In this new world of global pandemics, proper office cleaning can become a matter of life or death.  As a professional cleaning company, we notice that even clients with the highest levels of concern about cleanliness fail to clean certain areas.   Sure, most businesses wipe down the desks, break room countertops, bathrooms, and vacuum the floors, but what about the light switches and doorknobs?  Below is a list of office areas that most people forget to clean.

1. Doorknobs

What is the first thing you do when you want to enter your office? You grab the doorknob. What have you touched between the time you last washed your hands and grabbing that door? How many times is your door handled by customers and employees as they come and go?  Enough said. Use a disinfectant spray or wipes to clean your doorknobs 

2. Light Switches

What do you touch the moment you enter your office? Your light switch…right? Light switches are not touched as often as doorknobs, but they still should be cleaned.

3. Office Phone, Keyboards, and Other Office Equipment

Have you ever taken a close look at the keys on your office phone, keyboards, and other office equipment? Look at them under a blacklight, and the results will surprise you and ruin your lunch.  Germs can live and thrive on your keyboards and other equipment.  Proper phone and keyboard cleaning are essential when multiple people share phones or keyboards.  Don’t forget to clean your keyboards, phones, and other equipment.

4. Office Chairs

Wait! Before you sit down, you might want to take a closer look at underneath your chair.  What do you see? If you are like most people, you see years’ worth of built-up dust and other debris. What about those adjustment handles underneath your chair? That is another area that has probably never been cleaned.  Add underneath chairs to your list of areas in need of attention.  

5. Desk Utility, Pen, Trays, and Storage Compartments

Think about how many times those pens in your drawer have been touched by countless people.  When is the last time that those people washed their hands?   Are there trays or storage compartments?  All of these surfaces must be cleaned.  Clean and sanitize all your desk utility trays, pen trays (and the pens that sit in them), and any other storage compartments you have in, on, and around your desk or office.

6. Desk, Credenza, and Filing Cabinet Handles

You and perhaps others open and close your desk, credenza, and filing cabinet handles many times a day. How often do you clean those handles? If you’re like most people, probably not very often. However, that is one of those frequently missed places.  Cabinets can harbor germs and bacteria from every hand that has ever touched them. 

7.  Baseboards

Yes, it’s a hassle to clean the office baseboards. So, even though you know it needs to be done, you probably don’t do it that often…right? But if you think about it, those layers of dust that have built-up on your baseboards could be collecting dust and other allergens that will ultimately be blown around your office. When disrupted, those dust particles float in the air until they find a home in your eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs of anyone.  Dusty baseboards are not life-threatening.  However,  it can cause allergy flareups.  At a minimum, cleaning the baseboards looks nicer than not doing so.  

9. Mini Blind Handles and Curtain Rods

Do you open your mini blinds or the curtains in your office the moment you arrive? You probably do, but you have never once even thought about cleaning those handles or the curtain rods if you are like most people. Blinds and curtain rods can carry germs, just like any other area that people touch.  

10. Equipment Power Buttons

Do you turn your computer and other equipment on and off every day? If so, when was the last time you cleaned those power buttons? Just like the keys on your phone and computer keyboard, don’t forget to clean the power buttons as well gently.

11. HVAC Vents

Go into your office and look up at the HVAC vents. What do you see? If you’ve never cleaned those vents, they are probably black with strings of dust and cobwebs clinging to them. If that’s what you see, that’s what you and everyone else in your office are breathing every time the HVAC system comes on. Clean your HVAC vents with a duster.  It is also a good idea to periodically have a HVAC expert professionally clean your vents.  

12. Stair Rails

How many people go up and down the stairs in your office every day? How many of those people have probably gone to the bathroom and touched other things without washing their hands? The statistics show that 40% of Americans don’t always wash their hands after using the toilet. And those same people touch a myriad of surfaces in and around your office. Yuck! So, please, add the stair rails to your must clean places. 

13. Watercoolers

Watercoolers are a common item in most offices that just about every person uses daily. However, not many people think to clean the handles, basin, and other exposed areas of the water bottle and dispensers. We talked about the percentage of people who don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom. When people in an office take their break, what do they do? They use the bathroom then swing by the water cooler or refrigerator for a drink on the way back to their desk. Think about that for a moment.  Never forget to clean the watercooler. 

14. Supply Room

We’ll bet every person in your office uses the supply room. Supply rooms are one of the most neglected areas in almost any office. Go to your supply room, and you will probably find layers of dust, dirt, grim, and other filth on the back and underneath the shelving, in the corners, etc. Additionally, supply rooms don’t always have the airflow that the main offices do; therefore, there is more chance for all that stagnant air and dirty surfaces to create many concerns. Supply rooms should be swept, mopped/vacuumed, and wiped down regularly.   

15. Equipment Surfaces 

When was the last time you pulled out the printer, copier, or other equipment in your office? With all the different people using those machines daily, they get pretty dirty.  Clean your copier and printer surfaces.  Additionally, sweep underneath to eliminate dust and dirt.  Keeping your office equipment clean helps prolong the life of those machines. 

16. Walls 

There are other places in an office that are routinely touched, but most people don’t think much. For example, the walls around the doors, light switches, and other high traffic areas where the walls are frequently touched. Take a look at your office walls.  You will see smudges, spots or discolored areas.  Those areas should be cleaned.   

How to Effectively Tackle the Office Cleaning and Disinfecting Duties

There is a lot more to effectively cleaning your office than you think. If you have been cleaning the obvious surfaces, you are leaving some of the most critical spots untouched.  Failure to clean these areas could result in people getting sick. 

You can tackle the office cleaning schedule by assigning a different person each week to clean your office. However, make sure you properly train them on your office cleaning protocols. Create a cleaning checklist.  A cleaning checklist helps ensure that everything is cleaned.    

Alternatively, you could hire a commercial cleaning company to clean your office for you professionally. 

If you would like to inquire about commercial cleaning services, we’d love to help. Please contact us, and we can discuss a customized cleaning service that will match your needs. 

Do you know how often should you clean and sweep office floors?

We got the answer for that and more right here!