Commercial Cleaning Industry News, Tips, Guide and Checklist

Most of the commercial cleaners who specialise in office cleaning often include reception maintenance. Office cleaning ensures that your reception is spotless and ready to receive visitors, clients, contractors, and employees the following day.

Defining the Space

A cramped space can be interpreted as unorganised. It will not help your visitors and potential clients relax as they sit in your reception coach. If your business has a limited space that you are using to be the waiting area, you may want to maximise what we are about to mention next.

Remove the Clutter

Hide the stationery inside the drawer and always keep a clean and tidy reception desk. Clutter can make your visitor’s eyes sore. They can also be distracted by the number of things that they can do in the reception area.

Do not place your filing cabinet in the reception area if possible. You align your filing folder inside a concealed cabinet or tuck them under your desk.

Minimise the Reading Materials

You should know the number of people that sit in your reception every day. Get magazines that are up to date, professional, and entertain your guests as they sit in the reception area.

As we go to these modern days, you will notice that only a few of your visitors bother to hold a magazine because most of them are busy with their mobile phones as they let their idle time pass.

Choose your Furniture Wisely

Consider the size of the space as you buy furniture. Do not get a couch that is too big for the room. Do not choose those with elaborate and complicated designs as it will not set the right tone for the business. Go with neutral colours that come with sleek and simple designs.

Pay Attention to the Smell

The reception area should not smell the same as your office. You can buy a diffuser with the scent appropriate for an office setup. In some cases, especially with those old offices, carpet can cause a stale smell.

If this is the case, you can call your commercial cleaner and inquire about steam carpet cleaning. Clean group Sydney has been known for their excellent cleaning standards.

Choosing the Right Floor Care

The lobby or the reception area receives high foot traffic. The floor collects dust and dirt faster than any area in the office. Invest in good floor mats and door scrapers.

You can also ask your professional cleaner to vacuum and mop the floor regularly to keep it nice, clean, and spotless. Floors are made with different materials. Hiring a professional cleaner is a wise decision because professional cleaners have the proper knowledge of each floor material.

Make the Necessary Amenities Available

Having a small trash bin in the reception area is a wise decision. This will encourage your visitors to dispose of their trash properly and keep a reception area clean and tidy.

Other Things That You Need to Know

• Keep the lobby visually clean. Always look after the cleanliness of this area. Do not leave things in the reception that will distract and give a wrong impression to your visitors.
• Keep the reception desk neat, and do not leave the confidential paper works all over the place. Place all the documents inside the drawer, away from your visitor’s view.
• Have a clear pathway for your customer. Do not leave things on the floor that will impose safety hazards. Make sure that the floor is dry to avoid slipping accidents.
• Place signages to where your visitors can easily find the restrooms.
• Having beverages like coffee or water is a plus but not required.
• Choose the scent you will use wisely. Do not use strong-smelling scents if you are using diffusers, as some people have allergies.
• Assign an area where your visitors can leave their outdoor coats and umbrellas.
• Maintain adequate lighting. Not too dark and not too bright.
• If you have a TV in the reception area, play something that will talk about your company.
• If you choose to play music, choose something that is calming. Maintain a low volume enough for your visitors to hear one another comfortably.

Keeping the reception or waiting area should not be a challenge. As mentioned earlier, office cleaners include the cleaning for this area as part of the standard package. All you need to secure is choosing the right cleaning company.

There are plenty of commercial cleaning providers in Australia that offer these services. You can look up your local service provider and start the ball rolling.

How about you? Do you have a reception story that set your overall impression of that company you visited? Drop us a comment below if you have any questions about keeping a reception area clean and tidy.

We have professional cleaners on board who write during their free time. They are eager to answer queries and share their expertise for newly established cleaning businesses.

This article is something very close to my heart as we will talk about dogs and how to clean dog-friendly or pet-friendly offices. Let’s get started.

We asked many employees to know how the dogs affect their day to day activities, and the answer all boils down to “stress-relief”. Of course, not everyone in the office welcomes this idea. Some are allergic to hairs. How do employers compromise in this situation?

Having dogs in the office will indeed relieve your stress. If you feel a heavy day ahead of you, you can get a dog and pet it for a while. Before you know it, the stress is all gone with the wind. It makes working happier and more manageable.

Here are some of the things that a business should consider before bringing pets to the workplace.

Rules Before Pets

We all know that germs and viruses spread faster in an open space. With pets coming into the office, dog-friendly Sydney office cleaning requirements will be amplified. Your office will need more than just a regular cleaning.

More people share the same space, and with dogs walking around, it will make the place gets dirty and grabby faster than the usual pace.

Signages

Ensure that signages are posted to visible spots where rules are laid out clearly. These rules should communicate the pet owner’s responsibility in bringing their pets to the workplace.

Warning for Allergies

Pets mean hair. Before welcoming pets into the workplace, management should ask employees if they are allergic or if working with pets will become an issue for them.

Check the Insurance Coverage

Ask the building management for insurance inclusions. Accidents can happen when pets are moving about. You do not want to burden yourself with added worries as you make this happen.

If your building does not cover it, you may ask the pet owners to have their own should they choose to take their pets with them to work

Dog-Free Zones

Management should still delegate a space where dogs are not allowed even if they are practically everywhere. These areas should include data centres and pantries.

Have Cleaning Tools Handy

Dogs and pets can be messy at times. Accidents are inevitable. Ensure that you have the essential office cleaning equipment to clean after stool, urine, and vomit.

House Rules for Pet Owners

You may be excited about the notion that your best bud will join you at the office. Before you bring your pets, you need to ensure that you will follow the rules of a dog-friendly office stated below responsibly:

• You are the sole responsible for your dog’s well-being, biological needs, and behaviour in the office.
• The dog should be potty-trained, with a good temperament, and obedient.
• Do not bring small puppies into the office, no matter how tempting it is. Make sure that the dogs receive updated vaccination, and are clean, odour-free, and free of parasites.
• Owners should clean after their pests. They should follow waste disposal, which applies both inside and outside of the office.
• Irrespective of whether you are a professional cleaner or a domestic cleaner, this guide will take you through the post-party clean up step-by-step procedure to properly clean an office or commercial place after a recent event or party
• After the accident, owners can use the usual office dog-friendly cleaning chemicals to address the cleaning but, it should still be reported to the pet-friendly office cleaners. Office cleaners will use more potent cleaning chemicals that will cover all the things that need covering dog-friendly office cleaning.

Here we are sharing one more informative article about how often should office restrooms be cleaned.

How to Get Rid of Pet’s Hair in the Office Furniture and Carpets

Before starting clean, professional office cleaners should wear the proper personal protective equipment. Having nitrile gloves handy is a good idea. Nitrile glove is sticky, and pet hair easily adheres to them. Do not use the same Nitrogen gloves that you have used in different spots.

Using Nitrile Gloves, you can start scaping the pet hair off of the cushion from top to bottom and do it only in one direction. Most of the pet hair will adhere to the glove.

Using Vacuum Cleaner – use the hose attachment. Run the vacuum on surfaces to suck up the pet’s hair.

Use Rubber Pet Hair Removal Brush – It looks like a hairbrush, but the bristles are made out of rubber that bends back and forth. You can brush the hair off with this tool by sticking it to the rubber.

After brushing, you can gather the collected hair with your hands and put it in the trash, or you can use a vacuum cleaner to suck it up from the brush.

Use a Lint Roller – It is made out of felt that is used to remove pet hair. This lint roller has a squeegee and a built-in trash bin on the other side. As you roll this along with the furniture, the felt and the squeegee traps the hair, and it throws it over in the little trash can.

When you are done, you can collect all the hairs with your fingers and throw them in the trash bin. This tool should always be part of a cleaner’s caddy because you will never know when will you encounter hair problems.

Use the Regular Rubber Squeegee – Squeegee is a regular inside a cleaner’s caddy. You can run the squeegee along the surface, causing no damage whatsoever. Squeegee is as effective as a lint roller. It can collect all the hair sitting on the furniture.

There are also fibres that have pet hair embedded in them that you cannot remove with the vacuum cleaner anymore. You can also spot this on car carpets where the carpet strands are so fine.

When faced with these problems, get an empty spray bottle and fill it with seven parts water to one part fabric softener.

The mixture will soften the surface, and it will make it smell nice. When the surface is moistened, take a pumice stone. It is a porous stone that you can use to gather hair.

Start from the top and work your way using the same direction. Do not go back and forth, and do not go in a circle. Leave a one-inch allowance from the edge because the pumice stone can scratch the frame of the furniture.

We hope that what we are sharing with you in this article makes sense. If you are a dog person like me, you will know how exciting it can be to think that you are allowed to take your dog to work.

Please let us know your thoughts about the dog-friendly office cleaning techniques that we shared with you. Do you think it is effective?

Let us exchange brilliant ideas that can encourage many businesses to be open about the concept of pet-friendly workplaces.

The Basics of Taking Care of Plants

Assess your light condition before bringing in plants in your office. There is a light metre app that you can install on your cellphone to monitor the amount of light that comes into your office.

• You can measure light by using light foot candles.
• Low light plants usually need 30-foot candles.
• Medium-light plants need 50 to 100-foot candles.
• High light plants need 150-foot candles and up.

Plants will still be in a safe condition if your office receives more than the required amount of light.

Once you determine how much light you have, it is time for you to take care of office indoor plants’ needs. Choose those that require minimal maintenance.

Good indoor plants can both take high-light and low-light and can survive in drought conditions. Some indoor plants are also considered as one of the best air-purifying plants.

You should also consider where to put your plants. Do not choose hanging plants or place them near too much electronics. Do not choose something that will require you to use ladders.

Choose a plant that is planted in a pot that has a drainer tool on it. It comes with a saucer to ensure that you will not spill any water on your desk.

If you are using a pot that does not have a drainer, you need to include an aeration stone.

We also suggest the use of sub-irrigated pots. Instead of watering the plants from the top, you will pour the water into the saucer. The plant will drink the water from below. You can use your regular office cleaning company to water the plants.

The challenge is how to take care of office indoor plants long-term. If you choose the right plant and keep them in suitable light condition, you will only have to worry about watering them properly.

Do not do blind watering, which means you are watering your plants, and you are not even sure if you are doing it way too much or too little.

The way to identify the water requirement is by touching the soil. Engage with your plants and their environment.

Your plants will become your stress reliever as you start appreciating them.

Best Office Desk Plants

Adding some greeneries to your space always helps. It helps tremendously in your mental health. In this section, we will give our recommendation on which plants are best to pick.

ZZ Plants

ZZ Plants do well in an office setting. It grows fast under direct light. You can find this plant almost everywhere. They are a bit expensive as compared to other indoor plants.

Photos Plants

Its leaves are a mix of yellow and green. These plants are also easy to find. It is leafy and Viney. They are best to be put on desks because they do not require too much humidity and light.

They can grow even if you place them significantly away from the window. Photos and ZZ plants do not require too much watering. Make it a habit to check the soil once in a while. Water them if the soil is parched.

Dracena Compacta

This type of plant is so good under low light conditions. It can survive even if there is no sunlight at all. Usually, Dracena Compacta has a long stem. Same as with photos plants, Dracena Compacta does not require humidity.

You can use a diffuser if you want to provide humidity for your plants. Aside from the incredible smell that it gives, it gives your plant a little bit of something that will help them grow and thrive indoors.

If a diffuser is not available, you are welcome to use a spray bottle and squirt a small amount of liquid directly to the plants.

Spider Plant

You need to water a spider plant consistently. You have to pay more attention if you choose this plant compared to the last three plants that we mentioned.

Plants are best at purifying the air you breathe. Having plants inside a business is excellent because office air is recycled.

Plants That Are Not Suitable for Indoors

Succulent

They look like it will survive because it looks tough, but believe me; it won’t. It needs exposure to direct sunlight. They will die if you will let them sit on your desk. Overwatering succulent will cause them to rot.

Prayer Plant

Prayer plants require a lot of humidity. It does not need so much sunlight, but it needs a lot of watering, which is not practical in an office set up. You cannot leave them alone for a long time.

Other Things You Need to Know When Bringing in Plants

We recommend that you use ceramic pots.

Before you go for the weekend, move your plants closer to the window if possible. This will give your plant a chance to absorb the sun. Make sure to water them enough to last at least two days as you will be out for the weekend.

But, if all these still freaks you out, and you think that plants are too much work, you can always resort to bringing in fake plants. Get a fake one and put it in a cute pot.

You do not need to move it around because it is designed to be stationary. Artificial plants will always be an option; no one will hate you for it.

Natural plants will require more nourishment, and you have to take care of them. In return, it takes away your stress and purifies the air in your surroundings.

One thing that we learned nowadays, commercial cleaners are starting to venture into little gardening. You can talk to your local commercial cleaners and check with them if this service is available.

During the pandemic, many had resulted in the hobbies of planting. Being a “plant father” or “plant mother” is so popular these days. Indeed plants have many benefits. Its mother nature – giving us the gift of life.

We want to hear from you. How do you feel about having greeneries in your office? Can you give us your two cents on how you can take care of your office indoor plants alive by writing a comment below?

In this article, we will demonstrate to you how we effectively clean office blinds. Be amazed at its effects on your business’s overall facade and how it helps improve your employees’ health.

An office cleaning company has much expertise, and not all of them are willing to do tedious jobs like cleaning the blinds and shutters. We recommend that you only choose the cleaning company that knows the proper way of attending to these unique needs.

How Do Professional Cleaners Clean Blinds?

There are two types of office blind cleaning – deep cleaning and routine cleaning. It is the same as the other areas in your business that need both.

If your business has not got the blinds cleaned for a very long time, you will need to have a one-time deep cleaning. After that comes the maintenance cleaning.

The secret to maintenance cleaning is that you have to do it often.
If you have a fortnightly customer and attend to the business once a fortnight, you will need to attend to the blinds on each visit.

In this way, they will be maintained and will look excellent and deep cleaning is no longer required.

We only need four tools to get the blinds clean. It goes the same for deep cleaning and routine cleaning. The only difference is the amount of effort that you need to exert to make the blinds clean.

Tools and Cleaning Chemicals Needed for Blinds Cleaning

Degreaser – choose the ones that are designed to be safe for the environment. Since you are using a degreaser, it will take out all the grease, dirt, and gunk build-up on the blinds.

Terry Cloth – This is where you have to spray the degreaser on. You can find this easily on the internet or in your local supermarket under the household section.

Duster – this is used for maintenance cleaning.

Scrubbing Brush – is needed to remove deep-seated gunk and dust that is difficult to remove.

Wood blinds tend to warp with the weather. They can expand and contract depending on their likes. This is the reason why many people choose to use fake wood blinds. Our focus is to teach you how to clean these fake wood blinds.

Our best recommendation is to hire a Professional Cleaners Clean blind to deal with mini-metal blinds. There is a professional blind cleaner in the cleaning industry.

They have these great big trucks which have walls. They can hang up the metal blinds outside the truck, hose them down, and let them air dry. Most regular commercial cleaning companies do not have these kinds of trucks.

Mini-metal blinds bend easily and deserve the proper care. Hiring a Professional Cleaners Clean Blinds who knows the right way of cleaning these types of blinds will save us from the worries of breaking and replacing these blinds.

Do not offer to clean mini-blinds if you do not know how to do it. It will cost you a lot of money to buy a new set if you break it.

Cleaning Steps

• Get a stepping stool that has one or two steps. Place it next to the window where you can reach the top.
• Use the duster and go over the top ledge and then go to the sides of the window.
• Run your fingers between the blinds and check to see how thick the dust or the grease is.
• If it is light dust, simply use the duster to dust off the surface. There is no sense for you to use a degreaser of heavier gear.
• If there is a build-up, spray a liberal amount of degreaser on the towel. Place the towel between your fingers and then go between the slat one by one, from top to bottom.
• When you got to the bottom and cleaned all the gunk with the cloth, turn the blinds upward. Use the other side of your towel, and give the blinds another wipe, this time from bottom to top. Follow the grains of the blinds.
• Turn the blinds facing down. Following the grain of blinds one more time, give another pass from top to bottom.
• Dry them off using a clean cloth.

These steps are too easy, and it will only take you minimal time to do a whole set of blinds.

When your blinds are clean, the cleaning process’s maintenance version is exactly the same as the deep cleaning which we mentioned above. You will only need a duster the next time you clean your office blinds.

It is also advisable to take off the blind’s handle after closing the blinds and before wiping your way to clean it. There is a little hook attached to the twist bar. You may bump into it during the process of cleaning, and you may break it.

There are a couple of things to remember while dusting. First, skip all the wiping down parts. For the maintenance cleaning, turn the blinds in the upward position and go across the back of the blinds. Then, turn the blinds over, then wipe them in a sideways motion.

You can also dust using a Z pattern. It bumps the slats up, and it will let you get the underneath side of the blinds that is below it. This is an easy process. It will allow you to go all the way down, and the slats will bump into each other nicely, which will enable you to get the whole front part of the office blinds cleaned.

When you are done, you can pull the string to pull the blind up. Run your duster on the ledges and at the bottom of the window sills. Use both hands as you close the blinds. Straighten up the thread line in the middle that holds the blinds together. Attach the handle and twist it in the right direction.

The whole office blinds cleaning will only take a few minutes. It will not consume much time at all. You can maintain this every fortnight so that no dust will settle on them. Cleaners will only have to deal with light dust that you accumulate over two weeks.

The secret is to maintain your window blinds. As a professional blinds cleaner, you can do this on a Saturday when there is no one in the office to bump into. It is a straightforward process once you are done with the deep cleaning. This is something that does not require daily cleaning. Dust does not generate that quickly.

I hope that this article helps you. If you have any questions and suggestions about window blinds cleaning, please feel free to write us a comment below. Please join us in our next article.

Coworking space is in demand these days. It helps small businesses operate at an efficient cost. With Covid 19 on the rise, coworking space is at its vulnerable phase. Sharing desks, common areas, and other office equipment are very notorious for spreading the virus.

Frequent disinfection is highly in demand nowadays. Commercial cleaners are offering these services to almost all types of businesses. This office desk cleaning guide will talk about how to sanitize a shared office desk to keep your employees safe.

The How-To of Cleaning and Sanitise a Shared Office Desk and Workplace

Most of us are shifted into work from home setup when the Pandemic hits. Like me, I often need a breather and feel like I am still working in an office. My go-to solution is to sanitise a shared office desk or workplace, one of the hottest trends with freelancers.

Coworking space or shared desks is an open office setup where people from different businesses gather to work. From the word “shared desk”, they are literally sharing desks and workspace.

With the rising numbers of people infected with Covid, how can we be sure that we are safe while we are working in a shared space? How can we attain a level of peace of mind and not worry that we will be in contact with the virus?

Clean Before Sanitising or Disinfecting

We all know by now that office cleaning is different from sanitising and sanitising is not the same as disinfecting. Before you sanitise or disinfect any surface, you need to make sure that it is free from debris and dust. Desk clean up by wiping it with a damp cloth or dusting it using a microfibre cloth.

Sanitise or Disinfect the Whole Surface

You can spray the sanitiser or disinfectant on the surface and wipe, and clean my desk with a cloth or paper towel. Some sanitisers and disinfectants have designated contact times. Make sure to read the manufacturer’s label to achieve the best result.

Unplug Your Electronics

This is more on the safe side. Before you start cleaning sanitise a shared office desk disinfecting your way. Make sure that all electronics are shut off and unplug.

Clear the Surface from Clutter

For you not to miss a spot, we recommend that you clear your desk away from clutters. Remove all the bits and pieces that are on your desks before cleaning and disinfecting. Do not fall into the habit of cleaning around clutters.

Properly Clean and Sanitise Electronics

Offices have plenty of electronics. Computers, keyboards, mice, printers, projectors, remote controls, etc. – these are all tricky to clean. It is a big no to spray sanitisers directly to electronics as it can destroy them. Read and research the best cleaning methods, and you will be on your way to a safe and clean workspace.

How to Protect Coworking Space Customers

• Encourage your customers to bring their own eating and drinking utensils. Put away all shared cups, spoons and forks from your customers.
• Discourage them from eating and drinking at their stations.
• Be firm with social distancing, temperature check before coming in, and wear face masks while working.
• Take turns on breaks. Come up with a break schedule to minimise the possibility of crowding at a particular place.
• Always have hand soap, hand towels, sanitisers, and disinfectant sprays available at your customer’s disposal. Keep them all in one station to know where to get it before and after their shifts.

General Principles of Touchpoint Cleaning

Shared offices have high foot traffic. High touchpoints can be a threat to everyone if not disinfected properly. Commercial cleaners are experienced and knowledgeable about Covid-19 cleaning.

Studies have proven that frequent disinfection can slow the spread and even stop the virus. Cleaning and disinfection need to be done between uses.

Disinfection is essential in fighting Covid 19.

Here Are Some Points to Consider:

• Clean the area with soap and water if it is visibly dirty. Soap and water break particles and washes dirt away, making it easy to disinfect the surface.
• Make disinfecting wipes and alcohol spray, and paper towels available for your employees’ disposal. Keep it on a spot where they can easily reach them. Making signages and visual aides will also help them be reminded that they have to clean and disinfect the shared desks after each use.
• Always read the manufacturer’s label and allow proper contact time on different surfaces. Various surface materials react differently to cleaning solutions and disinfectants.
• Leave phones, telephone dial pads, calculators, and other stationery items saturated with disinfectant and leave them to air dry.
• Discard used paper towels properly.
• Follow it up with proper hand hygiene. Wash your hands with running water and soap.

Here Are Common Touchpoints to Disinfect in a Shared Office Set-Up:

• Shared desks and partitions
• Shared computers including keyboards, monitors, and mice
• Chairs and benches
• Shared stationery items like staplers, stamp pads, letter openers, etc.
• Shared pens, markers, and board erasers
• Shared tables
• Light switches, door handles and knobs, faucets, water dispensers,
• Appliances in the pantry
• Counters inside the toilet, toilet flush, and toilet partitions

Other Covid-19 Protocols to Follow:

• Keep at least a 6-feet distance away from other people.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol or a hand sanitiser.
• Be mindful of what your hand touches. Do not touch your face, especially your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home if you are not feeling well. Keep a safe distance from one another, even at home.
• Use your elbow or cover your nose and mouth if you have to sneeze or cough.
• Always disinfect the items listed above.
• Do not share food, drinks, eating utensils, etc., with other people.

We are all wary of the harmful effects of Covid 19. Businesses are thankful that we are slowly opening the trade, but we cannot deny that we are all at risk.

Commercial cleaners are here to help you. Covid-19 cleaning Sydney is equipped with the appropriate PPE to protect themselves during the job. At the same time, they know the best office desk cleaning guide to give you 100% coverage against harmful germs and viruses.

Australia has a huge market for commercial office desk cleaners. Google will help you determine the local cleaner nearest you. Do not have doubts about what wonders can it do to your business.

As we mentioned earlier, everyone is at risk and does not know exactly what you bring home with you to your family after a long day’s work.

We would like to hear from you. Please share your experience working in a shared space and how you can make it safe for you and your colleagues. Did you notice if the shared space had hired a cleaning desk cleaner to do regular disinfection? Do you think that these measures are effective? What other precautionary steps do you think a shared office should take to make their office safe and covid-free? See you next time.