
We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! In this episode of Facilities Five & Dime, we take a step back and challenge one of the most common assumptions in facility management—that the best solution is always the one that’s worked before. Through familiar stories—from the accidental invention of Post-it Notes at 3M to the 39 failed attempts behind WD-40 and even the persistence of Thomas Edison—we explore how what looks like failure can actually lead to b...
Apr 23
14 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! In this episode of Facilities Five & Dime, we step away from tools and techniques and focus on something deeper—the difference between maintaining a facility and truly leading it. On paper, everything can look right. Staffing levels are adequate. Budgets are in line. There are no obvious red flags. And yet, when you walk the space, something feels off. Nothing is broken—but nothing feels owned. Through stories from...
Apr 16
11 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! In this episode of Facilities Five & Dime, we take a closer look at something most people associate with stage effects and shipping coolers—dry ice—and uncover its surprising role as one of the most effective and environmentally responsible cleaning methods available today. What begins as a simple look at frozen carbon dioxide quickly turns into a deeper exploration of how dry ice blasting is used across industries...
Apr 9
17 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! For decades, cleaning meant one thing: work harder, scrub longer, and reach for stronger chemicals. But some messes always fought back—returning stains, lingering odors, and irritated hands that told the real story. In this episode of Facilities Five and Dime, we dig into one of the quiet revolutions in custodial care: enzymatic cleaning. Enzymes aren’t fragrances or cover-ups. They’re naturally occurring proteins—buil...
Jan 22
26 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! For most of history, the secrets of our buildings were scattered everywhere. Property lines in filing cabinets. Utility maps rolled up in tubes. Old blueprints fading, outdated, or missing altogether. When something broke—or a project started—facility teams often had to guess what was underground and behind the walls. In this episode of Facilities Five and Dime, we explore the surprising history of Geographic Informati...
Dec 31, 2025
14 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! For centuries, walls have been quietly losing battles. Mildew, mold, soot, staining, and graffiti slowly break down surfaces—and the solution has always been the same: scrub it, wash it, repaint it… then do it all again next year. In this episode of Facilities Five and Dime, we explore how wall maintenance evolved from wire brushes and lime wash to modern coatings inspired by nature itself. The breakthrough came when s...
Dec 29, 2025
18 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! The barcode represents "stewardship through visibility". When you can see and track what you have, you can care for it. Barcodes, QR codes, and asset tags are "descendants of Woodland's line in the sand". These tools help facilities move from chaos and memory to order and accountability, turning an idea like "someone should fix that" into records with timelines and costs. For most organizations without a cult...
Dec 18, 2025
17 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! The ultimate goal of facility stewardship, in maintenance, is to provide as much information as possible to be effective and efficient, and to set up the next generations for success rather than continuing the reactionary maintenance paradigm. It is time to "get out of the paper and pen" and into the computer age. This podcast focuses on the history and importance of the work order system, tracing its evolution from ph...
Dec 15, 2025
21 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! It didn’t come from a janitor’s closet — it came from a lab. In this episode of Facilities Five and Dime, we pull back the curtain on how microfiber technology jumped from high-tech textiles to everyday mops and cloths, quietly rewriting the playbook for custodial care. What started as a quest for lighter, stronger fibers turned into one of the greatest leaps in cleaning efficiency — trapping dust, bacteria, and costs ...
Oct 30, 2025
14 min

We would love to hear your thoughts and requests for topics, text us here! Who would’ve thought the same technology that once sealed the decks of warships would later seal the hallways of your local church or school? In this episode of Facilities Five and Dime, we trace the unlikely journey of epoxy flooring—from battlefield innovation to maintenance mainstay. We’ll unpack how a chemical born from necessity became the unsung hero of modern facilities: fighting spills instead of shrapnel, savi...
Oct 23, 2025
10 min
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