Cleaning 101: 8 Ways to Keep Your Office Clean During COVID

1. Come Up With a Plan

Before you do anything, you need to come up with a plan and time your cleaning day well.

With a home office, this is less of an issue, but if you're tasked with cleaning a commercial office with multiple occupants, you'll need to solve for that.

The easiest solution is to plan a deep cleaning after hours. A weekend would be even better, giving you ample time to both do the work and allow any lingering fumes or smells from cleaning products to dissipate.

2. Take Proper Precautions

In cleaning, as in all things, the top priority needs to be safety. Both because many cleaners may be harmful — and because you may be exposed to harmful germs in the process — it's important to make sure that you're protected.



Ensuring adequate ventilation will help protect you from both harmful fumes and airborne pathogens, and should be your top priority. After that, you'll want to make sure that protective gloves and goggles are available to protect you from splashback from harsh cleaners.

3. Clean Your Way Down to the Floor

You want to follow a top-to-bottom approach. Tending to ceilings and walls is not typically a large concern, as they should receive minimal contact during a normal workday. But if you have the means and equipment to do so, there's little reason not to.

From there, you can move down to surfaces.

All hard surfaces should be cleaned with surface-safe soap and warm water. Soft surfaces like upholstery should be similarly treated, paying attention to the manufacturer's cleaning recommendations.



Lastly, sweep hard floors before cleaning with surface appropriate soap and water. Carpets should be vacuumed, and if possible, cleaned with a commercial-grade carpet cleaner. Rentable carpet steamers are fine options for this purpose.

4. Launder Materials Where Possible

Wherever possible, remove fabrics like drapes, linen, and upholstery to be fully laundered.



To avoid spreading airborne pathogens that may be hiding in the fabric, avoid shaking them as you bring them down. And to ensure maximum cleanliness, they should be washed at the highest possible temperature.

5. Cleaning Electronics

Due to their delicate nature, electronics need special attention during office cleaning.



If possible, remove them from desks and other surfaces that are to be cleaned in order to avoid damage. Look up the manufacturer's instructions to determine the safest means to clean them. And if convenient, consider placing removable plastic covers over frequently-touched surfaces like keyboards to make cleaning easier in the future.

6. Select a Proper Disinfectant

Cleaning surfaces in the office is only step one. Having done that, you need to make sure that everything is fully sanitized. To that end, you'll usually need a chemical disinfectant.

You should be cautious while picking one out. Many are caustic, toxic, or otherwise harmful. Beware these red flags to find one that is less likely to damage your office fixtures, or yourself.

At the same time, you want to make sure that the disinfection you choose is potent enough to destroy any harmful germs lurking in your workplace. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPA published this list of disinfectants known to kill the coronavirus. They should all be strong enough to kill common pathogens like the cold and flu and are designated safe for general-purpose use.

7. Disinfecting the Workplace

Disinfectant in hand, now you can get down to business.

To ensure that your disinfectant of choice can do its work effectively, be sure to thoroughly coat a surface, and ensure that it stays wet for the length of time designated on the label. Also, be sure to dilute a product as directed by the instructions to prevent damage to any surfaces.

While disinfecting, pay special attention to any surface or object that gets touched frequently by multiple people. Doorknobs, light switches, faucet handles, and any surfaces in communal areas like break rooms or bathrooms are all potential vectors for disease.



Lastly, try to find a single disinfectant that is suitable for at least the majority of surfaces in the office. This will limit the potential for you to accidentally mix chemicals and possibly cause a dangerous reaction.

8. Ensuring High Air-Quality

Having thoroughly cleaned every surface, there's one major consideration left: the air you all breathe.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed ventilation systems as a major weakness in any disease-prevention strategy. And even setting aside the potential health risks, a 2017 study found a link between better air quality and increased productivity in the workplace.

Poor ventilation can fill your office with germs, mold, dust, and allergins, all of which can have negative health impacts. To rectify this problem, filters in your ventilation system need to been changed on about a monthly basis. And if you're running an old system, you may want to consider an upgrade in the near future.

Office Cleaning 101 Is as Simple as Following These Steps

Cleanliness is next to godliness. And in the confines of your office, goodliness equates to productivity. By following this cleaning guide, you can do your part in ensuring that you and your staff stay healthy and safe.

And if this Cleaning 101 course helped you sanitize your workplace, it might be a good idea to take what you've learned home with you.

Even if you're confident in your ability to keep a clean living space, dirt and germs could be hiding where you least expect them. To root them out, check out these spots that too often go overlooked when cleaning the house.

Check out our cleaning products at Purbloc today!