Cleaning Bees

Cleaning bees

We run these six times a year, generally during the holidays, on a day we're not open. It's a good way for people to volunteer who aren't free during our normal shop opening hours. Here are the tasks that get done (in order – some things take a while, e.g. freezer defrosting):

• Keep a list of volunteers who come, and for how long they work.
• Take tables, trolley, clothes rack etc. outside, and set up the trestle tables along the walkway to put stuff on.
• Fridge and freezers
  • Turn the power off.
  • Take everything out of the fridge. Put it in white styrofoam containers if they're available. Move them to the trestles outside.
  • Put towels down in front to soak up the water.
  • Clean with a bucket of hot soapy water. You can boil some water and leave it in a container inside the freezer; the hot vapour will melt the ice.
  • Dry with a towel.
  • Check the use-by date on everything before you put it back.
• Spoiled stock
  • Make a pile or it, and a list of what's in the pile. Ask the ordering person what they want to do with it. Put it in the stock-loss book if you throw or give it away.
• Tea shelf + spices shelf + snack bar
  • Take everything off the shelf. Wipe it down with spray cleaner, then dry it with a tea towel. Replace everything.
• On top of shelves
  • Take everything down. Clean the top of the shelf. Put everything back.
• Sink area
  • Take everything out from underneath the sinks. Clean it. Replace stuff. Clean around the sinks as well.
• Black curtain
  • Lift up the black curtain. Remove the large plastic containers, and clean around them. Replace.
• Tinned food
  • Move the large wooden board out of the way. Take everything out, clean behind it. Put stuff back.
• Re-write and/or replace labels that are looking tatty
• Clean the windows with newspaper and spray wipe.
• Cull from the clothing rack.
• Pull out moveable shelves (tea, chocolate) and clean behind them
• Clean behind fridges
• Till and counter
  • Clean beneath soap table
  • Clean under counters
  • Clean top surfaces
• Pidgeonholes
  • Take everything out, sort, put back in logical way with some kind of reference key stuck on the top.
• Get rid of lost property
• Clean the bugs out of the light diffusers on the fluoro tubes (food safety inspectors have noted this in the past).
• Sweep the floor
• Wash the bin. This is a food safety thing – we're legally obliged to have clean bins.
• Mop the floor, dry and then with washing liquid.
• Barrels
  • open and check for pests
  • tighten lid, wipe down outside
  • take all off shelves and clean shelves, then replace
  • if being thoroughly cleaned, then make sure that o-rings are replaced once the barrels are dry, before they go back on the shelves
• Make sure all stock is put back in the right place, as detailed in Stock storage