Blog It Like It's Hot

Are you are prepped and ready for a big office spring clean? That’s what we like to hear.

There is nothing like starting a new season off with a thorough tidy and a deep clean. Floors, surfaces, equipment – even your old files and emails can do with a good going through.

Of course, sometimes you need a little extra help to get everything to a level where you are starting from a clean slate. That is where professional office cleaning services like those offered by Relkogroup come in.

We can deep clean your carpets, sanitise the surfaces, and even clean and restore outside spaces and masonry work. Our extensive list of comprehensive services, coupled with more than four decades of experience, makes us the ideal choice for your big office clean.

Before you book a one-off deep clean and carry on with the rest of your year though, be sure to make arrangements for regular cleans. You don’t need the carpets scrubbing or the office deep cleaning every week, but you do need regular visits from a cleaning company, to keep on top of it all and ensure your company has a pleasant, hygienic and safe environment to work in.

Germs and bacteria spread quickly, especially in busy public spaces like workplaces. Everything from coffee canisters and keyboards, to door handles and desk surfaces is at risk from unwashed hands, unwatched coughing and sneezing, and general germs and grime.

If you still aren’t convinced you need to invest in weekly professional cleans, as well as quarterly or annual deep cleans, read on. Below, we have listed just three of the most-used areas in the average office; all of which are dirtier than the average toilet (source).

Your QWERTY Keyboard

Per square inch, the average keyboard is said to have 3295 microbes. This is a staggering 67 times more than the average toilet seat, which has just 49 microbes per square inch.

Your keyboard puts up with grubby mitts, spilt drinks, dropped crumbs and bacterial showers in the event of coughs, sneezes and the like. With all of this going on, it is no wonder that the QWERTY gets dirty! Regular cleaning and better, more hygienic at-desk habits should help.

Your Phone

For almost all offices, even heavily admin based ones, the phone is an essential piece of equipment. It is also a hotbed for germs and bacteria, with dirty hands and mouth-breathers making good use of it all day, every day.

This is actually one of the fastest ways to spread germs and illness in the office; when one sick person coughs down the phone and hangs up, some poor hot-desker picks it up and breathes in those germs, becoming sick themselves.

The ease, speed and ferociousness with which the phone can fester means you need to clean it on a regular basis (daily) with antibacterial wipes. After all, with around 25,127 microbes per square inch, the office phone could probably do with a bit of freshening up!

Your Desk

Your desk is the one place where you spend the majority of your time. You work there all day, eat there at lunch, feel sorry for yourself there when you are ill…it goes through a lot, and it plays the ultimate host to dirt, grime and germs.

The average desk is 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat, with not only the surface itself being bacteria-ridden, but also all of the equipment on that surface. This makes the desk a double-whammy and the one spot in the office that should demand your attention.

Clean your desk and everything on it weekly, and keep anti-bacterial wipes or spray on your desk, to clean surfaces and equipment daily. The more you keep on top of it all, the better – and cleaner – your workstation will be, in the long run.

Of course, there are plenty of other unhygienic hotspots in an office (fun fact: the microwave, refrigerator and kitchen sink faucets rank among the highest). However, these three are in your control, and in your immediate vicinity.

Each and every office employee will have access to and use all three of these areas on a daily basis, which means they are more exposed to the bacteria build-up and any associated risks. So start your Spring/Summer 2015 with a deep clean, but do everyone a favour and follow it up with weekly visits from a cleaning company like Relkogroup.

Browse our site or get in touch for more information on our services.

Here at Mop It Like it’s Hot, we know that if you share your office kitchen with even a handful of colleagues, you will know how important and sometimes how difficult it can be to keep everything clean and complaint-free.

Of course, enlisting the services of specialist office cleaners like us can go a long way towards ensuring a clean and tidy kitchen that is kept both hygienic and in good condition.

In addition to these weekly, fortnightly, and even monthly deep cleans though, you also need to make a collective effort when it comes to keeping the heart of the office well-stocked, presentable and running smoothly.

That’s why we have put together the below guide to office kitchen etiquette, with all the essential tips, tricks and rules to follow.

If you empty it…fill it

Not a difficult one to grasp; if you finish the last bit of coffee in the canister, refill the canister, and if you empty the bin (well done for not just squashing it all in the bag!), make sure you put a new bag in.

If you dirty it…clean it

Another straightforward instruction, and one that will do you well to remember. In the name of hygiene and happiness, if you dirty something – a plate, a spoon, the worktop or the inside of the microwave – clean it up. Your colleagues, your kitchen and your office cleaners will thank you in the long run.

If you open it…close it

If you open the window to de-fume the room after a rogue piece of toast, close the window afterwards (especially when it’s cold outside). If you take the lid off the milk or open the fridge door, put the lid back on and close the door back up. Not only is leaving everything half open unhelpful, it’s also rude.

If you spill it…wipe it up

Similar to the if-you-dirty-it rule, if you spill something, wipe it up. This might apply to the soggy trail of biscuit crumbs and spilt tea you’ve left behind or the water you’ve sloshed on the floor when washing up. Either way, wipe it up in the interests of cleanliness and health and safety (spillages mean slips).

If you get it out…put it away

When sharing a kitchen with twenty of your closest pals, keeping everything neat and tidy is of paramount importance. Everything should be assigned a place, whether that place is a cupboard, a drawer, a shelf or a spot on the countertop. Similarly, everyone should make sure that everything starts and ends the day in its assigned space. If you use something, put it back where you found it.

If you cook it…share it

This one is a very helpful one to remember. If you cook something (other than your lunch), share it. If you’ve brought in a batch of freshly baked cookies, offer them to the group. Some might accept, others will decline, but nobody will forgive you if you let the cookies go stale in your desk drawer because you couldn’t eat them, and you didn’t share. Side note: if you go to have a goodie cooked by someone else, limit yourself to one, which is polite and plentiful.

[For more entertaining insights into office kitchen etiquette and rules, click here]Our team will put in the elbow grease, but you and your colleagues can all help by following the rules and office kitchen etiquette guide above.

Keep the peace: keep it clean.

If you have an office or commercial property with different surfaces and materials to clean, but you’re not sure what the most practical options are, read on. We have plenty of experience cleaning different surfaces, and whilst you can never beat a professional clean, you can make life easier and more pleasant for everyone by staying on top of the office cleaning.

Below are just three of the most popular office surface materials, as well as information regarding their properties and their cleaning and care requirements.

Laminate:

Though plastic, acrylic and the like is popular in commercial spaces, laminate is rising quickly in its popularity. From a design perspective, laminate is superb because it can resemble anything from natural wood to natural stone, or it can come in crazy patterns and bright colours.

In its most basic form, laminate is usually composed of a thin top layer of plastic and resin, coating plywood or MDF underneath. Mass produced and inexpensive, laminate is a cost-effective choice for companies, but it is not as durable as more traditional surfaces. Cracks and stains are common, and the surface itself can disintegrate with use over time.

It is, however, a very easy material to keep clean. Though it can stain, it rarely stains terribly, and it can be cleaned just as easily with soap as it can with bleach.

You can even use protective sprays to toughen the surface and minimise the risk of staining, but make sure you clean spillages straight away to avoid staining altogether. Even when you benefit from our professional office cleaning services, prevention is always better than cure.

Wood:

Most offices steer away from solid wood surfaces these days, opting instead for more cost-efficient alternatives that can be bought en masse and replaced easily. For those commercial spaces that do have wooden desks, countertops and surfaces though, the benefits are more than just cosmetic.

A hardworking and hardwearing material in general, wood that is properly finished and sealed works in just about every space, from the office floor to the canteen and kitchen.

Whilst daily cleaning is relatively simple, requiring no more than a damp, and potentially soapy, cloth, wood comes with its own challenges. Specifically, scratches, nicks and water marks, for which the material is notorious.

For everyday care and cleaning, you can check out these helpful tips; for more thorough cleaning, invest in professional office cleaning services.

Stainless Steel:

Offices and commercial properties with contemporary or industrial designs often incorporate stainless steel as a surface material, be it for desks and display areas, or canteen countertops.

Whilst this has an impressive visual effect, polished finishes can accumulate greasy fingerprints. Fortunately, stainless steel is actually very easy to clean. You can remove stains with a soapy damp cloth, and buff it with a dry one.

This will keep the surface looking clean, as well as hygienic, thanks to stainless steel’s resistance to bacterial build-up. As such, your workspace will look the part for as long as possible, especially considering the durability and longevity of the material. Like any other material though, for a thorough and professional clean, you can always enlist the services of experienced office cleaners.

And there you have just three popular surface materials for commercial properties, as well as information about their benefits and their practicality when it comes to keeping clean, all from the professionaqls here at www.mopitlikeitshot.co.uk

Of course, there are many other surfaces used in commercial interior design, such as stone and glass, all requiring specialist cleaning. If you find yourself unsure as to how you should care for and clean the surfaces in your office or business property, get in touch with our team today.

If, on the other hand, you just need to stay on top of your general cleanliness, pay attention to the materials used and cater to individual surfaces, as opposed to using a blanket method for everything.