Milking Parlor Cleaning
The herd passes the milking parlor every day. A lot of dirt is left behind – faeces, protein and fat residues as well as milk residues, limescale and urine scale. Regular cleaning of the milking parlor is therefore essential. The right cleaning equipment is also crucial when it comes to cleanliness in the milk store and milk tank in order to ensure the necessary hygiene conditions along the entire production chain.
The Sensitive Point: Cleaning Around the Milking Area
The milking area is the sensitive part of the dairy cow barn, as it marks the boundary between animal husbandry and food. Since all dairy cows - whether sick or healthy - pass through this bottleneck several times a day, hygiene is of double importance.
Clean the milking house and milking parlor properly: frequency and resources
Cleaning Cycle
To ensure that germs are not spread from one animal to the next, thorough maintenance cleaning of the entire milking house and the milking area is recommended after each milking shift.
With a high-pressure cleaner, not only the milking carousel, but also the waiting area and the driveways should be cleaned and brought into shape. Tiled walls, tiled floors and lots of stainless steel technology and barn equipment create the best conditions for quick and thorough cleaning. When cleaning, special attention should also be paid to the milking equipment and other milking system parts that come into contact with dirt.
Suitable cleaning agents should also be applied with the foam lance several times a week in order to break chains of infection and remove all residues. Alkaline cleaners effectively remove residues of faeces, protein, milk and fat. Acid cleaning agents are suitable for removing limescale, rust and urine scale.
The Right Equipment for Cleaning around the Milking Parlor
High-pressure cleaners with a high water flow rate of at least 800 liters per hour and a high flushing capacity help to wash away the large amounts of dirt when cleaning the milking parlour. It is precisely these properties that are required in the milking parlour, where there is a lot of faeces and urine over the course of the milking period.
A real help can be high-pressure lances with a gun, with which the water volume and pressure can be dosed steplessly. This means that the device can easily be used to gently clean sensitive components or to flush away coarse dirt.
A long high-pressure hose ensures a sufficient working radius, with which even the furthest corners of the milking carousel or the milking house can be reached. In order to avoid tripping hazards, the high-pressure hose is ideally guided on a reel with automatic return.
Milking Parlor Cleaning – Step by Step:
1. Soak the Milking Parlor with the High-Pressure Cleaner
Sensitive electronics, such as cylinders and lasers on milking robots or milking machines, should be left out and cleaned separately. Also roughly clean heavily soiled floor areas with the high-pressure cleaner.
2. Apply Foam Cleaner
Apply cleaning agent to surfaces, ceiling and milking equipment from bottom to top using a foam lance. We recommend using an alkaline milking parlor cleaner to effectively remove residues of faeces, protein and fat.
Advantage of cleaning foam:
It is so stable that it sticks to surfaces. Exposure time and cleaning effect are increased.
3. Rinse
After the recommended exposure time for the milking parlor cleaner, rinse off the foam from top to bottom.
Tip: The water used when rinsing off should be of high quality to prevent renewed contamination. If the floor does not dry by itself before the next milking, a wet/dry vacuum cleaner will help to ensure a dry and non-slip floor.
Tip – cleaning specific areas with acidic detergent:
The use of an acidic cleaning agent is recommended for areas that come into frequent contact with urine and milk. Rinse off the foam from top to bottom after the recommended exposure time.
Clean Milking Parlor: Clean Clusters, Hoses and Accessories
External cleaning:
High-pressure cleaners can also be used to clean the outside of the milking system parts such as clusters, milking equipment, hoses and accessories. After each milking, it is advisable to rinse them off as well. High-pressure lances with a pistol, where the amount of water and pressure can be infinitely adjusted, help with the gentle cleaning of sensitive components. An alkaline cleaner effectively removes residues of faeces, protein and fat.
Interior cleaning:
Whether in-line milking system or milking robot - automatic rinsing and disinfection systems ensure that the clusters are clean and microbiologically flawless after every milking session (every cycle).
Clean the milk store: hot water high-pressure cleaner, wet/dry vacuum cleaner and detergent
The same requirements apply to the separate milk store as to the milking area itself. High-pressure cleaners, hot water and cleaning agents ensure that the dirt is removed as completely as possible. Wet/dry vacuum cleaners can also be used in this case to prevent mold from forming due to residual moisture and to prevent the risk of slipping.
Advantages of hot water high-pressure cleaners
High-pressure cleaners clean even better with hot water at constant pressure. In addition to better results and faster cleaning and drying times, a measurable reduction in germs can be achieved when using hot water high-pressure cleaners. With the help of the steam setting, sensitive surfaces can even be gently cleaned at up to 155 °C. In addition, the devices enable a reduction in the working pressure, the time required and the amount of cleaning agents to be used. Cleaning with hot water offers a number of advantages and various options for optimizing the cleaning process.
Suitable Products for your Area of Application
PressurePro foam cleaner, alkaline RM 91 Agri
PressurePro soaking agent, alkaline RM 92 Agri
PressurePro surface cleaner, acidic RM 93 Agri
Hot water high-pressure cleaner
Mug foam lance
Wet/dry vacuum cleaner
Cold water high-pressure cleaner
