Why Hire Professional Cleaners for your Business?

You may not think of it as such, but hiring professional commercial cleaners for your business is an excellent investment.  Your employees, clients, and colleagues all spend time in your office so ensuring it is tidy, organized, and sanitary is important not only for maintaining productivity but also for making good impressions.  From health and safety to cost savings, productivity, and client impressions, there are many great reasons to hire professional cleaners for your business.

Health and Safety

Particularly in the era of COVID-19 the value of maintaining a sanitary work environment cannot be underestimated.  But even through annual challenges like cold and flu season, sanitization and disinfection protocols are always important.  Working with a cleaning company ensures that trained professionals deliver effective and efficient disinfection and sanitization practices that eliminate germs, bacteria, and viruses so your staff and clients stay healthy.  In fact, proper office cleaning can reduce sick days which mean fewer costs associated with lost labour – but more on that next.

Cost Savings

Obviously there is a cost associated with hiring professional cleaners, but they can actually save you money in the long run.  Not only to cleaning companies manage all aspects of cleaning from providing cleaning equipment and materials, but they also handle hiring, training, and supervising cleaning staff.  Additionally, keeping your office clean will almost certainly help to reduce costs associated with lost labour due to employee illness – and it helps to improve productivity too.  All that means hired professional janitorial services can often pay for themselves!

Productivity

A clean workplace sets the foundation for a clean mind.  Employees will benefit from better organization so they can be focused on the most important tasks in their job.  Additionally, without the added work of cleaning and organizing their own workspaces, they’ll have more time to be productive in the aspects of your business that matter most.  Indeed, there is a wealth of evidence that suggest clean and organized offices and workspaces are more efficient and more productive.

Client Impressions

We may learn not to read a book by its cover, but the reality of first impressions is they stick.  The success of your business relies on your ability to impress your clients.  When they evaluate your office, they should be evaluating an organized and tidy space – it tells them you care about the work you do and you attend to all the details.  Moreover, the cleanliness of an office can tell clients that you take your work seriously.  And you should!

Why hire professional cleaners for your business?  Simply put, there are myriad benefits that can support your business in achieving new levels of success.  Professional commercial cleaners help you take care of your staff, clients, and colleagues while allowing your business to run smoothly in a cost efficient manner.

Commercial Office Cleaning Rates

Your office may be one of your biggest business investments – not only is it costly to purchase or rent office space, but it is also a place that influences so much of your employees’ wellness and productivity.  A well-maintained office is often the cover by which the book of your business is judged.  Plus, a well-organized office allows for better organized operations.  Still, as a business owner, your expertise is certainly not cleaning.  In fact, you may not even have the skills to manage office cleaning staff effectively.  As such, hiring professional cleaners is always recommended; but, as you know – there is a cost.  So how much does office cleaning cost?

Several factors will influence the cost of commercial office cleaning.  The size of the office, your cleaning needs, and the time required to do the cleaning are some of the intrinsic factors that will impact office cleaning costs.  Additionally, you should expect costs to vary depending on the company you are working with – some are large, reputable companies that charge more (mostly for their reputation).  Some companies offer specialized cleaning services that may or may not be relevant to your cleaning needs.  Ultimately, it is important to consider your unique needs and contact several contractors to find the cleaning services you need within your budget.  With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of these intrinsic factors that will affect office cleaning costs.

Office Size

Larger offices cost more to clean – that’s just common sense.  Not only do larger offices require more time to clean (in most, but not all cases), they often feature different types of equipment or surfaces that must also be cleaned.  For example, a small rented office in a larger building may have a shared bathroom space.  In these arrangements, the building owners usually take responsibility for cleaning the bathroom, so your office cleaner only needs to focus on your space which may have one type of flooring and fewer pieces of equipment.  On the other hand, a large office space may have a kitchen, bathrooms, several private offices and meeting spaces that require cleaning.  The equipment and supplies required to clean these spaces will vary and so will the costs.

Cleaning Time

Not only the duration of cleaning but the time of day your office is cleaned will influence cleaning costs.  If you have a lot of equipment, windows, desks, and other features that require cleaning, your cleaning time will be longer and costs will often be higher.  Additionally, some companies will charge more depending on whether you want your office cleaned after hours or during regular business hours.  You must negotiate all these terms with your potential commercial cleaner.

Cleaning Services

Finally, the services you require and the frequency of cleaning will impact costs.  There are a wide range of cleaning services from recycling and garbage removal, floor and wall cleaning to surface sanitization and disinfection.  Your specific cleaning requirements and the frequency of cleaning will certainly impact office cleaning costs.

So then, how much does office cleaning cost?  As you can see, it depends on a wide range of factors that must be discussed with your cleaners before you finalize your cleaning contract.

How Often Should My Office Be Cleaned?

Regular office cleaning not only helps you maintain a tidy office that sets the right impression for your clients, but it also helps you promote better health and safety for your staff.  Additionally, a sanitary office environment is associated with improved productivity and reduced sick time which ultimately means that professional office cleaning is an investment with significant returns.  With that in mind, you may be asking, “how often should my office be cleaned?”  In reality, every office environment is different and will have different cleaning requirements.  Let’s take a look at some common office cleaning tasks so you can get a better idea of how often you should schedule your office cleaning.

Surface Cleaning

Desks, tables, countertops, and windowsills are just a few surfaces that should be included in your regular office cleaning schedule.  Not only do dust and other contaminants accumulate on surfaces, but they can also be places where bacteria and viruses can accumulate.  In order to maintain adequate health and safety, most surfaces should be wiped down daily.  You can encourage your staff to wipe down their desks at the end of every day, but rely on your professional cleaners to ensure that surfaces are sanitized and disinfected.  You’ll want to consider the nature of your office environment – surfaces in medical offices should be sanitized and disinfected more frequently.

High touch surfaces such as door knobs, light switches, elevator buttons, as well as shared office equipment such as computers keyboards, telephones, photocopiers, and even break room appliances must also be regularly cleaned.  Germs can easily spread from person to person on these surfaces so make sure they are properly sanitized to maintain staff well-being.

Floor Cleaning

Carpets, laminate, hardwood, and other flooring should also be cleaned regularly.  Once again, depending on the amount of traffic and the type of flooring, professional cleaners usually recommend at least weekly cleaning.  Carpets should be vacuumed weekly but will require deeper cleaning at least a few times a year.  Other flooring surfaces should be swept daily to remove obvious dirt or debris, but these floors will also need to be washed and sometimes waxed and buffed on a weekly basis.  During months with inclement weather (including rain, snow, and ice), you’ll probably find these floors need to be cleaned more often.

Kitchen and Bathroom Cleaning

Kitchens and bathrooms should be cleaned at least daily.  Professional cleaners will make sure to stock paper towels, toilet paper, soap dispenser, and other shared supplies.  Kitchens and bathrooms are major sources of bacteria, viruses, and other illness-causing microorganisms, so it’s especially important that these rooms are regularly sanitized and disinfected.

Work closely with your professional cleaning team to identify your unique cleaning needs so that you can set up a cleaning schedule that works for your office.

Office Cleaning Tips for Summer

Summer in the office is a special time of year.  Folks tend to be busier in their personal lives – whether that means more social engagement at the end of the work day or time away on vacation, the office takes on a different vibe in the summer months.  Unfortunately, this can sometimes mean that people are less in tune with keeping the office orderly – desks are disheveled, food is rotting in the fridge, and fruit flies can become a nuisance.  The following office cleaning tips can help you and your team keep your office cleaner throughout the summer.

Kitchens and Break Rooms

Ideally, your office cleaners will conduct regular checks to make sure the fridge is clean and food isn’t left to rot.  That being said, it’s important to engage your staff to take responsibility for their leftovers.  Professional cleaners will often recommend that staff is provided a deadline to remove their food and containers from the fridge so that cleaners can sanitize the fridge.  This helps to keep food odors and fruit flies at bay.  Additionally, consider putting a compost bin in your kitchen and/or break room so that food waste can be removed daily, especially in summer months.

Promote Tidy Desks

In order to maintain a dust free environment, surfaces including desks and cabinets should be wiped regularly.  Your employees can help cleaning staff by making sure that surfaces are free of clutter at the end of the day.  Creating organizational systems that are accessible and easy to use is vital to ensuring that desks and surfaces are free of clutter.  Still, during the summer when the weather tends to be drier, dust and dirt is more readily tracked through the office so you may need to increase the frequency of surface cleaning to ensure optimal air quality and ultimately your employees’ efficiency.

Clean the Floors

Whether you live and work in a hot/dry climate or a hot/humid climate or somewhere in between, floors can become especially dirty during the summer months.  You may also find that mold or bacteria becomes a bigger concern when the temperature heats up.  Increase the frequency of floor cleaning in the summer to maintain a fresher environment.  Your professional cleaning service will have the right materials for the job no matter the type of flooring in your office.  They will also probably recommend deep cleaning your carpets in the summer because many offices tend to be a bit quieter in the summer with staff on vacation and such.

Remember, keeping a clean and sanitary office is important year round which is why it is always advisable to work with a professional cleaning company that can help you identify the cleaning tasks that are most important no matter the season.

How Much Should Commercial Cleaning Cost?

Commercial cleaning is an important component of maintaining the well-being of your staff and customers.  Yet, depending on a number of factors, the cost of commercial cleaning can vary widely.  So, while it is not effective to take a one-size-fits-all approach to determining the costs of commercial cleaning, it can be helpful to understand what factors will influence how much commercial cleaning should cost.  From the size of your facility and the scope of cleaning services to the type of cleaning and even your geographic location, there are a lot of variables that impact cleaning costs.  If you’ve been asking, ‘how much should commercial cleaning cost,’ read on.

Location

Factors such as geographic location, the size of your facility, and the type of cleaning services will have a significant impact on commercial cleaning costs.  For example, the cost of living in a geographic area will certainly impact cleaning costs – the more it costs a cleaner to do business, the more your cleaning services will cost.  With that in mind, some urban areas with a high cost of living also have a lot of commercial cleaning companies.  In general, competition leads to more competitive cleaning costs.

Additionally, the size of your facility will also influence cleaning costs.  Not only are larger facilities more time consuming to clean, but they also often require more unique cleaning tasks.  So, while some companies will base cost on the square footage of your facility, some cleaning companies will also consider the types of cleaning tasks.  Commercial cleaning costs will often reflect the number of windows, bathrooms, and kitchens that need to be cleaned, the traffic in your facility, and even factors such as the type of flooring and furniture that needs to be cleaned.

Tasks

Next, commercial cleaners will also consider the cleaning tasks required before providing a quote for commercial cleaning services.  If you run a small retail business and require routine cleaning tasks such as garbage removal, vacuuming/sweeping, and a small bathroom cleaning, your costs are going to be lower per square foot than a larger facility that requires regular recycling, cleaning of different floor services, cleaning multiple bathrooms and kitchens, and workstation cleaning.  When discussing cleaning costs with professional companies, always make sure to provide a comprehensive list of cleaning tasks so that you can get the most accurate quote for the services you require.

Fair Rates

While it can be very difficult to predict cleaning costs because of the variability in factors listed above, most commercial cleaners will provide the services required for around $20 to $40 per hour or somewhere between 10 and 60 cents per square foot.  Ideally, you will consult a variety of commercial cleaners and obtain quotes to make sure you get good value for your money.  But beware; the bottom line shouldn’t always come down to the cheapest cleaner – you want to work with a reputable company that provides exceptional cleaning services in your budget.