A recent study completed by guest experience management company HospitalityGEM revealed the top 10 guest grievances from diners*. Up at number 4 was unclean tables from a previous occupant.

Unless there are no other tables available, it’s highly unlikely that customers would choose to sit at a table covered in piles of plates, glasses and used napkins, but they could choose a table that looks clear but is actually still dirty.

Dirt, grime, soiling and most commonly stickiness can be present on a table without the customer knowing until they are sat down. No matter how good the food might be, how can your guests be expected to relax and enjoy a meal when their plate is sitting on a surface that is obviously unclean?

A lot of front of house areas feature glass, brass and antique furniture, and the cleaning of these areas is done for guests’ perceptions, atmosphere and the simple commercial hope that people will return one day. But your guests might think that if the tables are like this front of house, then what about the areas they can’t see? Namely, the kitchen, the storeroom and delivery yard?

A messy front of house dining area is quite simple to remedy. You need a good cleaning product to make your tables look fresh and inviting, and you want a result in the fastest possible time. Because food is not prepared on dining tables you don’t actually need to clean them with a sanitiser, and although customers may like to see staff with sanitiser sprays, it’s often the sanitiser’s formula that causes the stickiness noticed by so many people on wooden table tops.

Cleanline Super Multi Purpose Cleaner is a good all round product that won’t cause stickiness and if sprayed lightly and rubbed with dry blue paper it will make a laminated, steel, or glass table top look polished to perfection.

*Read the full article from HospitalityGEM here.