful wood stains and careful distressed details – the last thing you want to do to disfigure your booths is use harsh cleaners on them. Using harsh chemical cleaners (including anything with alcohol, silicone, or ammonia) can alter wood finishes and leave surfaces gummy. To clean wood areas on your booths, use a mild soap, water, and a soft cloth to go over, under, and all around your booth. Keep in mind to not wet your cleaning cloth too much, this can leave water marks. After they are wiped down, use another damp cloth to “rinse”.
Clean the Vinyl Seats or Vinyl Booths
Similar to the wood areas on your booth, stay away from using oil-based or chemical cleaners on your vinyl. This can harden the vinyl, making it uncomfortable and more susceptible to cracking. Before using a mild soap and water combination, go over the vinyl surfaces with a clean, soft cloth to preemptively get out any leftover food and crumbs. For example, with a tufted booth, swiping the cloth over each tuft is important before applying soap and water. After all the loose particles have been taken care of, you can now dampen the cloth with the soap and water. Use an additional damp cloth to “rinse”.
Maintaining restaurant furniture shouldn’t be more difficult than your dinner rush, so it’s important to stay on top of all of your furniture, including booths. Making sure you’re cleaning them properly can help them stay in the best state possible for as long as possible.
If you’re looking for more information on maintaining your restaurant furniture, check out our cleaning guides here.
