Spring Cleaning Isn’t Just for Houses — Your Office Is Ripe for Deep Cleaning, Too

Been nipped by the cleaning bug thanks to warmer weather? You’re not alone.

According to the American Cleaning Institute’s annual “National Cleaning Survey,” 91 percent of respondents participate in spring cleaning. For 92 percent of them, their main objectives for applying elbow grease were clear: reduce dirt, declutter spaces, and improve health through better indoor air quality.

For corporations, springtime is just as ideal for a deep clean as it is for residential properties. Not only do employees who spend their workweeks in the office enjoy the benefits of a good scrub-down, but customers and vendors also do.

Winter’s Wrath: Not Just an Outdoor Phenomenon

Let’s do a quick retrospective on Mother Nature’s seasonal mood swings and evaluate how they affect workspaces, starting with the onslaught of grime that heads straight inside when the weather chills.

To beat winter at its snowy game, municipalities scatter salt and chemicals on roadways and walking surfaces. Inevitably, the debris makes its way into buildings. Over and over, particulate is ground into carpeting and tile, abusing fibers and discoloring grout. For all their efforts, janitorial teams armed with modestly sized backpack vacuums (and who are locked into limited vacuuming schedules) can only lift so much soil. The rest stays trapped, only to make itself known in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nasty odors. Not familiar with VOCs? They’re gases released by items like carpets. They’ve also been linked to unpleasant systemic issues, from headaches and fatigue to organ and lung irritation. In other words, they’re a decidedly unwanted side effect of toxic buildup from soil and debris.

Of course, disagreeable aromas wafting throughout a building, especially in restrooms, are as problematic as VOCs. After all, they affect the way others look at a business. A study by Initial noted that nearly 60 percent of people were turned off by companies with pungent bathrooms. Not surprisingly, individuals tend to assume that the worse a place smells, the less it deserves their time or resources. Ironically, people could be right to turn away from questionable places. The Centers for Disease Control recently reported that there are hundreds of “nightmare” bacterial strains floating around in unclean locations that have the capacity to kill half the people unlucky enough to encounter them.

The bottom line is clear: Though a clean workspace isn’t always a matter of life and death, it could be. Regardless, sanitation is always a best practice, especially for the most used spaces in your workplace.

Areas to Start Aggressive Spring Cleaning

Ready to become a spring cleaning virtuoso? Focus your efforts on three specific areas in your commercial space:

1. Carpeted floors: Carpets take a beating year-round. If you don’t do something to remove up to 99 percent of the pollutants from your carpeting, you’re hurting your bank account in the long run. Uncared-for carpets show wear and tear quickly, requiring replacement sooner. Unless you want to become your local carpet supplier’s most prolific client, contact MilliCare to remove dirt, pollen, allergens, VOCs, and a host of other items from your carpets.

Why MilliCare ? Our proprietary system uses 99.5 percent less water than competitors’ methods. Therefore, your employees effectively experience zero downtime. Why halt business because of wet carpeted areas? Dry carpet cleaning means instant traffic after MilliCare ’s team leaves your office. And you’ll appreciate not spending tons on hot water; the dry system uses 319 percent less energy per square foot, decreasing your carbon footprint and ultimately saving you money.

2. Upholstered equipment: Fewer employees head out during winter to grab a bite to eat, meaning they eat in other places — like at their desks. Inevitably, spills happen, leading to food and beverage stains on upholstery.

Though the key to making sure upholstery remains pristine is to address spills immediately (by gathering up solid material and then blotting any liquids), your upholstery can still benefit from a MilliCare deep clean. More often than not, MilliCare can lift even long-term tough stains from upholstered chairs and office equipment, bringing them back to life.

3. Tiled floors: Grout lines can be summed up in one word: “Yuck.” But they don't have to be if you use proper maintenance and a little assistance from MilliCare . Our three-step system ensures your grout doesn’t give off unpleasant smells (or vibes). We start by removing all smells, grease, and organic matter using environmentally friendly cleaners. From there, we add color to the grout to match the existing hue or give the grout an attractive facelift. Finally, we coat both the grout and tile to extend the life of the flooring and limit further deep staining and soiling.

Don’t forget that tiled flooring isn’t just in most commercial washrooms. It’s often found in other areas, including lobbies, basements, supply closets, back rooms, kitchens, and hallways. Be sure you address all the tiled areas to completely eradicate grout that looks and smells nasty.

Your employees, vendors, clients, and future job candidates deserve to walk into a clean, healthy, bright workspace or buying area. Leverage the natural human penchant for springtime tidiness by calling a MilliCare expert at 1-888-886-2273. You’ll receive customized care and spectacular-looking spaces for spring — and all the seasons of your work.