What Does Office Cleaning Include?

That Cleaning Girl · Office Cleaning

"Office cleaning" can mean anything from emptying a few trash cans to a full scrub of every surface. Before you compare quotes, it helps to know what a real visit should cover. If you're just getting started, read The Complete Guide to Small Office Cleaning first for the big picture, then come back here for the room-by-room detail.

Here is what a regular visit looks like in the small offices we clean around Waxahachie, Midlothian and the rest of south DFW.

The front area and reception

This is the room clients judge you by, so it gets real attention every visit.

• Front door glass and handles cleaned of fingerprints and smudges.
• Entry mat vacuumed or shaken out, and the floor under it cleaned.
• Reception counter wiped, including the client side where people lean and sign.
• Waiting chairs wiped down, side tables dusted, brochures squared up.
• Any visible cobwebs in corners and around light fixtures knocked down.

A reception area doesn't have to be fancy. It does have to look like somebody cares.

If you have a water dispenser, a candy dish or a little coffee bar for clients, those get wiped too. They're the spots people touch most and look at closest, and a sticky ring under the creamer says more about an office than the paint color ever will.

Restrooms

Restrooms are the single biggest difference between an office that feels clean and one that doesn't. A standard visit covers:

• Toilets and urinals cleaned inside and out, including the base and the floor around it.
• Sinks, counters and faucets scrubbed, with hard water spots on fixtures worked off.
• Mirrors cleaned streak-free.
• Grab bars, door handles, light switches and stall latches wiped.
• Trash emptied and relined, paper towels, toilet paper and soap refilled from your stock.
• Floors swept and mopped, with extra attention behind the toilet.

The break room or kitchenette

Even a two-person office usually has a coffee maker, a microwave and a fridge, and those three things can get gross fast.

• Counters and backsplash wiped and degreased.
• Sink scrubbed and the faucet polished.
• Microwave cleaned inside and out.
• Outside of the fridge, dishwasher and cabinets wiped, including handles.
• Coffee station cleaned up: drips, grounds, sugar spills.
• Table and chairs wiped, floor swept and mopped.

Cleaning out the inside of the fridge is something we can add on a set schedule, so you don't end up with a mystery container situation. Loading or running dishes can be added too.

Desks, offices and shared spaces

Desks are personal, so the rule is simple: we clean what's clear and leave papers where they are. That covers:

• Dusting and wiping cleared desk surfaces, monitor stands and shelves.
• Wiping shared phones, conference tables and chair arms.
• Door handles, light switches and railings throughout.
• Copier and printer exteriors, especially the buttons.
• Window sills and ledges dusted.

If your team wants keyboards and personal phones wiped, tell us; some people love it, some people would rather nobody touched their setup.

Floors and trash

Every visit ends with floors and trash, because those are what you notice first on Monday morning. Floors also go last for a practical reason: dusting and wiping knock crumbs and dust down, so doing floors at the end means you're not cleaning them twice.

North Texas offices fight a steady supply of dust, pollen and, after a good rain, red clay that rides in on every shoe. Entryways and the first few feet of hallway carpet usually get the extra passes.

• Carpet vacuumed, including along edges and under desks where chairs allow.
• Hard floors swept and damp mopped.
• Trash emptied from every can, liners replaced.
• Recycling collected into your bins.

Extras you can add

Not everything needs doing every visit. These are common add-ons that go on a rotation:

• Interior windows and glass partitions.
• Baseboards and door frames.
• Blinds dusted.
• Inside the fridge and microwave deep clean.
• Inside cabinets or supply closets.
• Walls and doors spot cleaned, especially around light switches.

A lot of offices pick one extra per visit so everything gets a turn over the course of a month. That keeps the regular visit quick while the details still get handled.

What usually stays off the list

A small office clean is not a construction cleanup or a building maintenance contract. Things that typically aren't part of a regular visit include moving heavy furniture, cleaning exterior windows above the ground floor, handling anything hazardous, and sorting or filing papers on desks. If something specific matters to you, ask. It's always better to know up front than to be surprised later.

Putting it in writing

The best way to make sure everyone agrees on what's included is a written checklist. We clean to a room-by-room list every visit, and you can change it whenever your needs change. If you'd like to see how that works for a business your size, have a look at our office cleaning services.