When a lot of people think about deep cleaning their commercial property, they picture adding just a little more elbow grease than normal when scrubbing the loos, or perhaps giving the floors a ‘good mop’ instead of just a ‘quick sweep’.
However, did you know that deep cleaning is a whole different ball game from your regular daily cleaning routine, and there are a number of mistakes that you’ll need to avoid if you want your property to be spotlessly clean? We’ll discuss what to watch out for.
1. Using the same tools for every area
Are you using the same cloth or sponge across every area of a property? You could be allowing nasty germs to harbour and cause havoc amongst your staff and customers.
Cross-contamination while cleaning is a huge risk – especially if you’re cleaning areas you wouldn’t normally which are likely to be extra grubby, so make sure you’re using different tools for different areas. This means that using a colour-coding system is a necessity for ensuring everyone’s safety.
2. Not disinfecting clothes or sponges after use
Kitchen cloths can be a breeding ground for harmful viruses and bacteria. In fact, according to Science Direct, 16% of consumers have practices that would allow pathogens to contaminate, grow and survive in cloths until the next use. One tip to avoid this is to soak your used cloths and sponges in a part water, part disinfectant solution and leave them to soak.
And it’s not just cleaning your cloths that you need to watch out for, you also need to make sure they’ve been set out to dry properly. In the same study, salmonella multiplied in all types of new cloths that were not hung to dry (crumpled), however, this was observed significantly less after hanging cloths to dry for 24hrs.
3. Scrubbing instead of blotting stains
We get it. That dried-in carpet stain is going nowhere fast, and it can be tempting to simply scrub away at it in the hope it’ll magically disappear, however, by doing that you’re only making it even more difficult to remove.
The trick to any stain is to blot at it rather than scrubbing it further into the fabric. We appreciate that in commercial buildings such as an office or schools, that time may be of the essence when you’re cleaning. However, trust us when we say you’ll actually save more time this way! That being said, if the blotting doesn’t work then you will more than likely need professional carpet cleaning.
4. Assuming bleach is best
While many people associate bleach with deep cleaning, here at Spotless (and the majority of other cleaning companies) we don’t use it at all.
In fact, not only can bleach actually weaken the grout between tiles, causing it to crack and crumble, but it’s also not great for the cleaner’s health, it can be harmful and sometimes corrosive to surfaces, and although it does clean some germs it mainly just whitens everything it touches.
At Spotless Cleaning, the products we use are just as (if not more!) effective, they’re only available commercially and are specific for cleaning hard-to-remove dirt such as mould and mildew in bathrooms.
5. Not consulting a professional
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to deep cleaning your commercial property is not consulting a professional.
After all, a professional commercial cleaner can build and execute a completely tailored deep cleaning plan for your property without you ever having to lift a finger; what’s more, this will always be done out of hours to avoid disrupting your team. If you’d like to find out more about how Spotless Cleaning can help you, get in touch with us today.