Common Office Cleaning Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Clean and hygienic offices enhance productivity, stimulate creativity and promote a culture of well-being and job satisfaction. Research has shown that disorganisation and clutter have a negative impact on our cognitive ability, causing us to be irritable and distracted and increasing our cognitive overload.

In addition to reduced productivity, dirty, unsanitary offices also negatively impact the health of your employees, leading to more sick days, lower moods and higher turnover rates.

But keeping an office clean involves more than just wiping down desks and common spaces before heading home. There are several unique challenges that facility cleaning services face when it comes to office cleaning, some of which we’ll discuss below.

Common Office Cleaning Challenges

1. High Traffic Areas

Compared to residential cleans, offices usually occupy a much larger space with a high footfall. Even in small offices, the footfall is typically higher than what is usually expected in a residential space. As such, the cleaning needs of these spaces are vastly different,

High-traffic areas accumulate more dirt and grime, collect more bacteria and have a higher potential for harbouring disease-causing germs. They also need more regular and thorough cleans, special equipment and chemicals to achieve the same results.

• Cross-Contamination

Using the same mop in bathrooms, communal kitchens and working spaces may be doing more harm to your office environment than good. Cross-contamination is a major issue faced while office cleaning, especially in medical facilities, restaurants and hotels.

• Timing

For many office managers and employers, it’s important that any cleaning activities be carried out at times when they would cause minimal disruption to their staff. This is usually after everyone has left for the day or before anyone enters the office to start their day.  It can be difficult to find cleaners willing to work these hours,

Additionally, it is also ideal that cleaners perform their duties at a time of day when there are few or no employees in the building. This can enable them to clean without distractions or causing disruptions and allow them to clean more efficiently and effectively.

• Missed Areas

Because of the size of office buildings and the area that needs to be cleaned, it is very common for some areas to be missed while cleaning. Without a proper schedule, it is easy to forget to perform a cleaning task, resulting in a less-than-efficient clean.

• Cleaning Restrooms

Cleaning the restrooms of public spaces like office buildings is challenging because of the high amount of traffic that uses them. They may need to be cleaned more thoroughly and frequently, supplies will need to be replenished regularly, and the possibility of cross-contamination must be considered.

Overcoming Office Cleaning Challenges

1. Develop a Cleaning Plan

Many commercial cleaning companies visit your premises before commencing initial cleaning to get an overview of what your property looks like, what the layout is, how much traffic you regularly experience and what the cleaning requirements of the property are.

They will then produce a cleaning schedule that will ensure no spaces are missed, cleaning is carried out following a regular timetable. This schedule will likely include how regularly a space will be cleaned, what activities will be carried out, what equipment will be used and who will carry out the cleaning duties.

• Use Commercial-Grade Equipment and Tools

Because of high traffic in office buildings, commercial-grade vacuums, steam cleaners, cleaning chemicals, and tools are much more effective at ensuring a deeper and more thorough clean. Many facility cleaning services also offer green-cleaning methods, which can be an advantage for businesses looking to minimise their carbon footprint.

• Hire a Professional Cleaning Service

The easiest way of ensuring all challenges of office cleaning are overcome is by hiring a professional cleaning service. Because these services have cleaned similar buildings multiple times over, the experience and expertise they provide are invaluable to ensure that your office remains spotless throughout the year.

Professional facility cleaning services can create customised cleaning plans with flexible schedules to accommodate your unique needs. They can send over their cleaners whenever there are the least amount of people in the building and can also send more than one cleaner to ensure the job gets done better and more quickly.

Many cleaning companies are now also using robots and artificial intelligence, which helps them carry out routine tasks faster and get more insight into the cleaning practices at your facility.

By addressing the unique challenges faced by your office, you can ensure your employees enjoy a hassle-free, clean environment that boosts their productivity, reduces sick days and promotes a sense of satisfaction with their job. This can lead to lower turnover rates and higher profits for the company.

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