Our top tips for office cleaning

Keeping a clean and tidy office not only benefits your employee’s health but also promotes and improves productivity in the workplace. When our desks become dirty, cluttered and untidy we become demotivated and agitated, not to mention we can also potentially get sick from the germs and dust!

Your employer should have a cleaning contract with a reputable company who regularly carry out the office cleaning for you, usually, this is done daily after the office has closed. However, there are things that you can do to keep the office to a considerable level of cleanliness which will help to maintain morale and keep the sick days down.

As were in such precedented times due to COVID-19, it is vital we keep germs to an absolute minimum and that we all do our bit where we can to stop the spread of the virus and infections. So, we’ve decided to not only offer our office cleaning to workplaces across Warrington, Cheshire and the North West but to also give you some basic tips on how you can help to keep the office and your workspace clean.

1. Keep your keyboard clean

By having some anti-bacterial wipes in your draw or on your desk, you can wipe down your keyboards throughout the day to keep them as clean as possible. There were some very shocking figures published by the University of Arizona, that stated a desktop can have up to 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat! A study at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital showed that MRSA could live up to 24 hours on a keyword too.

These numbers are too high to ignore and a simple wipe with anti-bacterial wipes could prevent germs from spreading causing you or your colleagues to get sick. You should also be regularly cleaning and wiping down your PC monitors, phones and desktops, try to ensure all the devices are switched off before you do any cleaning. Your contracted cleaning company are more than likely to include this in their service, however, there’s no harm in extra cleaning, especially given those statistics on the bacteria levels.

2. Dust your desktop items and plants

Dust can cause nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing and in some cases lead to a cold or more. Plants however, are brilliant organisms that actually clean up our air and give us oxygen but they also need a little help from us to do this. Over time their leaves can build up in dust which blocks them from taking in carbon dioxide to release oxygen back into our atmosphere.

Giving any office plant a wipe down using a damp cloth or duster will help to keep the air cleaner. Once you’ve given the plants a good dust or wipe, look to do this with all any equipment or belongings left on your desk that collects dust.

3. Keep the fridge as clean and tidy as possible

According to the Australian Institute of Food Safety not only the cleanliness of your fridge matters but also the temperature. Your regular cleaning company might not maintain your fridge’s temperature controls and they probably won’t go near the fridge that much either. This is due to people’s personal belongings, unless they’ve been asked to clean the fridge out and chuck things away, they might not include this in their service. So, it’s quite important for you to ensure this is all running smoothly as it can be very harmful.

We know that foods can cause poisoning and the institute of Food Safety said that: “Many fridges are not set to the correct temperature and as a result, create an unsafe environment for food storage. Harmful bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes, will multiply at an alarming rate unless kept at the proper temperature”. Regarding why you should keep the fridge clean as possible they said the following:

“Proper fridge cleaning and maintenance is vitally important, though is often overlooked and viewed as “too hard”. However, what you don’t see in your fridge could actually be contaminating your food and making you sick. Did you know that dirty fridges can act as a breeding ground for harmful bacteria such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli?”

Source: https://www.foodsafety.com.au/blog/could-your-fridge-be-making-you-sick

How we can help with our office cleaning services in Warrington:

We would highly recommend that your employer, if they have not already, hires an office cleaning company who has the equipment and products to carry out deep cleans, virus cleans and fogging. They will clean all the upholstery, toilets, floors, windows, units, dishes and so on to a very high spec, this is usually done at the end of every day.

At Ideal, we provide office cleaning that sanitises every touchpoint from the door handles to your light switches. Our staff are trained in the latest hygiene procedures and use the best industrial equipment for the job. If you’re looking for a reputable and reliable office cleaning company in Warrington, Cheshire and the North West, please get in touch with us today to discuss your requirements.