Quarterly deep cleaning needs to be common practice for all businesses. We all know the term "spring cleaning." For many of us, those two words bring to mind cleaning the blinds, getting behind the refrigerator, desk, and bookcases to dust and sweep before giving everything a thorough wipe-down. But did you know that spring cleaning should be followed by summer cleaning, fall cleaning, and winter cleaning too? Every quarter, hiring professionals to go beyond the surface and deep clean your business can help keep the environment healthy, welcoming, and well-maintained.
Every season has its contaminants. We're living in a world that has seen firsthand what viruses like Covid 19 can do. People can get sick when they come into contact with various bacteria, germs, fungi, viruses, and chemicals. And while the term "The Windy City" might have more to do with politics than the weather, Chicago is the fifth most windy city in the United States, with average wind speeds of 10.3 miles per hour. Germs, pollutants, dust, and dirt can build up in crevices and go unnoticed for months. A good cleaning company will clean all high-traffic areas and frequently touched surfaces, including door handles, elevator buttons, railings, and countertops during every service visit. Just beyond those highly tracked areas, lint, dust, and particles can build up, making the space feel and smell less than fresh if those less-than-common areas aren’t addressed regularly.
5 Reasons Why Commercial Deep Cleaning Every Quarter is a Must
1. It Makes the Work Environment Cleaner and Healthier
By now it's no surprise to hear that cleaner areas are healthier ones too. Unclean working environments increase the spread of illnesses, from the common cold to viruses like Covid-19. They can increase the severity of seasonal allergies like hay fever, and magnify dust allergies which affect 10% of Americans.
While the physical health of all who frequent your business is a primary concern, the morale of your employees and customers is probably a close second. Cleaner environments make people feel better emotionally, and they boost productivity too. And did you know that a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment" has been deemed a universal human right by the UN?
2. High Dusting and Deep Cleaning Improves Indoor Air Quality
Areas with exposure to dirt, grease, dust, and moisture are prone to erosion. Such erosion and even common stains can affect the air quality, and even cause damage to equipment. Dirty air vents, crawl spaces, kitchen vents, AC filters, and air ducts can negatively impact indoor air quality, even making it hard for some to breathe. Carpets crusted with spilled beverages, soil stains, and sludge can harbor a plethora of germs that also contribute to contaminating the air.
Some companies really have to stay on top of dust build up, and are required to clear potentially combustible dust that builds up on rafters, walls, light fixtures, etc. You need specialized equipment, training, and high dusting expertise in order to ensure that the dust is properly cleared for compliance and safety reasons. Even if high dusting isn’t required for your business, if you’re not cleaning those hard to reach places, you absolutely should during regularly scheduled deep cleaning.
3. It Helps Prevent Mold
The buildup of mold is another serious issue to stay aware of. While there are literally thousands of different kinds of molds, some which can pose major health concerns, the most common indoor molds are Cladosporium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. According to the CDC, reactions vary from person to person but typically include sneezing, runny nose, coughing, and wheezing, though persons with asthma and mold allergies “may have more intense reactions.” High moisture areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, areas near air conditioning units, and fountains or pools, including all carpeted areas, tiled, and grouted areas around them, need to be deep cleaned regularly to help prevent mold. Mold can also grow on dust, wood, wallpaper, fabric, upholstery, and ceiling tiles.
4. It Reveals Maintenance Concerns
The professionals who deep clean your business can spot maintenance issues that would have otherwise remained unseen. To properly perform the intensive cleaning of an area, special attention needs to be paid to surfaces and materials. It's no surprise then that an expert, well-trained cleaning professional is often the first to point out rust stains, faulty appliances, clogged vents, and the like.
5. Your Business Looks Better, Longer
Dirt is distracting. Regularly-scheduled deep cleaning helps keep your business feeling pristine and shiny. When you make it a priority, even your customary cleaning services seem to get your business looking a lot cleaner than before. That happens because a thorough cleaning removes more dust, dirt, and buildup than any regular surface-level cleaning can. When you invest in deep cleaning, regular cleanings do what they should, which is to maintain a consistently high level of cleanliness.
How to Maximize Your Business’s Deep Cleaning Experience
Time is a limited resource for everyone. By taking a number of appropriate steps, you can help professional cleaners use their time efficiently and provide your business with a thorough, state-of-the-art deep cleaning that benefits everyone who frequents your business.
1. Make a Plan
Having a plan in place to adequately prepare for a deep cleaning visit enables cleaning professionals to do their work more efficiently. Most employees are expected to maintain a tidy workspace. When your team is notified that a deep cleaning visit will be taking place, they have the opportunity to organize and straighten up their areas, as well as pitch in and work together on preparing some of the common areas for cleaning.
2. Declutter and Organize
Tidying up is not the job of professional cleaners, or janitors. When desks are cluttered with pens, paperclips, books, cords, and various electronic devices, cleaning the areas beneath the clutter proves extremely difficult. While desks are a prime example, clutter can accumulate nearly anywhere. Try to adopt an outsider’s eye and list all of the areas where clutter or various things gather: countertop areas, kiosks, teller stations, self-service areas, kitchen areas, storage areas, printing rooms, janitorial closets, etcetera. When everyone does their part in helping to declutter and organize a little effort can go far, fast.
3. Increase Access to Surface Areas
Moving items such as chairs, tables, and desks away from walls, and exposing areas of the carpet or tiled floors greatly improve the cleaning team’s ability to clean and treat those areas. Moving large unwieldy pieces of furniture may not be practical or safe, so use your best judgment in deciding which pieces can be pulled away from the wall and which need to stay put.
4. Increase Access to Nooks and Crannies
Dust, germs, mites, fungi, and mold all love to live in those out of the way nooks and crannies. Corners, areas behind desks, shelves, and around display cases are easy to spot. Also consider areas near doors, including those which are accessed infrequently, since dust and dust bunnies tend to accrue in those areas. Look at places where various pieces of furniture meet: areas between boxes, and areas around draperies, wall treatments, and blinds. Increasing access to the areas around them can greatly help the cleaners help you!
5. Communicate Your Needs
You probably have two or three areas in mind right now that you would like to see cleaned. Be sure to write those down and communicate that information to the cleaning company. Premier commercial cleaning providers have specific steps and procedures they adhere to in order to provide top-tier hygienic cleaning services in a consistent manner. Nevertheless, no two businesses are the same and different business owners and managers want different things. When you communicate well with those who service your establishment, you have a better chance of getting exactly what you want. Once your expectations are communicated and delivered upon, they can be incorporated into the regular deep cleaning routine.
Making our world happier, shinier, and healthier is what we do at Spotless Cleaning Chicago. We are driven to provide the best state-of-the-art cleaning services available to today's businesses. Our passion, expertise, certifications and technology are what allow us to deliver exceptional results you can both see and feel.
We train our people well and utilize proven employee retention strategies to ensure consistency and high-level quality results for our clients. By investing in our people and empowering them with safe, highly effective procedures to guarantee high quality professional cleaning, and give you the peace of mind that comes from knowing the right team is in place.
Call us today to discuss your business’s deep cleaning needs and get a free estimate.