Office cleaning

Office cleaning takes place in a challenging environment where several different priorities come into conflict: Time and cost factors, cleaning results, hygiene and sustainability are all interconnected and must be taken into account. Accordingly, it is important to select suitable cleaning methods for the challenge in question. Particularly with a view to ensuring hygiene and sustainability, static cleaning will increasingly be replaced by dynamic cleaning in the future.

Steps towards a clean office

Offices are places where many people congregate for hours every day. The equipment, nature and use of office spaces therefore present a range of specific challenges for cleaning service providers. Factors such as time and cost must be taken into account, while ensuring cleanliness, hygiene and, increasingly, sustainability are guaranteed. Here, it is worth having an overview of common applications and suitable solutions, including having a sensible structure for cleaning sequences, as well as being aware of current developments in cleaning technology.

Cleaning surfaces ensures that rooms have an attractive appearance, contributes to preservation of value and plays a major role in the prevention of contact infections. A cleaning method particularly suited to removing loose or partially stuck dirt from desks, sideboards or cable ducts is wiping with a damp cloth and spray. This method saves time, cleaning agent and water, while achieving an excellent level of hygiene at the same time. Either the cleaning agent is pre-dosed, thus preventing uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly overdosing. Alternatively, the cleaning agent can be sprayed directly onto the cloth – three sprays is sufficient here – and the moistened side is then used to clean. If stubborn dirt must be removed, the method of wet wiping with a preconditioned cloth is used.

Surfaces where loose dirt has settled can be cleaned with dust-binding cloths. Adhesive-impregnated variants have proven successful, as the surfaces are efficiently cleaned of dust without water or cleaning chemicals. If surfaces are cleaned regularly, a dust-binding cloth can be used for more than one room. In addition, these cloths are suitable for wiping and collecting dust on smooth floor coverings. Gloves do not necessarily have to be worn for dust-binding cleaning.

Deep cleaning and restoring protective coatings on hard floors

Often, resilient floor coverings are laid that have a polymer dispersion coating. These coverings wear out over time, showing scratches in which dirt can collect. Cleaning becomes more difficult and time-consuming. Restoring protective coatings is therefore sensible at certain intervals. There are two ways of doing this: Restoring protective coatings and deep cleaning.

Disinfection of hard floors

Scrubber driers can generally also be used to disinfect floors. For this application, both the correct dosage of chemicals and the exact contact time in line with manufacturer specifications must be observed. Sucking up the dirty water also permanently removes germs. The risk of contamination is therefore minimised. The risk for the cleaning team of becoming infected via pathogens on their hands is reduced thanks to the contactless floor cleaning. Appropriate protection during preparatory and follow-up work nevertheless remains essential, as these themselves pose a risk.

A sufficient amount of the active ingredient has to reach the floor surface to successfully disinfect it. To achieve this, the flow volume should be selected in relation to the floor covering such that even wetting can be ensured. Microfibre textiles or pad materials are a helpful tool – brushes are less suitable. In order to comply with the required contact time, work must be performed without suction. The disinfectant solution is only applied to the floor with the scrubber drier. The area is then allowed to dry.

Saving time and resources: Sustainability and innovation

Cleaning is in itself sustainable, as it serves to retain the value and function of buildings, facilities and machines. Furthermore, with regard to building cleaning, considerations regarding sustainable and successful management often go hand in hand. After all, in order to work efficiently, it is important to reduce costs while at the same time maintaining or improving the results. This can be achieved by using power- and water-saving cleaning technology, modern procedures, or ergonomic machines that reduce physical strain and therefore also reduce time users may have to take off sick: In other words, measures which benefit the environment and humans in equal measure. The cleaning industry is currently in a state of upheaval, with traditional models and methods increasingly being replaced by dynamic, environmentally friendly approaches.

Using software or apps, which digitally represent processes for all tasks of building service contractors, adjustments to daily cleaning tasks can be made quickly and without physical contact and adopted into the cleaning plan. Real-time communication enables customers, facility managers and cleaners to exchange information quickly. Special tasks like additionally disinfecting door knobs or other surfaces can be reliably planned and communicated in this way.

Not just a clean office: Water and air

Clean air is of the utmost important in the working world, for instance in offices, public or medical facilities. In areas with large numbers of people, there is also a need for a reliable water supply. Air purifiers and piped water dispensers are a sustainable and cost-effective way to ensure a hygienic and clean environment above and beyond cleaned floors and surfaces.