Not All Bathroom Partitions Are Created Equally: The Differences Between Phenolic Core and Plastic (HDPE) Core Partition Materials

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All bathroom partition materials are the same, right? It’s just a door and a privacy separator between stalls, so why should you even bother looking into partition materials?

These misguided ideologies about bathroom partitions make for poorly constructed commercial bathrooms and public gyms that are susceptible to many types of damage. In fact, the materials for your bathroom partitions do matter, and Scranton Products is here to show you why.

Two common materials for bathroom partitions are phenolic core and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic core. While they may perform the same function, these materials are very different in their durability and longevity.

Let’s compare the two materials so you can see the differences between phenolic core and HDPE so you can make the right choice for your bathroom. Read more

A Business Owner’s Primer on Commercial Restroom Renovations

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Renovations to your commercial restroom can be time consuming and stressful, and they can require a lot of planning to make sure that your new project is perfect. One of the last things that business owners want to find out after completing a commercial restroom renovation is that the materials selected won’t hold up over time and will require maintenance, thorough cleaning, and even additional renovations.

Whether your bathroom renovations require new stall partitions, vanities, or shower stalls, don’t make the mistake of choosing the wrong products that won’t satisfy your needs. No matter what kind of renovations you’re make, read on for Scranton Products’ primer on commercial restroom renovations to learn how you can avoid some costly mistakes. Read more

The Best Lockers for Pool Areas

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The lockers in pool locker rooms need to hold up in this high-moisture and high-humidity environment. So your patrons have a clean, sanitary locker room environment at your facility, your pool locker room needs to be equipped with the best possible lockers. So which ones should you choose?

Scranton Products provides Tufftec Lockers that are designed to withstand the moisture and humidity common in pool environments. Continue to reading to learn why Tufftec lockers are the best lockers for pool areas. Read more

5 Questions You Should Ask When Shopping for School Lockers

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When you’re shopping for school lockers for your facility, you want to be sure you’re choosing a durable material that can withstand the impact of students unloading their books, gym clothes, sports gear and other belongings. There are many different factors to consider when shopping for lockers for your school. Read on to find out the five questions you should be asking.

school locker room

1. How durable is the material?

School lockers face a lot of harsh wear and tear daily, so it’s important to choose lockers that are made of a durable material that can withstand this use.

The traditional option for hallway lockers is metal but they can come with a lot of drawbacks. They’re prone to dents with minimal impact which can compromise the aesthetics of the lockers and will end up costing a lot of money for repairs and replacement.

A impact test was conducted following ASTM standards that showed Duralife Lockers had 59 times greater resistance to impacts when compared to metal lockers.

2. How much maintenance do they require?

Constantly having to perform maintenance on your school lockers will become expensive in the long wrong. You want to be sure that the lockers you’re choosing are low maintenance to save you from this cost.

Traditional metal lockers have a lower initial cost than plastic lockers, making them an economical choice for schools. However, there are hidden costs such as additional expenses associated with cleaning, painting and the general maintenance of these lockers on an annual or semi-annual basis which may be overlooked.

By comparing the true cost of a traditional metal hallway locker to a Duralife HDPE locker over a 20 year period a study was done to take into account the initial cost, maintenance, dent and scratch repair, painting cost, graffiti removal and replacing damaged and corroded parts to create a cost of ownership model. Within 2 years, Duralife HDPE lockers are less expensive than metal. In 20 years, the accumulated savings are substantial.

3. How much noise do they produce?

 The noisy clanging that comes from shutting a metal locker can be distracting as it rings throughout the hallways, so look for an option where the sound is muffled.

Duralife Lockers are 3 times quieter than metal lockers and reduce noise in the hallway. This eliminates distractions from the hallways and leads to a better learning environment.  The difference between that is a metal locker noise would be equivalent to an alarm clock 2 feet away where the Duralife locker noise is considered similar to that created by a washing machine.

4. Are the lockers made of sustainable material?

Some major traditional metal locker brands do not meet the strictest standards for air quality and sustainability. These products are not Greenguard Certified. The Greenguard Certification Program gives assurance that products designed for use in indoor spaces meet strict chemical emissions limits. This contributes to the creation of healthy interiors.

Duralife Lockers are Greenguard Gold Certified and meet the strict criteria for products intended for use in schools, as well as other environments where children spend a lot of time. With Duralife Lockers, you can be confident that the lockers are not having a negative effect on your school’s air quality.

5. Are the lockers visually appealing?

It’s also important that the lockers are aesthetically appealing in your facility. You want people to come into your school and see it as a respectable environment. DuraLife Lockers have appealing vents throughout and a clean-looking surface. There are also built in handles and combination locks that are recessed to improve student safety.

To learn more about Scranton Products’ DuraLife Lockers download our free eBook, The Ultimate Guide to HDPE Plastic Lockers for Schools.

HDPE vs. Metal: Which Material Comes Out on Top?

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When you’re searching for products for your facility, one of the most important factors to consider is material. The material of your products makes all the difference when it comes to durability, sustainability and aesthetics. You also want to make sure that you’re purchasing materials that will hold up over time Some popular materials include high density polyethylene (HDPE) and metal. If you’re torn between the two or you’re just looking for more information, keep reading to find out which material is the better option based on what matters most to you.

Pleasing Aesthetics

You want to make sure that the products in your facility add to your building, or blend in, rather than standing out and looking unsightly. Traditional metal lockers have vents and handles that protrude from the surface, which is not aesthetically pleasing. These protruding elements may also lead to bumps and scrapes and reduce safety in the facility. HDPE plastic lockers have vents built into the surface with recessed handles and locks for a smooth, clean look. The recessed handles and locks help to improve safety by eliminating the risk of bumps and scrapes.

Damage Resistant

Overall, HDPE plastic holds up better than metal against damages such as impacts, scratches and even graffiti.

  • Impact: Traditional lockers are made from 16 gauge steel which makes the material less than 1/16 of an inch thick. HDPE plastic lockers are made of rigid 1/2 inch thick rigid HDPE plastic which makes them 59 times stronger, which means that plastic lockers are more resistant to impacts and dents than traditional metal lockers.
  • Scratches: Scratches are also commonly seen on metal lockers which expose the metal underneath the paint. This requires paint to cover up or complete replacement. However, HDPE plastic lockers are one solid color throughout. You won’t have to spend time and money covering scratches or chips in the paint.
  • Graffiti: If you have to deal with graffiti in your facility, you’ll want to choose a material that can easily be cleaned. Markers can be very difficult to remove from metal lockers, and could even leave behind residue, but because HDPE is easy to clean, graffiti readily wipes off of the plastic’s non-porous surface. Stickers and contact paper can also be easily removed.

Maintenance

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Choosing locker materials that constantly need to be repaired, replaced or cleaned gets costly. While budget is always an important factor in choosing materials, it’s crucial to understand that products that are the least expensive initially could end up costing you in the future. Traditional metal lockers have a low initial cost, making them a top choice for facilities. However, additional expenses for these lockers, such as cleaning, painting and general maintenance will add up. The initial cost of metal lockers is lower than HDPE plastic, but HDPE plastic is less expensive over time. If you’re considering installing lockers or bathroom partitions into your facility, consider HDPE plastic over metal lockers for durable and sustainable products. Click here to find out where to buy Scranton Products.

Plastic vs. Stainless Steel Bathroom Partitions: See the Difference Before You Choose

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When building a commercial or public bathroom, the partition material is usually one of the most overlooked elements. At first glance, its only purpose is for privacy, so the only thing you need to consider when making your choice is visual appeal, which is why most people opt for stainless steel bathroom partitions. However, is this really the best choice for your bathroom partition material?

Scranton Products wants you to make the best choice for your new bathroom partitions, so we’re here to compare plastic HDPE bathroom partitions against stainless steel so you can see the difference before your choose. Read more

What Plastics Can Become

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As landfills continue to grow at a rate the country is trying to keep pace with, small businesses across the US as well as in other countries are finding ways to repurpose one of the items found readily in those landfills – plastic. Most plastics are made of organic polymers, with a high molecular mass, but are also combined with chemicals and other synthetic materials, that do not make them suitable for recycling. Other plastics like polylactic acid (PLA) and high density polyetylene (HDPE) are suitable for making renewable products that allow us to reduce our carbon footprint.

 

Here in the US, and in other developed countries, recycled plastics are being used to manufacture a wide variety of commercial items and products, including: milk jugs and plastic bottles; plastic decking and outdoor furniture; lawn and garden products; toilet partitions; cutting boards; storage lockers; playground equipment; building construction; office products; automobile parts, carpeting; and even clothing. And thanks to our human ingenuity and creativity, plastics are being considered for use in other unusual ways, even for making roadways. “The Plastic Road” is a project concept developed by an engineering firm in Europe. They expect to have a usable case study by the end of this year.

 

The state of Texas has also been used as a pilot state for a similar use of recycled plastics. Dykes Paving,  an Atlanta based small business, holds several patents in recycling inventions. The firm conducted a study to find an innovative way to use recycled plastic bottles to reduce the costs of the state’s road repair bills. Because much of the state’s vast network of roads is built from clay, which causes the roads to crack and buckle, the idea was to support the crumbling clay using recycled plastic bottles as “pins”. This would provide sustainable materials for long-term use, and lessen both the environmental impact as well as the financial burden on the state. This small business is not alone in its innovative thinking by using plastic products as they relate to sustainability.

 

Because of its strength, durability and ease of recyling, one of the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. in the manufacture of products made from recycled plastic is HDPE, labeled #2 for recycling purposes.

 

An industry leader in the manufacture of products made from recycled HDPE, Scranton Products is committed to developing and using sustainable building products that reduce plastic waste and keep it from landfills. We manufacture high quality bathroom partitions, lockers and other products that offer many advantages due to the inherent strengths of HDPE plastic. These products will never absorb moisture; are dent and scratch resistant; don’t support the growth of mold or bacteria; never need painting; and are 100% recyclable.

If you are interested in sustainability, and wish to learn more about our products and our corporate commitment to people and our planet, please visit our website.

The Top Guide for Facility Maintenance & Property Solutions

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Managing a facility isn’t always the easiest job because you need to stay on top of everything. As a facility manager, you have strict codes and guidelines to adhere to in order to supply your occupants with a safe and healthy environment.

To properly follow through on the maintenance of your facility, we’ll provide you with some crucial tips so you can ensure that your building is a safe environment that runs as efficiently as possible.

Guidelines for Standard Maintenance

It’s important to always be a step ahead of maintenance. To do so, it’s strongly advised that you perform system checks every few months. Check your heating system, water pumps, and electrical systems to make sure that everything is in order and that the systems are performing as expected.

When you perform your inspections, don’t leave any stones unturned. It’s important to be thorough in your examinations because you could spot a slight issue that, if left unchecked, could result in serious problems. By checking these systems and spotting any issues, you’ll save yourself a ton in future repair costs.

Preventive maintenance is key to averting severe damage of system failures because you can effectively catch the issue before it becomes financially taxing. You’ll want to:

  • Check your heating system
  • Evaluate your water system
  • Assess the electrical systems

Improving & Maintaining Indoor Air Quality

Many factors can have a detrimental effect on your indoor air quality. Common sources include pollen, dust, and fungal spores. You can help to combat these pollutants in a variety of ways.

Never underestimate the value of a floor mat. This is your first line of defense in preventing these pollutants from making their way from occupant shoes into your building. Placing a floor mat on the exterior of your building and directly inside the entryway or lobby will help to reduce these materials from working their way into your air.

One of the hot spots for poor air quality can be found in your facility’s bathrooms. Due to the heavy foot traffic and the abundance of moisture and humidity, the restrooms can be a breeding ground for pollutants. Luckily, there are several steps to increase the air quality of your restrooms.

Automatic air fresheners can be effective for combatting the odors, but the problem may be within your bathroom stalls.

Most plastics can absorb moisture and sprout mold, further reducing the quality of your air. So think about getting new bathroom stalls and partitions made of stronger materials like high-density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE materials are impervious to mold growth and provide a durable structure that can outlast most plastics.

Make Your Facility Sustainable & Efficient

It’s every facility manager’s goal to make his or her building more sustainable and operate at maximum efficiency. There are several things you can do to increase the efficiency of your facility and make it more sustainable and eco-friendly. Some of these steps can help to reduce operating costs as well as reduce your facility’s environmental impact.

Making the switch to green cleaning materials has several benefits because they’re made from natural ingredients, which can reduce the adverse health effects and chronic illness. Using green cleaning products will help to reduce any VOC emissions from contaminating your air.

Another approach to keeping your building efficient and sustainable is through the use of sustainable building products. You learned earlier that HDPE is more durable than most thermoplastics and building materials. But did you know that it’s 100% recyclable too? Almost all HDPE products are made from post-consumer material, making it a versatile and sustainable building material you can use to make your facility more eco-friendly and sustainable.

Want to learn more tips about maintaining your facility? Check out these blog posts, How HDPE Can Save Your Facility Maintenance Costs and Maintenance Tips for Commercial Restrooms

Top Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Bathroom Partition or Locker Material

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When redesigning a commercial bathroom or adding lockers to a locker room or hallway, architects are burdened with a significant amount of detailed planning. Functionality, convenience, and design need to be considered through each step of planning to completion. Because of the numerous working elements that go into building a new bathroom or locker room, it’s easy for architects to overlook some crucial aspects of two of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the entire design: bathroom partitions and lockers.

To work toward a more convenient and more cost-efficient commercial bathroom and locker installation for architects and facility managers, Scranton Products is here to highlight seven crucial mistakes that architects may make when choosing bathroom partitions and locker materials.

Here’s a list of the most common mistakes you’ll want to avoid when picking out your bathroom partitions or locker materials.

Choosing Lockers and Partitions That Lack Durability

Too often, architects forget about the importance of the durability of locker and partition material. It can be easy to think that since these materials aren’t exposed to the natural environment, their durability doesn’t matter. However, many factors can affect the lockers or partitions and even reduce their physical appeal, such as graffiti and scratches. The more durable your lockers and partitions are, the less those factors will contribute to devaluing them. If you take the time to look into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material, you’ll see how it can improve the durability of your partitions and lockers.

Not Considering Germ Resistance

Bathrooms and locker rooms can be cesspools of germs and bacteria. Thanks to high levels of moisture, it’s easy for bathroom partitions to accumulate mold or mildew. Results from a laboratory test showed that, for a clean and healthy bathroom, opting for HDPE bathroom partitions such as Hiny Hiders Partitions gives you more microbial resistance than phenolic bathroom partitions.

Building Lockers and Partitions That Aren’t Reliable

Reliable and strong materials will help to maintain your lockers and bathroom partitions so they remain appealing and functional over time. Sometimes certain materials don’t serve as reliable bathroom partitions or lockers, which can lead to the following:

  • Rust and corrosion
  • Dents
  • Screw release

You’ll want to choose a strong material, like HDPE, that can withstand these common issues.

Using Non-Sustainable Material

When architects don’t choose sustainable, environmentally friendly materials for bathroom partitions or lockers, they limit the reusability of the materials and aren’t building in the most environmentally friendly way. When building your bathroom partitions, you want to make sure that you use sustainable products, such as the HDPE you’ll find in Hiny Hiders Partitions, for several reasons:

  • HDPE Hiny Hiders Partitions are 100% recyclable and are available with up to 100% post-consumer content, unlike phenolic material and SCRC.
  • HDPE Hiny Hinders Partitions feature 25% to 100% pre-consumer content, while SCRC has none and phenolic material has a maximum of 22%.
  • Unlike phenolic material, HDPE Hiny Hiders Partitions have low-emitting materials and are free of urea-formaldehyde resins.

Not Accounting for Locker Noise Level

The noise made from just one locker being slammed shut can be excruciating. Now multiply that by 10, 15, 20, or more, and you’ll have one booming sound. This is a critical aspect of lockers that architects don’t tend to account for when selecting their locker material. If you’re building lockers in hallways or rooms with shared walls, you want to be sure that you opt for the quietest ones available. Too often architects automatically settle on metal lockers, which create a loud, distracting environment around the locker room. HDPE Lockers are built to be three times quieter than generic metal lockers.

Overlooking Aesthetics

A mistake that architects frequently make is overlooking the aesthetics of different locker materials. While it’s easy to think that all lockers essentially accomplish the same goal and that their looks don’t really matter, there are some significant benefits that go far beyond beautification. For example, traditional metal lockers continually fail to advance their design with their protruding vents and bulky locks.

Duralife HDPE lockers solve both of these issues by breaking away from the confines of generic and bulky locker construction. Duralife lockers have vents cut into the locker surface and have built-in combination locks, resulting in a sleek-looking locker that eliminates the risk of students getting clipped by locker pieces extending past the surface.

Ignoring Future Maintenance Costs

When installing bathroom partitions or lockers, you want the price of building them to be the only cost that you have to worry about. You don’t want to have to throw away money each week for locker or partition maintenance that you weren’t aware would be so recurrent. Unfortunately, this is the result of a mistake that architects frequently make. Think about the common maintenance requirements for SCRC and phenolic bathroom partitions and metal lockers:

  • Rust and corrosion
  • Dents
  • Scratches
  • Lack of screw retention
  • Mold and mildew buildup
  • Germ growth
  • Graffiti

Fortunately, HDPE bathroom partitions and lockers are designed to withstand these harmful issues. That means maintenance costs of HDPE material is much lower, so over time, they’re a financially viable solution compared to their competitors.

 Making the Right Decisions

Architects and facility managers can make numerous mistakes when selecting materials for new bathroom partitions or lockers, all of which lead to constant inconveniences. When architects make any of the following mistakes:

  • Choosing less durable materials
  • Not considering germ resistance
  • Building with unreliable materials
  • Thinking sustainability isn’t a factor
  • Not accounting for noise levels
  • Overlooking aesthetics
  • Ignoring future maintenance costs

The result is usually bathroom partitions and lockers that don’t perform as desired. The truth is that many architects frequently make these mistakes because they don’t know about the benefits of HDPE materials. When you choose HDPE Hiny Hiders bathroom partitions or Duralife lockers, you opt for materials that are more durable, safer, convenient, and more cost-effective, leading to lower maintenance costs and a longer lifespan.

Want to learn more about HDPE products can benefit your facility? Contact us at Scranton Products!

 

Renovating Your School’s Locker Room: Your Go-To Guide

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An outdated locker room isn’t just an eyesore. It can be downright dangerous for students and faculty depending on the materials used and the overall condition of the facility. Although, completely renovating your school’s locker room is no small task, as any superintendent or school board member can tell you. So to help you make sense of the renovation process, we’ve created this custom guide!

Follow the steps of this guide so you can easily renovate your school’s locker room!

Understanding Your Renovation from Start to Finish

Depending on the scale of your renovation project, planning, and construction can take months or even years. To make sure that your plan goes off without a hitch, it’s important to understand each stage of the renovation process. Equally as important, you’ll want to spend adequate time at each stage to see the process through completely. Trying to rush through a stage could result in extended projected timelines and going over budget.

Steps Toward Getting Started on Your Locker Room Renovation

Step 1: Fundraising

Having the money to pay for your renovation is probably the most important step. Most schools acquire these funds through fundraising or by selling a school bond. A school bond is kind of like a mortgage for a house, where a lender agrees to give you a certain amount of money with the understanding that you’ll make regular payments plus interest to repay the loan.

Step 2: Pre-Planning

During the pre-planning stage, you’ll want to establish a planning committee. If possible, it’s best to form your committee with people from a diverse set of disciplines and backgrounds. At this stage, the planning committee will be primarily responsible for determining what the goals are for the facility.

Step 3: Programming

Defining the types of activities and requirements of the space you’re designing is known as programming, a term borrowed from architectural planning. This is one of the most crucial stages of the renovation project and needs to be completed early on. Otherwise, you could end up delaying the project or, even worse, creating a facility that doesn’t meet your original expectations.

Check out Scranton Product’s Tufftec Lockers Product Kit Now!

Step 4: Schematic Design & Development

Now that you’ve completed your programming and come up with project budgets, you’re ready to talk to an architect and have them begin designing your facility. Review these designs with your planning committee and check in periodically so you can fine-tune the design as the architect works on diagramming the locker room.

Once the schematics are approved, the architect will get to work creating blueprints. These blueprints will also be used during the bidding stage and for estimating construction costs, so it’s important that your planning committee reviews the blueprints closely and makes sure they’re exactly what you want.

Step 5: Bidding

Once the architect has prepared all the proper documents, you’re ready to start taking bids for your project. During this stage, you’ll show your blueprints and other paperwork to general contractors, electricians, carpenters, and other needed subcontractors. They’ll in turn bid on the project (offer you a price to complete the project).

Step 6: Construction

The planning process is officially over! Now, you’re ready to break ground, so to speak, and start with the actual renovation of your locker room. During this time, you should plan to visit the locker room regularly to make sure that the renovations are being carried out according to your specifications. Any issues should be brought to the attention of the architect and project administrators.

Step 7: Purchasing Equipment/Furniture/Materials

Now’s the time to start finding the right equipment and materials to help get the job done. Look out for any low-cost maintenance materials, such as lockers, partitions, and even benches. Once you’ve reviewed all of your options, choose the materials that are guaranteed to last you for a considerable amount of time. Metal lockers are the usual choice for locker rooms, however, HDPE plastic lockers have proven to outlast metal lockers and they even provide a more durable structure.

Check out Scranton Product’s Duralife Lockers Product Kit Now!

Step 8: Debut Your New Locker Room

Once the crew has made the finishing touches on your locker room with installing the materials and having painted the walls, you’re ready to unveil the newly renovated locker room!

Renovating Your School’s Locker Room

Now that you’re aware of the crucial steps towards renovating your locker room, you’re ready to get started! Remember that a renovation project of this magnitude requires considerable funds, the best materials, and the right crew to get the job done. A project like this takes time, but after it’s finished, you’ll have a newly renovated locker room that you can be proud of.

Want to learn more about choosing the right materials for your locker room renovation? Check out this blog post, Lockers That Can Save Your School Money, from your friends at Scranton Products.