Church Cleaning: Offices, Classrooms, Nurseries and Fellowship Halls

That Cleaning Girl · Office Cleaning

Small churches have a lot going on in one building: an office during the week, classrooms and a nursery on Sunday, a sanctuary, a fellowship hall and a kitchen that feeds a crowd after every potluck. After covering client-facing offices in Cleaning a Real Estate or Insurance Office That Clients Walk Into, this one is about a building that serves a whole congregation.

We clean churches and church offices around Waxahachie, Midlothian and the rest of south DFW. Here's what we've learned.

Timing around services and events

The biggest question for a church is when to clean. The building is busiest on Sunday and Wednesday night, and quiet most of the rest of the week.

• A clean late in the week, Thursday or Friday, means the building is ready for the weekend.
• A clean on Monday picks up after Sunday, but leaves the building to sit all week before the next service.
• Some churches do both: a quick clean Monday and a full clean before Sunday.
• Weddings, funerals and special events may need an extra clean before or after.

Whatever works for your church, keep it consistent. Recurring clients keep the same day and time, and the same cleaner whenever possible.

The church office

The church office is just like any small office. Desks, a reception area, maybe a copier and a small kitchen. Cleared desks dusted and wiped, trash emptied, restrooms cleaned, floors done. Pastors and staff often have sensitive paperwork, so desks with papers get cleaned around rather than disturbed.

The sanctuary

The sanctuary is the heart of the building, and it gets a lot of people at once.

• Pews or chairs dusted and wiped, including the backs where people hold on.
• Hymnal and Bible racks emptied of bulletins and trash.
• The stage, pulpit and altar area dusted carefully.
• Floors vacuumed, including under pews where you can reach.
• Entry doors and glass cleaned.
• Restrooms nearby cleaned.

Old bulletins, gum wrappers and tissues tend to collect in pew racks. Clearing them out every week keeps the sanctuary looking cared for.

High spots matter here too. Ceiling fans, light fixtures, window ledges and the tops of door frames collect dust and cobwebs, and in a room with tall ceilings they are easy to forget. Rotating them in once a month, along with baseboards and the edges of the carpet along the walls, keeps the room from slowly looking dusty around the edges.

Classrooms and the nursery

Sunday school rooms and nurseries need special attention because of kids.

• Tables and chairs wiped, including the little chairs.
• Toys cleaned on a regular rotation.
• Door handles and light switches wiped, including at kid height.
• Cribs and changing tables wiped where your church wants it done.
• Floors vacuumed and mopped, especially where snacks were eaten.
• Trash emptied, including diaper pails, which shouldn't sit for a week.

The fellowship hall and kitchen

Fellowship halls get the heaviest use after potlucks, receptions and events. The kitchen especially needs a thorough clean.

• Counters and backsplash degreased.
• Sinks scrubbed and faucets polished.
• Stovetop and outside of appliances cleaned.
• Inside of the fridge cleaned out on a schedule, so leftovers from the last potluck don't become a science project.
• Tables wiped and chairs stacked or straightened.
• Floors swept and mopped, which can take extra work after a big event.

Inside the oven and inside the fridge are extras that can be added on a rotation. After a big event, an extra clean may make sense.

Restrooms

Church restrooms can go from quiet to very busy in an hour. A full clean every visit, with paper and soap stocked, is the minimum. Before a big service or event, a check of every restroom helps avoid an empty paper towel dispenser at the worst possible moment.

Keys, codes and who to call

Churches often have several entrances, multiple keyholders and an alarm system. Keep it simple:

• One key or code for your cleaner.
• Clear notes about which doors to use and which to lock on the way out.
• The alarm code and what to do if it trips.
• One contact person at the church for questions.

All of this goes into the entry notes we keep on file, along with any rooms that should be skipped.

If more than one ministry uses the building during the week, like a Wednesday night supper, a mother's day out program or a weekday Bible study, let us know the calendar. Cleaning after the busiest day of the week and before Sunday usually keeps the whole building in good shape with the fewest visits.

Serving the people who serve

Volunteers do a lot at small churches, and cleaning often falls to the same few people every week. Having a regular cleaner frees them up to focus on ministry. For a church cleaning schedule that fits your services, see our office cleaning services.