The end goal of sanitizing a food processing conveyor belt is to leave a clean and sanitary surface for the next cycle, but most importantly is the removal of biofilm from that surface. The cleaning process can involve many different procedures, equipment, and chemicals for the employees tasked with this manual, time-consuming job.

There are no shortcuts to saving time and money when performing this labor-intensive duty—or are there?

Read on to learn more about how complementary sanitation products can add value to your industrial conveyor belt cleaning processes.

The Sanitizing Process

Several variables are involved in the cleaning and sanitizing process. There are a few questions sanitation employees will need to ask themselves before they can begin:

First—What is the processing residue that they’re trying to remove? Residue from production could include fats, oil, grease, proteins, starch, sugars, or just plain dirt.

Second—What type of conveyor surface area are they cleaning? Conveyor belt cleaning systems, such as the Brite Belt™ scrubber, work exceptionally well on flat conveyor surfaces. You can also use it on many types of belt materials—including rubber, plastics, neoprene, modular belts, stainless, wire, roller belts, etc.

Third—What cleaning or sanitizing chemical have they chosen to prepare the conveyor belt surface for the next food processing cycle? These can include acid cleaners, caustic soaps, bleach products, citrus cleaners, etc.

Fourth—What sanitation equipment and products are available to the employees? Examples include brooms, brushes, hand pads, power washers, pressure hoses, belt scrapers, foamers, water & air knives, steamers, and the Brite Belt™ scrubbers.

The Brite Belt™ Scrubber in Action

The following are just a few examples of the value that a Brite Belt™ standard or BRICK scrubber will add to the cleaning and sanitization process.

Chocolate

We all love chocolate—unless you are the sanitation employee tasked with removing it from a plastic conveyor belt at the end of production. It’s thick and hard as a rock. In almost all cases, they will need to remove the excess biofilm buildup at the beginning of the cleaning process.

There are many different ways that the employee can go about removing the biofilm. They can use a belt scraper device, hot hose, power washer, or hand scraper. A Brite Belt™ scrubber is another alternative that gets the job done in record time. To use it, simply:

• Place it on the flat conveyor
• Stabilize it
• Fill it with a cleaning chemical
• Turn on the conveyor
• Let the Brite Belt™ scrubber do all the hard work while your sanitation department employees tackle other necessary tasks.

After several revolutions, the surface will be clean, biofilm removed—and after a final rinse, the conveyor belt is ready for the next food processing cycle.

Stickers

Many fruits and vegetables have barcode stickers applied to their outsides so the checkout machines can read them. The adhesive isn’t that strong, and several stickers inevitably wind up on the conveyor belt. Scrapping these off can be very time-consuming. However, you can use the Brite Belt™ scrubber to assist in softening, dissolving the glue, and removing stickers from the belt for the next food processing cycle.

Plastic Modular Belts

There are various types of plastic modular belts—some with different kinds of textures molded into the slats or others with holes or openings between the links. Removing the belt to clean and sanitize takes time and effort—workers can instead leave the belt on the track and use a Brite Belt™ scrubber.

A Brite Belt™ BRICK scrubber with a brush attachment on the forward and trailing sides adds additional cleaning potential. If the underside of the plastic modular belt is relatively flat, the Brite Belt™ BRICK scrubber placed on the top surface, when combined with another scrubber inserted into the slack space on the underside of the conveyor, may also assist in cleaning both sides of the belt surface simultaneously.

A continuous layer of cleaning chemicals is applied as the conveyor passes under the BRICK scrubber. After several revolutions of the conveyor, the cleaning solution along with the continuous mechanical scrubbing action of the Brite Belt custom pad material, removes the biofilm from the belt surface. How will you know? SWAB TEST RESULTS!

The Brite Belt™scrubbers act as a beneficial  complementary cleaning product to prepare the conveyor plastic modular belts for the next food processing cycle.

Roller Belts

Many fruits and vegetables receive a wax coating before being packaged for distribution. These roller belts can build up with the wax product and must be removed. The sanitation employee has two options—hand scrape and remove the wax buildup (at the cost of time) or use a Brite Belt™ scrubber filled with wax remover chemicals.

Improve Your Conveyor Belt Cleaning System Sanitation

Properly sanitizing a conveyor belt requires the use of several different tools, processes, and cleaning solutions.

Brite Belt™ scrubbers are an essential component of the cleaning and sanitizing process—and will save time, money, and labor. Learn more below about how Brite Belt™ scrubbers will add value to your food processing line.
 
Learn More About Our Scrubbers Here