Cleaning Tools Equipment and Supplies for Home Cleaning

Home cleaning may sound simple as it is, until you can’t figure out what cleaning tools, equipment and supplies you need. It can be quite frustrating when you start cleaning an area and realize you got the wrong tool or lack the equipment to clean it.

A typical home in the Philippines would most likely have these tools and supplies, but it would be better to be prepared before starting your home cleaning.

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Cleaning Tools, Equipment and Supplies for your home cleaning

Broom/Sweeper/Vacuum
Mop
Pail/Basin
Washcloths (Basahan/Pamunas)
Sponge
Scrubbers
Multi purpose cleaner (liquid)

cleaning tools equipment and supplies for home cleaning

Cleaning Tools at Home

Generally, when we talk about cleaning tools, these are generally items that we buy and use that doesn’t require power or batteries. At the same time, we use these items several times until they are no longer functional. Take for example the broom and mop – We buy them and use them for several months until there are no more bristles or hair on the broom, or the cloth on the mop is beyond washing.

Common cleaning tools that we use are brooms, dustpans, mops, long handle brush and pail or basin for storing water. Having specialized cleaning tools like squeegee (glass cleaner) and swiffers can help as well and make glass cleaning and wiping ceilings easier.

Here’s a tip: use rotary mops for faster mop rinsing and wringing. Just make sure to keep it dry when stored so it doesn’t rust and get stuck up.

Rotary mops are very convenient is mopping and rinsing.

Cleaning Equipment at Home

Most cleaning equipment come with either a cord or a battery pack. This means the most common cleaning equipment is the vacuum cleaner, and having one is a must to get the home cleaning easier. It is actually one of the best and must have cleaning equipment since 2020.

An insane but true fact, dusting and vacuuming helps improve air quality. Aside from getting dirt around the floor, it filters the air as well. A huge help especially these days where we spend most of our time at home due to the pandemic and lockdowns.

A vacuum cleaner is better at cleaning compared to a broom with dustpan.

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Cleaning Supplies at Home

These are consumables that you use for cleaning and will mainly compose of water – it is going to be quite difficult to clean without water. Common supplies would include multi-purpose cleaners, sponge, scrubbers, and several washcloths.

Aside from water, your next best cleaning supply and will most commonly use is a strong multi-purpose liquid cleaner. It is an all around cleaner you can use from your bathroom to your kitchen. If you’re having a hard time looking for one, you can use an antibacterial dishwashing liquid – a component common in most liquid cleaner.

Here’s a tip: use different washcloths for different areas to avoid cross contamination. When working on hard to remove dirt and stains, soak the area with a concentrated amount of multi-purpose cleaner first for at least five to ten minutes before scrubbing it. This will help make scrubbing easier.

Antibacterial Dishwashing Liquid from CMDA

Cleaning accessories at Home

These are daily tools and supplies you use to keep you and your home clean and safe from infections. Of course, without saying, antibacterial liquid handsoap should be on the top of this list. With this pandemic, all of us should be washing our hands more regularly than usual now.

Another important accessory are good quality floor mats that keep dirt and microbes right at the door. It is best to leave one at the front door (better if you leave your shoes there – Asian style), beside the kitchen sink and in front of the bathroom door. This will keep and trap most of the dirt and bacteria on those areas only and from going around your home.

Export quality floor mat

Do you want to learn more on how CMDA Cleaning Services can help you, your family, or your office fight against COVID-19?

Send us an email at inquiry@cmdacleaning.com, or call/text us on any number mentioned above.

Let’s all be well and healthy, wear a face mask, wash our hands frequently, maintain a 1-2 meter physical distance to non-family members, and stay at home if we can. Stay covid-free!

How Your Home is Making You Sick

We have been doing more home cleaning and disinfection than we used to, thanks to this pandemic, and probably more extensively than we used to. But why do some of us get sick, or even more sickly, by just staying at home? Aside from possible lack of Vitamin D because we hardly go out anymore to get some sunshine, our house can be one of the reasons why we get sick.

It can be a surprise to some of us and you may be saying “I’ve been living here just fine for several years already, it was just recently that I have been sick. I have been doing a lot of home cleaning, It can’t be my home”. Chances are, your doctor will lay out all the factors that could be causing your illness, the food you eat or the environment you should avoid, but never include the state of your home.

To fast track your grief from denial to acceptance that your home is possibly making you ill, we can check out the symptoms of your home that really make you sick.

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Poor ventilation
Spaces that you cannot or hardly ever clean
Old wooden structures
Outdated Foam (Beds and Sofa)
Wear and Tear (Natural and from Home Cleaning)

Poor Ventilation

Can you still smell your lunch earlier? Are you addicted to using Air Freshener? Does any scent (good or bad) linger in your room for hours? Chances are, you have poor ventilation at home. Simply put, you breathe the same air the whole day and they are not replaced by fresh ones from either outside or from a purified source.

Having no windows or vents does not mean bad air cannot go in, it just means the dirt you bring in or the toxic chemicals you produce does not have a way of going out. One of the most common air pollutants we create is smoke from cooking and incomplete combustion of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).

How do they harm you?

Poor ventilation keeps bacteria, fungi and viruses within our spaces longer than they should. They should be just “passing through” but since there are no exits, they tend to stay and do their thing – multiply and infect. At the same time, the buildup of Carbon Dioxide from your respiration, metabolic by products of bacteria and fungi, and cooking within your space becomes poisonous to you.

How to fix this?

We have access to online shopping and appliance stores where we can buy air purifiers. Investing in a good one that can filter out particles, smoke and chemicals can greatly help in the ventilation of your place. Growing a couple of indoor plants, just a few not too much, can help in filtering gases within your home.

We make a huge portion of the pollution we get in our home. Our home can make us sick, but partly, we make ourselves sick by not being aware of the toxic substances we make.

Air Purifier Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Air Purifier sold in Lazada

Spaces You Hardly Clean

We love to see our home neat and clean, that’s a fact, so we cover anything unsightly that we cannot remove. This causes spaces to become difficult to reach, and ultimately, difficult to clean during home general cleaning. These spaces become breeding grounds for bacteria and fungi that can make you sick. Example of these spaces are:

Back of the refrigerator
Ceiling
Sink cabinets
Bottom of racks and shelves
Bottom of bed frames
Bottom of the dining table

Honestly, when was the last time you cleaned these spaces? How frequent do we clean these spaces? It’s probably rare that we turn our bed frames and dining tables upside down to clean the bottom. Occasionally we do clean the kitchen sink cabinet maybe.

How do they harm you?

Covered spaces accumulate dust faster than exposed surfaces. The dust in our homes contains an average of 9,000 different species of microbes, a study suggests. Dark and covered surfaces that are humid as well can be the perfect spot for fungi to live in. As soon as air circulates around these surfaces, they will carry those microorganisms elsewhere, including the air you breathe and on the food you eat.

How to fix this?

Clean these surfaces at least twice (2 times) within a month. Moving the furniture, appliance or cover from time to time and cleaning them helps curb the amount of dust and fungi growth. This also ensures that they are dry as well.

The kitchen is filled with spaces that we hardly clean. This is the best place to clean first.

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Old Wooden Structures

We have been using wood for home construction for thousands of years already. It is strong, you can create thousands of stuff out of it, and it is cheaper in weight compared to metal. We use it for our ceiling, walls and furniture. The drawback is that when not treated well, it can be a host to insects, bacteria and fungi. During home cleaning, some of the water we use get in between them and may cause water logging.

How do they harm you?

Untreated and poorly maintained wood can bring in insects like termites which breakdown the wood and cause respiratory problems. Apart from that, it can host common molds at home, especially when you live in a humid climate. These molds can cause a variety of illnesses including neurological problems and even pulmonary bleeding in young children, trigger eye and skin infections.

How to fix this?

Inspect all parts of your home made out of wood and check if they are waterlogged (like the ceiling of your bathroom). You easily spot affected wood when you see discolorations on it. Those marks are not from water but from the buildup of molds already. Have a professional carpenter replace those sections immediately. Ensure that your home is well ventilated to keep humidity at a minimum. Remove or limit indoor plants and fix leaks. There are other natural ways to dehumidify your home.

Wooden floors can be home to bacteria and fungi as well.

Outdated Foam in Beds and Sofa

Contrary to popular belief, bed mattresses and sofa cushions have an expiry date of five to ten years. They were not invented to outlive you, nor made more durable to withstand other activities other than sleeping or sitting on them.

How do they harm you?

Old mattresses and sofa do not offer the same comfort compared to when they were newly bought. Tell tale signs include body aches, a feeling of tiredness, restlessness in the night and sagging spots in the mattress. Old sofas and couches tend to bend your posture as well. These lead to poor sleep and bad posture which takes a toll on your health.

Apart from the discomfort, your mattress can be a haven for bacteria and fungi. Moisture can come from humidity and your own sweat, and with the absence of sunlight, it is the perfect breeding ground for them.

How to fix this?

After such time, you need to replace your bed mattresses or reupholster sofas and couches. For the first few years you can have your bed, sofa and chairs shampooed at least every three months. As a regular maintenance, having it aired out and under the sun twice a week would also be great.

An old sofa is not classic, it is toxic.

Wear and Tear from Natural Means and from Home Cleaning

The changing weather and season contributes to the wear and tear of your home and cleaning your home adds more to that. How? By scrubbing too much and using too much bleach. Your paint on the wall is not as thick as you think it is as well, so scrubbing it can expose the concrete which is porous.

How do they harm you?

Bleach will leave your bathroom tiles sparkling clean, but if mold is an issue bleach could actually make it worse. Bleach gets rid of mold in tile grout, but it’s very caustic and grout is permeable, so it actually eats away at grout over time and makes tiny holes for more mold to grow. Anything that has holes, whether small or large, can be a place of standing water (moisture) which makes it a good breeding ground of bacteria and molds.

How to fix this?

When cleaning, use strong multi-purpose cleaners instead of pure bleach. These are chemicals that contain a little bit of bleach and a little bit of other powerful stuff. Just make sure to soak your bathroom tiles for at least five minutes before brushing or rinsing it. Exposed concrete and hard to remove stains on walls can be fixed by professional wall repainting.

It is kind of scary thinking how your own home can make you sick. You haven’t even heard of a bread that made an entire island hallucinate. Yes, it was also caused by a mold that is still present up to this day. There are numerous factors that we can get sick, but there are numerous ways we can prevent them. Thankfully, the measures in preventing COVID-19 are already pretty basic when it comes to disease prevention. We just need to update other stuff at home to ensure we don’t get other diseases apart from the coronavirus.

Do you want to learn more on how CMDA Cleaning Services can help you, your family, or your office fight against COVID-19?

Send us an email at inquiry@cmdacleaning.com, or call/text us on any number mentioned above.

Let’s all be well and healthy, wear a face mask, wash our hands frequently, maintain a 1-2 meter physical distance to non-family members, and stay at home if we can. Stay covid-free!

8 Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks that Really Work

A lot of us have been struggling lately on how to balance work productivity with safety and office cleaning. Virus active cases are rising, new curfews set in place, strict minimum health standards that prevent more people from going to the office, even though the vaccine is already on the rollout.

All these means that the cleaning lady or the janitors will not be back in full force for your office cleaning anytime soon. Now you may have been tasked as well with keeping the office cleaning and maintenance, and on a specific budget.

Thankfully, you have landed on the right page where you can get effective office cleaning tips and tricks that really work, curated, and provided by a professional cleaning service company.

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Effective Office Cleaning Tips

Use a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom
Use an air purifier
Use different mops
Use a powerful multi-purpose cleaner
Spray odor counteractant
Install insect bait and trap
Make trash bins more visible
Hire a professional cleaner on a scheduled basis

People will litter less and throw their trash in proper trash bins more if they can see the trash bins, and, if they see more trash bins.

Invest in a Vacuum Cleaner

Dust is a common cleaning problem when it comes to office cleaning. No matter how you sweep them at the end of the day, you will find them again the next day. Having a vacuum cleaner on standby can easily get all that dust in no time.

You can invest in a small handheld vacuum cleaner from your favorite online store, so you can store it almost anywhere in your office, and easily use it whenever you need it. They are very easy to operate, and you can designate someone to use it even without training.

You can also opt for a hydrovacuum cleaner that you can just plug and power on the whole day. It sucks in dust and small particles and traps them in water inside their canister. It is a bit pricey but does a lot of work in dust prevention tricks for your office cleaning.

Hydrovacuum Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Hydrovacuum Cleaner sold in Lazada.

Use an Air Purifier

As with the first tip, air purifiers help in preventing and controlling dusts around the office. Not only does it keep the air clean, but it can also remove stale odors and foul scents. It is a good compliment with the vacuum cleaner to ensure that suspended dusts do not reach the floor.

The great thing about air purifiers is their ability to filter more than just dust. Air Purifiers that are also available in your favorite online store can filter and absorb formaldehydes, smoke, and volcanic ash. Some come with ionizers as well to inactivate bacteria and viruses.

Air Purifier sold in Lazada

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Use Different Mops

This tip might sound expensive, but you will learn soon that this is more cost effective and hygienic when it comes to office cleaning. Using different mops in different places in your office does a better job and saves more time. Imagine walking more distance with a mop and pail just to clean up a small mess?

Most studies and reviews found that cross-contamination is one of the office cleaning challenges that most office workers encounter in the past few years. Odors and dirt from the toilet can be seen in the reception area and sometimes food particles from the pantry can be seen in the meeting room. Having different mops prevent this from happening.

Multiple Mops Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Use a Powerful Multi-Purpose Cleaner

One of the secrets of successful cleaning service companies is using an industrial grade multi-purpose cleaner. It can remove almost all stains and can really clean most surfaces. Thankfully, there are commercial counterparts that you can easily buy from the supermarket.

Common commercial multi-purpose cleaner brands are Mr. Muscle, Mr. Clean, Domex and Lysol to name a few. We have listed other brand names of chemicals for cleaning in one of our recent articles.

The trick in using multi-purpose cleaners is to wet the surface to be cleaned, spray or apply the multi-purpose cleaner, and soak/leave it for at least 5 minutes. Chemical cleaners need time to work on the stain and dirt. If you scrub or wipe the surface immediately, it will give you a hard time cleaning it.

Multi Purpose Cleaner Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Spray Odor Counteractant

In any given space there will always be unwanted odors coming from different sources. You may have done the previous tips and all the cleaning techniques you know, but that food from last week still lingers around the pantry. Spraying an odor counteractant will get rid of those ghosts of past cleaning.

Odor counteractants work by chemically neutralizing the air from the byproducts of Nitrogen coming from spoilt food, decaying materials, and urine to name a few. You can buy effective counteractants in your favorite online store.

odor counteractant Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Install Insect Bait and Traps

Presence of crawling insects indicates poor office cleaning management. Apart from the dust and dirt, you must clean and remove these insects that seem to be almost everywhere in your office. Insect sprays can do only so much, and you want these out of sight, not dropping dead in the middle of the floor.

Thankfully, there are insect bait and traps available online and at the supermarket. They attract the insects and kill them within the trap. No extra cleaning needed, and you just need to replace the traps after a month or two.

insect trap Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Baygon Insect Bait and Trap

Make Trash Bins More Visible

Behavior in throwing trash relies heavily on individual, contextual demands, such as having plenty of trash cans readily available for public disposal, do play a role. In a study about waste management, people will litter less and throw their trash in proper trash bins more if they can see the trash bins, and, if they see more trash bins.

People tend to use excuses like “I can’t seem to find a trash bin so I just left it on the sink” or something, just not to throw their own trash properly. But when there are visible trash bins, they are more encouraged to throw not just their own trash, but any other trash around it. Having an exposed trash bin can be unsightly but the benefits outweigh the aesthetics.

more trash bins Effective Office Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Schedule a Professional Cleaner for your Office Cleaning

Getting a company or someone to do your office cleaning twice or thrice a week can save you a lot of money and trouble in keeping your office clean. You can either purchase the cleaning equipment and train your cleaning lady to do the cleaning three times a week, or you can have a worry-free office cleaning experience in hiring a professional cleaning company.

Purchasing the right equipment and training someone takes time, effort, and money. This pandemic is not permanent either. Temporarily hiring a professional can solve your office cleaning problems until your office is in full operation and your in-house janitors are back. We have given some tips on how to get the best office cleaning service in the market in one of our articles.

Professional and Effective Office Cleaning

Whether you are working from home or already reporting in the office, we’re all facing the struggles of balancing productivity and keeping our workspace clean. We hope these tips helped you somehow. For more tips and tricks in cleaning, visit our blog section.

Do you want to learn more on how CMDA Cleaning Services can help you, your family, or your office fight against COVID-19?

Send us an email at inquiry@cmdacleaning.com, or call/text us on any number mentioned above.

Let’s all be well and healthy, wear a face mask, wash our hands frequently, maintain a 1-2 meter physical distance to non-family members, and stay at home if we can. Stay covid-free!

Post Construction Cleaning in 2021

Businesses are re-opening, pending construction work resumes, some offices innovate their spaces to adapt to current requirements as the economy re-opens in 2021. COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out, but the threat of the virus is still there. Are there any changes in the way post-construction cleaning and post-renovation cleaning are being done this year? Are there steps that remain unchanged?

Most owners and clients would think “the construction contractors can already do it”, “we’re using new materials that have not come in contact with the public yet”, or “we can do the cleaning ourselves after”, only to find things in contrast with their statements after.

Faced with challenges on sanitation after construction or renovation, owners and clients hire professional cleaning service companies that specialize in post construction cleaning. Discussions between them begin with what cleaning requirements they need, and then they negotiate the rates. What exactly are the requirements for a good post construction cleaning?

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“We love looking at new things, but we do not want to know or smell the details on how they were made.”

Key Post Construction Cleaning Elements

Removal of Construction Dusts and Small Debris
Counteracting Odors and Filtering the Air
Enhancing and Protecting Surfaces
Preparing the Space for Occupancy

Removal of Construction Dusts and Small Debris

A newly constructed or renovated space amazes us. We love looking at new things, but we do not want to know or smell the details on how they were made. Seeing dust and small debris on newly constructed surfaces is an eye sore.

“We love looking at new things, but we do not want to know or smell the details on how they were made”

Construction crews are great in building things, but definitely post-construction cleaning is not their specialty. There will always be leftover sawdust, unmixed tile sealant powders, and dust from cement or concrete from drilling things on the wall. Common dust is made up of 50% dead skin cells, so imagine dozens of construction workers walking through the same space in a day and how much dead skin cells they shed.

To get these removed during a post-construction cleaning, you need to use a vacuum. It would be best to use a hydrovacuum to ensure that all the dust and small debris are trapped in water within the vacuum canister. This prevents the dust from flying all over the place, or worse, exiting from the vacuum, making the task harder.

To ensure you got everything, mop and wipe surfaces with moist fabric containing a mixture of multi-purpose cleaner and water. This also sanitizes the surface as well, and covers the limitations of the vacuum cleaner – walls and ceiling. As a final touch, run all surfaces with the vacuum. This technique applies to all areas in the newly constructed place, including the toilets and washroom.

Counteracting Odors and Filtering the Air during Post Construction Cleaning

One of the key indicators we use in determining if a place is newly constructed or renovated is the smell. The smell of fresh paint, laid out concrete and cut wood tells us that “yes, this space is new, I can smell it”. It may be good to some, but can be a nightmare to a few, especially those who suffer respiratory problems. Again, we love how it looks new but we don’t want to know and be reminded how it was made.

You can counter post construction odors by again, using hydrovacuum cleaners. Switch on the hydrovac without the hose and let it run for an hour. It will suck in and trap all the odor causing chemicals present in the air within its water filled canister.

Investing in a hydrovac can help you purify your space even after the construction phase of your space. You can buy hydrovacs in Lazada, or your favorite online stores. We have actually curated the Best Cleaning Tools to use in 2021 in our blog.

Hydrovacuum Cleaner sold in Lazada.

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Enhancing and Protecting Surfaces

Have you noticed how dull a newly installed aluminum or stainless-steel sink looks like? This is also the case with mirrors with dried drops of water or construction materials. There are surfaces that the contractors cannot enhance, practically because they may not have the equipment and were not trained to do it.

Enhancing surfaces includes use of stainless-steel cleaners to make sinks, bathroom and door fixtures, lighting fixtures and other metallic surfaces shine more. Using professional glass cleaning liquids remove blemishes on mirrors, glass walls and windows. Furniture polish also works wonders with wooden surfaces like tables and chairs. All these liquid cleaning products contain chemicals that can protect the surfaces as well.

What sets professional cleaning companies apart is how they use professional products like these and how they go beyond your usual post construction cleaning checklist.

Preparing the Space for Occupancy

Now that the newly constructed or renovated space has been cleaned and sanitized, preparing it for occupancy is the final step for your post-construction cleaning. This includes removal of plastic covers of furnitures, packaging of appliances, and most of all – disinfecting the space.

Imagine the number of individuals that walked into your newly constructed space from the start to finish. The chances of one or some of them leaving contaminants like bacteria and viruses, including the coronavirus, are high. Some of these can stay on surfaces for a long time.

In January 2021, a 5-star hotel in Boracay started disinfecting their facilities after at least 15 of its personnel tested positive for the new coronavirus. To think that this happened during a time where there are hardly any tourists visiting the island.

There is already a technology invented that can protect surfaces from bacteria, fungi and viruses. Applying a disinfectant film or disinfectant shield such as CMDA Nano Microbe Shield that can kill bacteria and viruses on contact 24 hours a day, up to 30 days, can help protect surfaces and individuals from getting infected.

Changes in Post Construction Cleaning in 2021

This pandemic has emphasized more of the importance of cleaning and disinfecting your newly constructed or renovated space. Removing dust and debris is not just what you want to expect from a post-construction cleaning. Aside from creating a space where people can rest or work, the post-construction phase now must include creating a safe space as well, and this applies whether you organize it on your own or hire a professional post-construction service company.

Establishing a point where your newly constructed space has been cleaned and disinfected can help in your measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At this point, you may incorporate other measures as well like installing alcohol dispensers, embedding foot bath sanitizers, and installing signages to help promote safety in the space.

Cleaning and disinfecting doesn’t stop after the post-construction cleaning. Keeping your space clean through regular sanitation and scheduled disinfection is important as well. If you need some help on that, we have written something in our blog for your Office Cleaning Essentials this 2021 too.

Post Construction Cleaning and Disinfection

Do you want to learn more on how CMDA Cleaning Services can help you, your family, or your office fight against COVID-19?

Send us an email at inquiry@cmdacleaning.com, or call/text us on any number mentioned above.

Let’s all be well and healthy, wear a face mask, wash our hands frequently, maintain a 1-2 meter physical distance to non-family members, and stay at home if we can. Stay covid-free!

Office Cleaning Essentials in 2021

The world is now a year into this pandemic and there is more emphasis on cleaning and disinfection now, compared to a couple of years ago. As lockdown measures ease on most parts of the globe and with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, there are more reasons why office and property managers must adjust their office cleaning measures.

The availability of the vaccine would mean the possibility of returning the workforce back to the office. Employers and employees alike will have the confidence that having the COVID-19 vaccine would mean less severity (and lethality) in case you catch the disease in the workplace. This confidence might blind a few on the importance of cleaning the office, or worse, reverting back to the cleaning methods prior pandemic.

In an article published in the New York Times, researchers focused only on the severity of COVID-19 on vaccinated individuals, but not their ability and possibility to transmit the virus, especially if they are asymptomatic and stop wearing masks. Furthermore, despite different mutations, the virus can still stay on surfaces for an extended period of time.

Thus being said, maintaining a safe and clean office space is important no matter what year or century you are in. As mentioned by the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ), developing a plan for your office cleaning and disinfection, implementing, maintaining it, and revising the plan as needed, is crucial in the survival of your business during a pandemic.

In a time-and-motion we conducted during the pandemic, here are the key essential points to consider when having your office cleaned.

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“Maintaining a safe and clean office space is important no matter what year or century you are in.”

Key Points in Office Cleaning that are Essential:

Cleaning and disinfection of high touch surfaces and high foot traffic areas
Cleaning and disinfection co-working spaces
Cleaning of working spaces
Cleaning of walls and ceiling
Cleaning and disinfection of toilets and washrooms
Cleaning, disinfection and pest control application of pantry and food storage areas
Cleaning during down time (before or after office hours)

Office Cleaning on High Touch Surfaces and High Foot Traffic Areas

According to research, the virus can live up to 5 days on metallic surfaces, glass, and ceramic. It can live up to 4 days on wood and up to 3 days on plastic and steel. Frequent cleaning and disinfection is important on these types of surfaces to prevent possible contamination. High touch surface and high foot traffic areas happen to be made out of these materials, such as:

High Touch Surfaces

Door Knobs and handles
Pens
Countertops
Tables
Doorknobs
Bathroom fixtures
Phones
Keyboards
Remote controls
Toilets
Reception and lounge chairs
Water dispensers

High Foot Traffic Areas

Office entrance
Reception area
Waiting area
Toilet / washrooms

It is highly recommended to clean these areas and surfaces daily and disinfect them every 1-3 hours. Application of a disinfectant film or disinfectant shield such as CMDA Nano Microbe Shield that can kill bacteria and viruses on contact 24 hours a day, up to 30 days.

Office Cleaning of Working and Co-Working Spaces

The office workplace setting has been dynamic in the last couple of decades. Settings in spaces such as contact centers and co-working spaces has made it possible to optimize the utilization of a space for different working individuals such as contact center representatives and freelancers.

This pandemic has shown the drawback of such work arrangement – possible cross-infection of diseases between individuals sharing the same space. Controlling the usage of such spaces between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals would be difficult. To address this challenge, it would mean disinfection of the space in between use. Tabletops, keyboards, monitors, phones and chair arm rests must be disinfected for the safety of the next user.

Exclusive working spaces such as the manager’s office or the Human Resource (HR) department’s office can be cleaned and maintained on a regular schedule, with a focus on frequent disinfection on door knobs and handles.

Prior to the covid pandemic, there has been an increase in contact centers and co-working spaces, all of which were vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.

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Cleaning Your Office Walls and Ceiling

Office walls and ceilings are less likely to contain the coronavirus, however, it can be home to other bacteria and viruses. Walls and ceiling can be regularly wiped and disinfected on a scheduled basis, however, there is a special need of attention on what is in between your walls and beyond your ceiling.

Walls with visible water stains would mean possible fungal and bacterial spores. Checking where water accumulates within the wall and fixing it would immediately solve the problem. In some extreme cases, the wall may need to be replaced, because there will be no amount of cleaning and disinfection that can keep a water logged wood from housing bacteria and fungi.

Beyond the office ceiling are exhaust pipes and air conditioning ducts – basically the ventilation system of the office. To save power, offices have turned off their ventilation during lockdowns, bringing the circulating air to a halt. Poor air ventilation exacerbates the presence of bacteria, molds and viruses.

According to a professional workplace management company , “To maintain healthy indoor environments as you phase employees back into the office, facilities need to concentrate on plumbing, ventilation, and filtration systems that filter, dilute, and remove pathogens.” Cleaning office ventilation systems should be part of your office cleaning plans.

The walls and ceiling might be hiding something, and it is not COVID-19.

Office Pantry Cleaning

The pantry may be the only place where almost everyone, perhaps including the CEO, converges with other members of the office. “Nothing brings people together like good food” as they say, but also bacteria, fungi, molds, viruses and insects.

Protocols may have been set on your pantry as to how many may occupy it, how to clean and disinfect it, and how frequent. But there has been little efforts made on pest control. We have cleaned hundreds of offices and we have observed that the pantry area will almost always have a fly or two flying, and a dozen or so insects crawling. What these offices have in common is the absence of pest control protocols in place, such as a sound food storage management system, monthly pest control treatment and a standby pest control measures such as insect baits and traps.

Current health and safety measures are focused on preventing the spread of the coronavirus, however, each and everyone of us are still under constant threat against diseases brought by insects.

There’s always a place to eat in the office. And where there is food, there will be insects too.

Challenges and Opportunities in Office Cleaning in 2021

Information about the coronavirus and covid vaccine frequently changes. Minimum health standards change depending on time and the government. Offices are left to themselves how to manage and prevent their employees from being infected, without affecting budget and operations. This has also brought the rise in searching and hiring office cleaning and disinfection professionals .

SafeGroup boss Steve Broughton, a leading cleaning firm in the UK, said during his interview with BBC, “there are too many companies seeking a market opportunity to meet the demand, that at the same time, don’t have sufficient knowledge or the right equipment to deliver an office cleaning service or any cleaning service safely or correctly.”

Choosing the right cleaning and disinfection chemicals and techniques have been a challenge as well. Most government agencies have said that cleaning and disinfecting with bleach alone is enough to kill the virus, however, it also poses a respiratory hazard to most people. Cleaning and disinfection companies have offered fumigation disinfection, while others are offering electrostatic disinfection using Quaternary Ammonium Chloride which is highly effective.

These challenges have given the opportunity for businesses, specifically property managers or people assigned in the cleaning and sanitation of their office, to expand their knowledge on correct and safe cleaning and disinfection. At the same time, it has provided more options for companies to choose which service works best for their office and their budget.

As a final word, quoting the chairman of a world renowned business support group – Michael Rust, “It is vital that businesses don’t cut corners as they plan for the easing of lockdown”.

“Given the high level of training required to use the right equipment and specialist cleaning products, the clear advice to all businesses is only to use accredited cleaning companies with a long history in this sector – otherwise you’re risking the safety of your workers and the public.”

The clear advice to all businesses is only to use accredited cleaning companies with a long history in this sector – otherwise you’re risking the safety of your workers and the public.

Do you want to learn more on how CMDA Cleaning Services can help you, your family, or your office fight against COVID-19?

Send us an email at inquiry@cmdacleaning.com, or call/text us on any number mentioned above.

Let’s all be well and healthy, wear a face mask, wash our hands frequently, maintain a 1-2 meter physical distance to non-family members, and stay at home if we can. Stay covid-free!