How Often Should An Office Be Cleaned?

A simple rule of thumb is to clean small offices of 1-5 people weekly, medium offices of 6-20 people 2 to 3 times per week and large offices of 20+ people daily cleaning where possible.

But there is a good chance, your needs and budget may vary from the norm so you’ll probably want to know the best hacks to achieve the optimum level that is right for you.

After Doing Hundreds of Quotes, Here are My Expert Tips For Scheduling Office Cleaning

One. Look at Your Office with a Fresh Set of Eyes

When I quote for office cleaning, I see your workplace for the very first time. I have a fresh set of eyes.

This is an ideal approach for you to take too as it is it is all too easy as a human to “not see” what a first time user of your space sees. Similar to putting on weight, you don’t notice a gram here or a gram there.

So looking at your office as  if you are seeing it for the first time, helps you to determine what is right for you.

As you approach your “new” office, how does the entrance look?  If your entrance is at street level, does the exterior presentation impress you or does it have you turning away?

Sit in the waiting area, at the lunch table and on the toilet. Look at your space at chair level. What do you see?

Two. Self-Assess Your Needs Before Engaging New Cleaners

In more than 10 years of experience of cleaning offices, I’ve observed that most people accept the way things have always been done, so that’s what they ask for when they organise a new professional cleaning service.

But there is a better way.

How, and how often you want to schedule your cleaning should be unique to your needs but mostly, I have seen that it is done cookie-cutter style without regard to .

By examining, what’s important to you, you will better be able to get the service you need.

Here are some considerations for your regular office cleaning:

• Is your office used to showcase your company to prospective clients or is it’s sole purpose to house company employees?

In the first case scenario, you will want to prioritise regular cleaning of areas where new client meetings take place and consider scheduling extra cleans for important meetings, where in the second scenario your priority may be shared environments like lunchrooms and toilets where germ prevention is more important than presentation.

•Is your office part of a showroom or retail space?

If so, your public area may need extra cleaning but you can forego some cleans in your office. For example you office space could be serviced, once weekly and your showrooms 2 times or more.

A thoughtful approach will most often get you a better level of presentation where you most need it and help you to stay within budget.

Three Cleaning Hacks To Get The Most Out Of Your Office Cleaning Budget

Office Cleaning Hack One.

The lower the foot traffic your office building has, the less frequent you need to have your office cleaned.  This might seem obvious to some but many people “inherit” organising a cleaner and don’t give much thought to doing any more than has been done in the past.

So it is worth your while analysing your historical frequency, (typically using once to twice per week as a baseline) with how many people are using the office and coming and going each day.

With Work From Home, you may be able to make the case that less cleaning is more prudent and provide a saving to your company.

On the other hand, if your office has a lot of staff coming and going, or if it has a lot of people with say, dirty work boots, consider increasing the number of times you clean your office.

Office Cleaning Hack Two.

Some tasks can be performed less frequently than others. Sure, you’ll want to us to service  your kitchen and toilets every clean, have your bins emptied and your carpet vacuumed but do you really your glass clean every time your office is to be cleaned?

Consider having a cleaning schedule for, say monthly, quarterly half yearly or annually to maintain your presentation and protect your assets.

You can organise a deep clean annually (if needed) along with a carpet clean.

While, importantly, saving on your budget. If you want to know how much you should be paying , see our office cleaning prices page.

If you invite us to quote for you, we’ll listen to your needs and offer our suggestions when formulating the MD Cleaning Plan. Our aim is to to make sure your commercial office is always at it’s highest level of presentation for the most affordable price we can offer. We invite you to hold us to our promise of finding ways to help you achieve better results and save money at the same time.

Office Cleaning Hack Three.

Make sure your cleaning company is delivering on their promises. So many don’t, so check their work.

It’s pretty easy to determine if the floor has been mopped or if the bins have been emptied. They are very high visibility to you, the client and you will typically get what you pay for on all of the high vis elements. But what of say, fingermarks on light switches or dust accumulating on your skirting boards?

These are two of perhaps ten items that cleaning companies promise will be done but are often not.

Do you have a vent in your toilets? Next time you use it, look up at the vent. Is it covered with dust? Is the top of your fridge dusty as well?

Check the cleaners work yourself periodically and MAKE Sure, the promises they make are being fulfilled.

Call your cleaning service and offer your feedback, positive or critical. Cleaners who do a good job rarely get praised so it will mean a lot to them.

And cleaning services who are not cleaning to agreed. specifications need to be kept on their toes or replaced.

If not, you are paying for services not delivered and it might be time to look for another office cleaning service on the Gold Coast.

Be On The Lookout For These Office Cleaning Money Wasters

Is your cleaning service OVER- cleaning some elements and Under-cleaning others?

Using Hack #3 above, spot check the cleaning as early as possible, the day after your cleaning has been done. Call your provider and provide both praise for a job well done or objective criticism where you have spotted elements that are not being cleaned.

Ideally, you’ll give feedback about every month or two and it will send a signal that you care and you have processes in place to keep your office cleaning service on its’ toes.

All too often, cleaners will try and get away with doing a little bit less and a little bit less. Our Quality Processes don’t let them and nor should you. But be mindful that (as much as we hate it), it’s the natural order of things. So don’t be surprised when you see it.

Having seen hundreds of offices, some slip so far that it is just the vacuuming and bin liner replacement that seems to get done.

And while the invoice may reflect a cheap price, the level of service is actually less than the price paid.

Over Cleaning Is Almost As Bad As Under-Cleaning

If you have a realistic budget that is.

Some objects are designed NOT to be touched while others are touched all day, every day.  Take, a desk versus a computer monitor (non-touch screen) for example. It just doesn’t make sense to clean one as much as the other. In some cases, for example in cases where germ prevention is priority one, it may make sense to decrease the frequency of cleaning some elements and increase the overall frequency of office cleaning.

Over cleaning can lead to cleaner laziness. They might think, I’ll do this element tomorrow, then they might add another element and another, and another. And tomorrow might never come.

Our own Quality Team is on the lookout for this kind of behaviour because we live in the real world and we know it happens. We don’t stand for it and nor should you.

Clean, Sanitise and Disinfect Your Office

It is critical that your high-touch areas such as desk aprons, door handles and light switches are properly cleaned using a high quality surfactant that will not damage your assets and  will help prevent the spread of germs. MD Commercial Cleaning has replaced a general spray and wipe with the highest grade

germicide  to keep your office as safe as possible. We follow Government Standards to clean using the best possible methods and we hope your office cleaning service does as well.

Find What Is Right For You

There are so many variables that affect how often your office should be cleaned that there is no one right answer.

Making sure that your office is at peak presentation overall and that you are getting what you pay for are among the most important signals to look out for when determining your needs.

So before you make that call, or send that email, have a think about what it is, you want to achieve so you can cut through all the sales talk you are about to hear.

Good luck on your quest.