In interviews, I always ask candidates if they have had any experience in commercial cleaning. One out of ten usually does, and the other nine usually reply with a variation, of “No, but I keep my house super clean.” I never judge based on that question because most people just don’t know there is a difference. You’ll find professional cleaners who will say “we do commercial and residential cleaning” when you start your search.
Optimal Prime Cleaning Services doesn’t do that. We are specialists in commercial cleaning. It is what we love! So today we are going to go over a little bit of what makes commercial cleaning different.
What do Commercial Cleaning Companies Do?
This is the most common question I get, and the answer is more complex than you think. On a surface level, commercial cleaning consists of emptying trash cans the routine cleaning of various floors and surfaces. These include carpeted and hard floor tile and making sure all walls both physical building walls and cubical walls as well as keeping dust down on drop ceilings, HVAC vents, and lighting fixtures. It includes the cleaning of desktop surfaces and monitors as well as all office furniture. All restroom services are included with a deep clean of all toilets, urinals, stall partitions, sinks, and faucets, mirrors and a full restock of paper products. It can include window cleaning, commercial kitchens, and dining areas, break rooms, and more as desired by the client.
Not only do commercial cleaning teams empty trash, clean bathrooms and breakrooms, vacuum, and dust but they also can handle many other aspects that help your business run. In fact, many commercial cleaners manage supply orders, are experts on cleaning chemicals and where to use them, and more importantly where NOT to use them. Commercial cleaning companies have also become consultants on other mystery stains on carpets, upholstery, and more.
A quality commercial cleaner isn’t just there to collect a check, they should be focused on making you money by helping negotiate and stock supplies for you that save you money and take supply ordering off your list of things to do. They should be experts in stain removal on a variety of surfaces, Many quality chemicals used for commercial cleaning are not a one size fits all solution for stain removal. You may not think of it, but a great commercial cleaner is your partner behind the scenes. They make your office shine, so when your client walks in the door they see a facility that is well cared for.
Commercial Cleaning isn't just about making it look good, it's about keeping folks safe.
The year 2020 made a lot of companies re-evaluate their office cleaning protocols. With Covid-19 on the rise, many questioned how long it could last on surfaces. While there were and still are mixed reviews on how long certain viruses and bacteria can stay alive on surfaces, there is enough evidence to show that high touchpoint cleaning and disinfecting is important. This high touchpoint cleaning does not only remove noticeable dirt but also keeps people healthy.
Most companies are worried about restrooms, but that’s not the place that most flu bugs are transmitted. According to multiple studies, Bathrooms are cleaned frequently and most people wash their hands upon leaving the restrooms, which helps stop germ transmission. Businesses need to be more conscious of common areas and frequently used items. Light switches, door handles, computers, phones, keyboards, copy machines, office chairs, and more are far more common places that need regular cleaning and disinfecting such as computers, door handles, or copiers as the greatest source of contamination. A good commercial cleaner knows to hit those touchpoints as well for everyone’s safety even if there is no visible dirt.
Commercial cleaning is about consistency and efficiency
A great commercial cleaning for any office consists of two main things. This is both consistency and efficiency. At Optimal Prime Cleaning Services, I train my staff to move through a building quickly, working top-down to mitigate the number of missed dust bunnies and allowing us to cover large areas with quick routines and processes. When you mix the right process in place with items such as quality commercial vacuums with HEPA filters you can make cleaning a large space much less of a daunting cleaning project than many expect.
Even with all of that in mind, quality commercial cleaning really comes down to training a process. Having a quality checklist that is followed every single time by folks who have been trained and paid based on their knowledge to do a great job every time is essential for both my success as a business owner but also yours as a client. If you don’t have a process and a system of checks and balances you spend more time on the job with mediocre results. You would be surprised how many companies claim to have a process but it isn’t followed by their crews., This ends up costing the cleaning contractor more, which in turn they will pass on to you or cut corners to “make time” or “make a profit.”
Commercial cleaning consists of streamlining chemicals and providing information on them
I have taken over countless accounts from cleaning companies and “we clean it ourselves” clients who have a janitor closet stocked full of strange chemicals. Dollar store finds, unmarked bottles of vinegar and whatever other concoction the internet suggested, and enough half-empty pine sol solution to rival the smell of a tree farm. Mix that in with various toilet bowl cleaners, soaps and soap scum removers, and more and you have a disorganized closet of things that kind of work, or didn’t work well and left there to be never heard from again. With the client’s permission, nearly 99% of it is tossed out or donated. When Optimal Prime Cleaning Services takes over a cleaning closet, outside of restocking items such as paper products and hand soaps, our chemical kits fit in a 5-gallon bucket.
Truth be told, you don’t need a bunch of different products. You just need the right ones. You need a strong disinfectant cleaner, a great dilatable multi-purpose cleaner, some good old fashioned Dawn dish soap, and some Comet powder. You would be amazed at how well you can clean a building with just a few good commercial cleaning supplies. Sure, there are always certain situations that require different cleaners now and then, but good commercial cleaning consists of being organized with the right tools for the job. And to take it one step further, every commercial cleaning company should be posting a SDS guides or safety data sheets for all the closets they supply. If your cleaner isn’t doing that already we strongly recommend that they do.
The data sheets on the cleaning chemicals they use are readily available for them on their manufacturer websites. You should know what chemicals are being used in your building and how to use them as well. If nothing else, it is an OSHA requirement to have this information available.
We are here for you
The most important thing to remember is a good commercial cleaner service is there to take you through the steps you need to make your building clean and healthy. It may look easy on the surface, but its so much more than vacuuming and gathering trash, We have a lot of square feet to cover to keep your crew safe and clean and we are excited to do it. Leave all the nitty gritty to an expert in chemicals, PH levels, HEPA filters, and supply ordering to the people who love their job. We’re here to help.
