Have you ever entered an office building and noticed it looks unkempt, maybe the carpet isn’t vacuumed or the floors appear dirty. Even worse is visiting a dirty restroom in someone else’s place of business.
Frankly, it leaves a terrible impression and it’s risky for both employees and customers to be in an unclean environment.
Maintaining a clean office is important for multiple reasons. First and foremost, you don’t want to work in a place filled with germs laying waiting to get you sick. You don’t want your office to pose health risks to everyone who enters it.
It can also leave a very negative impression on your business to operate in a dirty environment.
What Needs to be Cleaned in an Office Building?
Before discussing how to clean, evaluate what needs to be cleaned. It’s smart to make a checklist to follow. So, no matter who is doing the cleaning, no area is missed.
It might also make sense as part of the checklist to evaluate what needs daily cleaning, weekly cleaning, and monthly cleaning. Some things must be done daily like public bathrooms, where others like dusting window ledges might need to be done’ only weekly.
Go through your space with a careful eye and make a list of what should be cleaned. Consider these spaces:
- Common areas
- Entrances and foyers
- Waiting rooms
- Individual offices
- Grouped office spaces
- Conference rooms
- Desktops
- Technology equipment like keyboards and monitors
- Hallways
- Elevators
- Restrooms
Consider touch points that need regular disinfecting because people’s hands regularly touch there. Touch points are places like door handles, elevator buttons, toilet, and sink handles.
These spots are especially important to address as so many people put their hands there, it can be a breeding ground for infection and disinfecting regularly is a must.
Supplies for Cleaning Office Buildings
Like a carpenter will struggle to do his job without a hammer, the cleaning crew needs to right supplies to get the job done well.
It’s most efficient if the supplies are located together, for example, on a custodial cart. Then whatever is needed is right there and at the ready to get the job done.
Here’s a list of suggested cleaning products:
- All-purpose surface cleaner
- Disinfectant cleaner
- Porcelain and toilet bowl cleaner
- Antibacterial hand cleaner
- Glass cleaner
- Carpet spot cleaner
- Floor cleaning product (dependent on the type of hard surface floors)
You want a variety of products that will both clean and disinfect those surfaces being tackled whether it’s inside a restroom or in an office.
You will need several pieces of equipment to clean hard surface floors like floor scrubbers, mops, brooms, and dustpans to pick up dirt. An industrial-grade vacuum will be needed for carpeted areas or floor mats in entrances.
Additional cleaning equipment needed includes:
- Disposable gloves
- Microfiber cloths
- Microfiber floor mops
- Dusters to reach those hard to reach locations
- Bags for soiled cleaning cloths
- Paper towels
- Toilet paper
- Trash can liners
- Toilet brush
Because you are cleaning a commercial space, you will also need a sign to warn people that floors may be wet and could pose a danger.
In addition to gloves, you want your cleaning crew to have the proper protection against potential threats like bacteria and germs and also against and fumes from cleaning products.
Cleaning Routines and Expectations
Now that you have a checklist and cleaning routine organized, along with all of the supplies, now it’s time to look at how you should approach the actual cleaning.
Hallways, Stairways, and Common Areas
These are areas that often get significant wear and tear on a daily basis. Follow these steps for cleaning here:
- Start by removing trash and replacing garbage bin liners.
- Post signs to let passersby that the floors might be wet as you prepare to mop.
- Clean doors, door frames, and door handles. Wash windows as needed to remove smudges and fingerprints.
- Dust and clean surfaces like ledges, waiting room tables, stair rails. Remember to work from the top down. So, start with those hard to get to spots and work downward. Then you aren’t dropping dust on already cleaned surfaces.
- Clean and disinfect drinking fountains. Wipe down all surfaces of the fountain.
- Vacuum any carpeted areas or mats in entrances. Check for spots and spot clean as needed.
- Sweep or mop hard surfaces floors and remove dirt piles.
- Wet mop hard surface floors so they are clean and sparkling.
Be sure to leave up safety signs while floors are drying.
Offices
Again, start by posting signs indicating there may be wet floors. Remove all the trash and replace trash can liners.
In an office, it’s important to establish a set routine so nothing is ever missed. For example, you could start at the door and work around the office space going clockwise.
In an office space, you also want to remember to clean from the top on down. So, start by cleaning high vents and lights and work your way down the walls and surfaces.
Once you have removed dust and debris, there are many surfaces in an office that also need disinfecting. These include:
- Desktops
- Chairs
- Work stations
- Computers
- Computer mouse
- Doors and door handles
It’s important to read the labels of your disinfectant. Many products need time sitting on the surface, dwell time, to properly disinfect and kill germs.
When dusting surfaces, be sure to use a consistent pattern to avoid missing any areas.
Finally, clean floors, first by sweeping and removing dust and debris, then mopping your way out of the office space. Again, for safety, be sure to leave up warning signs until floors are completely dry.
Get Your Clean Office Today
While this might seem like an overwhelming amount to manage, maintaining a clean office space is important for both safety and the integrity of your business.
Often businesses want to focus on their business and bring in the professionals to help them keep a clean office space. If you are interested in hiring the professionals to get and keep a clean office space, we can help.