Everything You Need To Know About Cleaning Plastic Pallets

One of the biggest benefits of plastic pallets is how incredibly easy they are to clean. The ease of cleaning plastic pallets is one of its feature benefits held over their wooden counterparts.

Unlike wooden pallets, there are no nooks and crannies for dust or other contaminants to hide on plastic pallets. And the material itself won’t absorb bacteria that could potentially affect other shipments further down the road.

Some of these cleaning benefits are due to the unique properties of plastic, which provides a substantial advantage for pallets compared to wood. Others can be put down to how plastic pallets are designed and the processes by which they are cleaned.  A plastic pallet can easily be cleaned and sanitised. It eliminates the potential contamination from wood and metal.

You can learn more about their comparison in our plastic vs wood pallets article.

In this article on cleaning plastic pallets, we’ll first take a look at why plastic pallets are so easy to clean, and then run through a few ways to ensure maximum levels of hygiene. 

The Importance Of Pallet Cleaning

In order to avoid contamination, either from bacteria or physical elements such as spills, splinters or nails, a professional pallet cleaning is absolutely necessary. This is especially true with food grade plastic pallets, where plastic is the norm for this exact reason.

Just one batch of compromised products could potentially devastate an entire shipment, resulting in an outbreak of the disease in worst-case scenarios. 

Richard Stier reiterates this in a Food Engineering Magazine piece on pallets:

The rule of thumb is that anything moving into the production area is moved on a plastic pallet. A plastic pallet can be cleaned and sanitised, and it eliminates the potential contamination from wood and metal. 

Richard Stier – Food Engineering Magazine

The design of plastic pallets also helps them to be washed more thoroughly.

For example, the open deck allows water and cleaning products to reach every exposed surface. While the robust construction material is more than capable of handling regular scrubs over a longer life than wood. 

In comparison, closed-deck pallets are also superior in cleanliness compared to wood, as you can see in our Hygiene Pallet Series.

Each hygiene pallet supports ultimate hygiene standards with a fully smooth surface that reduces the risk of unwanted pests and dirt accumulation.

How To Clean Plastic Pallets

Part of the beauty of plastic pallets is that they can be cleaned in several different ways, depending on what has been recently shipped and what sorts of contaminants need to be addressed.

Top 3 Ways To Clean Plastic Pallets:

1. The first way to clean plastic pallets is by using a steam cleaner. This is the most effective way to clean them because it kills all the bacteria and germs that are on the surface of the pallet.
2. The second way to clean plastic pallets is by hand. This can be done with a scrub brush and soap and water. This is the standard option for simple spills or for cleaning off dust particles. But when it’s time for plastic pallets to be scrubbed clean, you should use high-pressure cleaning.
3. The third way to clean plastic pallets is to pressure wash them. This method can be used if you don’t have access to a steam cleaner or if you want to save time. Pressure washing is a more thorough plastic pallet cleaning method. It’s usually reserved for quarantine areas such as international shipments with strict rules.

Want us to clean your plastic pallets for you?

At Eco Pallets Australia, we provide a high-pressure cleaning service; simply get in touch with us to arrange an appointment.

Thanks for visiting the Eco Pallets blog.

Next Article: The Best Pallet Stacking & Storage Methods