Simple and Effective Ways To Clean a Gondola Shelf

Gondola shelving offers one of the best all-around ways to display product in a retail store. Instead of using built-in shelves that don't move, you can build completely moveable and adjustable gondola shelving units for your store. Like all shelves, though, you'll need to know how to properly clean and maintain them. Retail stores naturally attract a large amount of dust, dirt and debris from doors constantly being open and new boxed products coming in. If you fail to clean your gondola shelves, they will accumulate layers of thick dust. The good news is that cleaning gondolas is a fairly simple and straightforward process that should only take a couple minutes of your free time; here's how you do it:

Remove The Product

The first step necessary for cleaning a dirty gondola shelf is to remove all of the product from it. I know some people might want to avoid doing this, but it's necessary for a thorough cleaning. Just pull all of the product form the gondola and place it in a buggy or some bread trays. You can leave the price tags on the front of the gondola shelf to help you remember where the product goes. As you are pulling the product off, look for any damaged or expired goods that need to be thrown away.

Vinegar Solution

There are several different ways to clean a gondola shelf, but nothing works better than good old fashion vinegar. It's cheap, all-natural, and works wonders on gondola shelves. You don't have to use pure vinegar, but instead mix it with about half water. This will create a powerful, acidic solution that makes easy work of dust and dirt. Ideally, you should pour the mixture into a spray bottle to use on the gondola shelves. If you don't have a spray bottle, though, you can still use it in a cup or bucket.

Once you've made the solution of diluted vinegar, it's time to get to work. Go back to the gondola shelves that you recently removed the product from and spray them down with the vinegar. Using a clean paper towel, wipe the diluted vinegar and any dust or dirt off the shelf. Continue doing this on each and every shelf until you've cleaned the entire gondola. Be warned, though, it may require a large portion of paper towels to fully clean a gondola. Stock up beforehand on supplies to make the process faster and less of a hassle.