The Ultimate Guide to Office Cleaning

As offices across the Tri-State Area begin to reopen, it is time to think about how your office will tackle their office cleaning. It is a priority to have an office cleaning plan in place that includes cleaning and disinfecting on a daily basis. Aside from taking precautions during the pandemic, there are additional benefits to regular office cleaning you may not have heard of. Here, we will discuss those benefits and the best course of action for creating an office cleaning plan.

The top 3 benefits of cleaning your office daily

1. Aesthetics

Appearances make the first impression. Clean offices are aesthetically pleasing and a welcoming sight for everyone who enters the office! Keeping a clean office will impress both your clients and your employees. A regular office cleaning will help make your office a place people want to be. 

2. Stress-Trigger Reduction

When a workspace is messy, it can cause distractions and stress. This can lead to additional consequences such as reduced overall productivity. There have been countless studies focused on the long term effects of stress on the human body. It can lead to several mental and medical issues including depression, fatigue, and insomnia.  

3. Increased Productivity 

Studies done at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute showed that participants who tidied up their work environment were able to focus better and saw a measurable increase in their productivity. The same study found that those participants who saw frequent visual reminders of the uncleanliness in their work environment were unable to remain focused. These results suggest that a clean workspace can increase employees’ overall productivity. (Source: Princeton.edu)

Your Office Cleaning Plan

Following a Cleaning Checklist will allow you and your cleaning team (in-house or professional cleaning company) to be on the same page on the tasks that need to be done to achieve your cleaning goals.

For Reception, Workspaces, Conference Rooms & Private Offices

The reception area is often the first thing someone sees when they enter the office. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a great first impression! 

• Begin by dusting the general reception area and spot clean glass surfaces
• Clean and disinfect areas frequently touched surfaces such as electronics, light switches, and door knobs
• Straighten up chairs and accessories / decor
• Empty, clean trash cans and replace liners
• Sweep or vacuum all floors and rugs, mop hard wood or tile floors.
  

Kitchenette

If you have kitchenette in your office, this area is one that is frequently used and gets dirty throughout the day. Ideally, you would want everyone to clean up after themselves to keep the area clean throughout the day. However, with the hustle and bustle of the workday, that is not always possible. With that being said, the kitchenette should be cleaned at least once daily at the end of the day.

• Start by loading up the dishwasher or clearing up the sink
• Clean and disinfect the countertops, microwave, small appliances, outside of the refrigerator, and the sink area
• Vacuum or sweep and mop the floors
• Lastly, restocks the community items, take out the trash, and replace the garbage bag
• Clean inside the refrigerator on Fridays (tossing out expired food)

Bathrooms

This is another heavily frequented area that needs daily cleaning and disinfection

• Start by washing the sink and countertops, clean glass surfaces and mirrors, and disinfect all surfaces
• Next, clean and disinfect the entire toilet bowl
• Finally, mop the floors, replenish toiletries, and change the garbage bags
  

What cleaning supplies do you need to clean your office?

Investing in high-quality and efficient cleaning supplies and equipment will save you pain and money in the long run. Not all cleaners and equipment are created equal so it's important to educate yourself about the options available in the market and what will be the best fit for your cleanliness goals.

When hiring a Cleaning Company, ask if they will provide the cleaning supplies or equipment or if you need to buy them.

Cleaners

1. Store-bought traditional cleaners- Most of them contain toxic ingredients and perfumes that will decrease your air quality, may hurt your skin and eyes and leave streaks. You can find them in the grocery or home improvement stores.
2. Janitorial cleaners- Difficult to use since they need to be diluted in specific ratios, may decrease your air quality and hurt your skin. Unless you're a professional cleaner trained in dilution and application, you risk damaging your surfaces. You can order them online or through a Janitorial Store.
3. Non-Toxic Professional Cleaners- Versatile cleaning products with high-quality natural ingredients that will maintain your indoor air quality and work efficiently without hurting your skin or eyes.

Disinfectants

• Select and EPA approved disinfectant for extra protection.
• Lean towards biodegradable and odor-free disinfectants vs traditional ones or bleach.
• Read throughly their use instructions making sure that it's safe to use in all surfaces to avoid any issues
• Check on the suggested contact time that the product needs to disinfect the surface.

Equipment

• Microfiber Cloths- Premium microfiber cleaning cloths will do a more efficient job and have a longer life than cheap cloths. There are specialized cloths for each type of tasks, color-coded and labeled. You can get them in bulk here and wash them once a week.
• Paper Towels- Get tree-free paper towels to reduce your carbon footprint (mostly used to clean the toilet).
• Gloves- Choose reusable gloves over disposable ones for better protection and longer life. Get at least 2 colors of gloves, one color to clean the kitchenette and the other for the bathrooms (you don't want to mix them).
• Toilet brush- Basic staple in every bathroom
• Duster- Microfiber dusters with washable covers for a more sustainable cleaning that will save you hundreds of dollars per year.
• Mop- Avoid string mops (they're extremely dirty and messy) or mops that only work with single-use pads. Invest in a professional flat mop with a 18" head (minimum) that fits microfiber pads. It's not only sustainable but the most efficient way to really clean your floors.
• Vacuum- Invest in a highly-rated commercial backpack vacuum with HEPA filtration to get rid of allergens and viruses (recommended by CDC). Household vacuums don't do the best job cleaning office spaces and you'll take double the time vacuuming with a huge back pain compared to using an ergonomic backpack vacuum.

How much does an Office Cleaning Service cost?

Most cleaning services offer a fixed price by square footage and only a few offer a tiered pricing structure. This typically means you can choose between their basic, standard, and premium packages. The more premium the package, the more services are included.

Every company will have different pricing models with some companies being cheaper than others. Although everyone loves a good deal, many customers have reported to receiving lower quality service when making decisions based on affordability. As a customer, you must ask yourself what is more important to you and your business: cheaper service or a job well-done?

Pricing Structure

Square Footage Pricing

Traditional commercial cleaning companies price their services based only on square footage and offer a one-size fits all kind of model. This does not consider the needs of each individual office including the number of workstations or bathrooms each office has.

These companies offer very low rates which can result in employees rushing services and sacrificing quality for speed as they are cleaning several office spaces during one shift. The rushed service often only include a quick wipe down of common surfaces, and taking out the garbage.

The average cost of these services ranges between $0.10 - 0.20/sqft and their typical cleaning tasks look like these:

• Quick vacuum
• Quick wipe common surfaces (kitchenette and bathrooms)
• Take out the garbage

Since it's a low-cost service, the supplies used to clean your office will be on the toxic side (Pinesol, Fabuloso, Windex, Bleach) with lots of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) floating on the air that your team will breath the next morning. Some of those products can even damage your surfaces, so don't be surprised by finding streaky floors or a ruined monitor wiped with window cleaner.

If that's not all, after some time, you'll notice an accumulation of dust since the short time of service doesn't allow the crew to be detailed (remember, the same team cleans multiple offices on the same night) so expect to invest in a supplementary cleaning service that comes to Deep Clean on a monthly basis.

Tiered Pricing (recommended)

In contrast, modern office cleaning companies will price your service based on the layout of your space, your needs and frequency of service. They know that one-size fits all is not accurate and consider that important variables like square footage, number of workstations, bathrooms, kitchenette size, conference rooms and private offices have a direct impact in the time of service and pricing.

There are great things about having a tiered pricing structure:

• You can start with a high-quality basic plan and escalate into more complete plans as you grow.
• The best feature is the benefit of having rotating schedules where high-traffic areas are cleaned on every service and low-traffic areas are cleaned on a rotating basis (3x/week, 2x/week or 1x/week)
• Includes a defined amount of hours per week.

Their tiered pricing structure starts at $30/hr per cleaner and looks like these:

Basic Plan

• Vacuuming every day
• Mopping 2x/week
• Cleaning workstations 2x/week
• Spot Cleaning glass doors every day
• Full Cleaning of bathrooms and kitchenette every day
• Cleaning inside the refrigerator on Fridays
• Take of trash and recycle every day

Standard Plan

• Vacuuming every day
• Mopping 3x/week
• Cleaning workstations 3x/week
• Spot Cleaning glass doors every day
• Full Cleaning of bathrooms and kitchenette every day
• Cleaning inside the refrigerator on Fridays
• Take of trash and recycle every day

Pro Plan

• Vacuuming every day
• Mopping every day
• Full Cleaning of workstations every day
• Full Cleaning of glass doors every day
• Full Cleaning of bathrooms and kitchenette every day
• Cleaning inside the refrigerator on Fridays
• Take of trash and recycle every day

What are some of the pricing variables?

With the help of a Cleaning Expert, you can design a Custom Checklist with the flexibility to add and remove Cleaning Tasks based on your office's events. Here are some examples of add-ons to your service:

• Post-Construction or Renovation Cleaning
• Moving-in or Moving-out Cleaning
• COVID-19 Disinfection Cleaning
• After Party or Event Cleaning
• Deep Cleaning- Seasonal, after a major repair in the office or a deep cleaning of storage room, cabinets, closets, etc.
• Window Cleaning
• Decluttering

Why should I hire an Office Cleaning Service?

Creating a plan for regular office cleaning is your responsibility as an employer. It is important to do your part in making sure the workplace is a safe environment for your employees. Remember, there are regulations in place for many areas that require employers to maintain a clean and safe workplace for their employees if they are having them return to the office during the pandemic.

Failure to follow these regulations can result in hefty fines. If you’re not comfortable tackling this responsibility internally, there are local office cleaning companies that can take care of this for you. 

Cleaning Studio offers both Regular Office Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, Moving Cleaning, Post-Construction Office Cleaning and detailed COVID-19 Sanitization Services. Our services are available in NYC, CT, and NJ. We only clean with our carefully formulated and 100% Natural Cleaning Products which are made with pure essential oils. In addition to a thorough detoxifying office cleaning, we also offer a certified COVID-19 Disinfection Office Cleaning Company.

What do you feel about partnering with a Professional Office Cleaning Service that you can trust? Request an Office Cleaning Quote today!