Is Your Cleaning Company REALLY Cleaning?!

So you walk through the front door......

of your lobby, early this morning and you start to notice little things.

Fingerprints on the glass and the carpet seem like there is some sand on it.  At first, you do not make much of what you saw.  It’s early and you have a full day ahead of you.

You head to your office … answer the pile of emails your inbox has presented to you,  then head to the restroom before your 8 AM team meeting.

Again you notice some things are just not right …the garbage is ¾ full, the mirrors have watermarks on them and there is no soap in one the dispensers.  You then ask yourself … “Why are we paying for a commercial janitorial to come in every night?”   

Facilities managers and executives see these issues every day. In fact … the entire company notices these issues every day. It is all too common of a problem for our industry.

Commercial cleaning companies all too often sell the idea of 5 nights a week cleaning to ensure your company looks great, only to fail a few months into the contract.

The top three reasons your cleaners are leaving your building is dirty:

 

Lack of training and systems

Janitorial companies need to have detailed training and skill certification with all levels of their crews. This include the cleaners, supervisors and the managers. Detailed written training programs, OSHA certifications, client onboarding orientation with each site and written nightly checklists are just the beginning of the commercial cleaning company you hire.

Little to no supervision of cleaning crews

Who is in charge of the cleaning crew onsite at your company? Do you have a working lead cleaner who is managing the cleaning team each night?  Does that working lead have a local field supervisor who can be onsite in 30 minutes to resolve the issues that arise? 

In most commercial cleaning companies the answer to these questions is NO.  Too often commercial cleaning companies bid the work so low … there is no budget for supervision. This leads to small problems that can often escalate into “SITUATIONS” and you end up with a building that is just not clean.   

No quality control inspections

Having a third person … systematically walk through your office on a scheduled basis,   looking for cleaning issues is critical to keeping your business clean.  The best practices, used by top commercial cleaning companies, have inspections which are documented with pictures, dates, and details. These reports shared with the supervisors, working leads and the cleaning crew.  Collectively they come up and implement corrective actions to ensure that the problems are solved and do not happen again. 

Keeping your building clean requires Systems, Supervision and Inspection. Three simple ideas that challenge most cleaning companies.  

To learn more about how to keep your building clean request a free quote today!

Spring 2018: Cleaning News You Can Use

Spring Has Sprung … Now What?

Now that the weather is better . . . 

We had crazy continued cold temperatures this winter and our back-to-back nor'easter snowstorms had significant impacts on all businesses operations. In addition to lost time due to the storms, CT businesses closed early on many days … causing majors losses in production and operational output. With the bad weather behind us, now is the time to look at spring cleaning with an eye toward the restorative cleaning measures necessary to fight back the impact of the salt, sand and winter traffic we have all seen in our facilities.

Carpet Cleaning - Shampoo Options

There are a number of choices for carpet cleaning–from extraction to encapsulation to bonneting–each with its own cost and performance levels. Depending upon the type of soil, the most aggressive and most costly methods may not be necessary throughout your facility. It may pay to micromanage this process. Extract carpeting in your most heavily soiled areas (more expensive), and use one of the surface cleaning methods for the balance of your carpeted space (less expensive) for an optimal balance between cost and results. 

 

Haven’t Scrubbed the Tile for a While?

The effects are an accumulation of soil on the surface of the tile that is non-responsive to mopping and soiled grout–referred to as line to edge grout line discoloration. The corrective measure would be machine scrubbing and grout cleaning. Depending on the level and type of accumulated soil, the right cleanser and cleaning method will do a much better job on the tile and on the grout. 

Sealing the tile may also be very helpful, making the floor much easier to clean in daily maintenance.

 

Time to Take Care of the VCT

The abrasion of vinyl composition tile by the winter’s sand and salt can harm the wax finish on your flooring. Depending upon conditions, if you want to restore the floor finish you can strip and wax (more costly), or scrub and recoat (less costly). Other options include a coat of sealer applied directly onto the VCT, then several coats of high solids commercial floor finish. The right combination of sealer, coats of floor finish, daily and periodic maintenance will go a long way in protecting your VCT flooring with an esthetically appealing glass finish.

Learn more about Spring Cleaning for your business by requesting a free quote!