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Five Tips to Keep Your Office Clean and Maintain a Germ-Free Environment

Let’s face it; some employees don’t have the best sanitation habits, especially when it comes to maintaining a germ-free environment. Encouraging clean office behaviors is important for the cleanliness and aroma of your office. Some employees may treat an office cubicle trashcan as a universal trash receptacle. That means leftover food or other smelly items can be left in the trash overnight. Here are some rules of etiquette to employ in your office today.

Empty Your Trash Every Day

Depending on the cleaning services your office provides, employee cubicle trashcans might not make the cut. The number one rule of trash etiquette should be for employees to empty their personal trash into a larger receptacle at the end of the day. This ensures the removal of all trash in a timely manner and makes it easier to maintain your germ-free environment.

No Food in the Cubicle Bin

Some employees may prefer to eat lunch in the cubicle instead of the break room. If your office allows this, you should encourage employees to throw any leftover food away in the break room trashcan. This trash can should be marked as the only one in the office where it’s okay to throw out any leftover food or other perishable items.

Communal Receptacles

People tend to be more responsive to change if they share a common goal. Making cleanliness a team effort can positively impact your employees’ willingness to change old habits. If possible, add a few more communal receptacles throughout the office so employees always have a dedicated place to dispose of trash. This shared responsibility will help your new rules feel less personalized and more team-positive.

No Liquids in the Trash

Trash bags break and cause a huge mess if liquids are thrown into the bag. Encourage your employees to dump out any bottles, cups, or containers into a sink before throwing away the container.

Hire a Professional Cleaning Service

Consider hiring a professional cleaning service if your office does not already have one. If you are noticing more issues with leftover trash or general cleanliness, it may be time to have a professional step in. Large or busy offices can benefit greatly from a nightly trash removal service.

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The Lingering Effects of Dust in the Workplace

Many people overlook dust in the grand scheme of cleaning. Many people can overlook dust easily, because they don’t view it as a threat or hazard. Dust appears to be innocuous, but dust in the workplace can greatly affect employee health over time.

Why Is Dust in the Workplace a Problem?

Dust is a common contributor to many diseases. It affects the air quality in your office and can lead to sick building syndrome. It is easy to assume the air indoors is clean and better for you then polluted outdoor air. In reality, dust and other fumes can accumulate in your office, making the area polluted. Common diseases relating to dust include asthma, chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumoconiosis.

How to Remove or Reduce Dust from in Workplace:

It is important to eliminate dust from the office to avoid employee health problems. Here are a few ways to do so.

Hire Professionals

You may want to consider hiring a professional cleaning service if your office is large, experiences a lot of foot traffic, or has on-going construction. A cleaning service will be diligent about dust and clean all the hard-to-reach areas on a regular basis.

In-House Cleaning Schedule

Smaller offices implement an in-house cleaning schedule. Employers assign employees to clean certain areas of the office on a rotating basis. This gets everyone involved and can ensure the dust doesn’t go unnoticed.

Combination Cleaning

A combination of cleaning services and in-house initiatives can work for a variety of office sizes. A cleaning service once or twice a month can come and do a thorough clean on the office. The periods in-between their services can be maintained by employee cleaning schedules.

Proper Ventilation

Proper ventilation is the best way to keep the air in your office clean. Make sure office furniture and supplies are not blocking any of the ventilation points. Avoid using products that can contribute to air quality issues. Coordinate with building management if your office is experiencing increased dust or ventilation issues.

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Keeping Office Scents Fresh for Better Business

Cleaning and maintaining your office does more than provide a nice appearance and sanitary working conditions. Cleaning standards also affect overall business operations. If the office looks clean but there are still lingering odors, customers will have a bad experience. Stay on top of your office and business habits to make sure your space doesn’t just look clean, but that office scents are appealing to visitors.

Scents Affect Mood

Our sense of smell has an interesting way of making connections and taking an active part in our memories. Research has shown that once an employee had associated a smell with a positive event, like a success at work, the same smell can increase their mood and productivity. Finding a clean or refreshing scent for your office can help your employees make these connections and increase their morale and productivity overall.

The same response relates to your customers. When guests are in your office or store, they will associate the office scents with a memory. If certain scents lead to a positive response, people will remember your business and the experience they had in a positive way.

Negative Office Scents Turn Business Away

Customer sense of smell plays a part when they are considering purchasing something or agreeing to a business deal. The fragrance of your store or business can have an effect on your marketing, similar to a logo or jingle. When customers step into your store or business, they immediately begin taking everything in. They quickly determine the cleanliness of the store, the mood, and the smells. Customers who smell bad odors are more likely to leave quickly without making a purchase.

How to Avoid Bad Smells

Avoiding bad smells in your office or business comes down to your employees. Is your staff break room close to the front of the office or store? You may want to suggest that employees not reheat certain foods like fish or brussel sprouts in the microwave. You can also adopt a fragrance-free workplace policy to help avoid strong perfumes and other scents brought in by employees. Last, make sure office trashcans are empty at the end of the night, keeping any lingering smells from staying in the office.

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5 Reasons a Clean Workplace Means a Healthy Workplace

A healthy workplace depends on workplace cleanliness. Without a proper cleaning, allergens and contaminants can create a disordered and unsanitary environment.

Consider some of the top reasons why a clean workplace equals a healthy workplace.

Top 5 Reasons:

Cleanliness is contagious. When staff members and customers see a clean environment, they often try to keep it that way. Nobody wants to leave paper towels scattered on a bathroom counter in an otherwise sparkling facility. Professional cleaning can encourage people to do their part and avoid spreading germs.

It reduces germ levels. Routine cleaning directly combats the levels of pathogens, allergens, and contaminants present in a workplace. Staff members who operate in a clean environment are less likely to become ill and miss work.

It can prevent workplace accidents. Tidying and cleaning a work space eliminates hazards such as spills and can alert management to larger maintenance concerns, including loose railings, loose toilet seats, and burned-out light bulbs.

It strengthens customer relations. Clean office spaces help clients and visitors form strong first impressions of a brand. Businesses that invest in cleaning services can focus on business goals rather than making excuses about the facility.

It reduces workplace stress. Clean, organized environments allow individuals to maintain a sense of control and peace. Cleanliness eliminates the stress associated with clutter, poor air quality, and generally unclean work spaces.

Employee tidiness can help a business stay clean, but few employees understand the importance of routine dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, and surface wipe downs. Without thorough and routine cleanings, dust and dirt can quickly create a toxic and uninviting atmosphere. A musty smell alone is enough to drive some employees and customers away from an office location.

Workplace health includes physical, mental, and social health. Cleanliness creates order, reduces stress, and allows companies to focus on productivity instead of health risks and public perception. Image One Facility Solutions offers flexible cleaning services designed to maintain workplace health and wellness for a superior business experience. Consider us your go-to source for worry-free cleaning.

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How Often Should You Be Cleaning Office Machinery?

Routine office cleanings take care of table wipe downs, floor cleaning, and trash takeout activities, but they often overlook one area of the office – the workroom. Have you ever looked down at the green button on a copier and noticed a dark smudge where dozens of colleagues have pressed down with their grubby hands?  Have you ever thought ‘shouldn’t someone be cleaning office machinery besides me’?

Workrooms with office equipment, including printers, copiers, and shredders need routine cleaning for performance maintenance and general office health.

The Risks of Ignoring Office Equipment

Workplaces that ignore their workroom equipment often run into performance issues earlier than expected. Dust and debris can slow down a system, cause it to overheat, or cause it to malfunction. If a large group of people share the equipment, failing to clean it can also result in layers of buildup from repeated handling and colonies of potentially harmful pathogens. The good news is that you can easily avoid performance and health issues associated with office equipment by simply cleaning office machinery on a weekly basis.

Cleaning Office Machinery Schedule

Equipment best practices often recommend weekly wipe downs for all electronics. A once-over with a soft dry or damp rag will keep office equipment dust-free for improved performance. Use rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball once a week to remove smudges and keep system keypads and touchscreens clean and germ-free. Vacuum and dust around cords and equipment vents to prevent dust buildup.

If you do notice excessive dust buildup on a piece of equipment, use compressed air to clear out the debris without harming the electronics. Consider inspecting the equipment once a month and adjusting cleaning habits based on the results. 

For other cleaning activities, refer to the maintenance manual. Equipment guides often outline basic cleaning practices to which users can refer for optimal performance. Many manufacturers offer guidelines for cleaning a printer or copier after a specified number of pages. Work with IT professionals to clean internal system hardware and maintain system software on an as-needed basis.

Many professional cleaning companies overlook electronics, preferring to focus on the basics. If you want help maintaining office equipment, consider partnering with a company that offers customized cleaning plans that can include equipment wipe downs. Talk to an Image One Facility Solutions representative today to learn more.

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Office Bathroom Cleanliness is Everyone’s Responsibility

When multiple people share a bathroom facility, the environment can quickly lose its sparkling shine and clean smell. All employees need to play a role in maintaining bathroom cleanliness for colleagues and guests in between professional cleanings. Here’s how to convince everyone that bathroom cleanliness is part of the job.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Try these tips to encourage staff members to go the extra mile and keep facility bathrooms clean every day:

Post bathroom etiquette reminders in the stalls. Basic hygiene goes a long way to keep bathrooms looking and feeling clean. Remind users to wash their hands, wipe up splashes, and use courtesy flushes/fans/non-offensive air fresheners to help.

Create a rotating schedule of duties. No one should have to shoulder the bathroom cleanliness burden alone. If your professional cleaners only come out once a week or once a month, ask employees to rotate basic cleaning tasks. Daily sweeping, trash takeout, toilet disinfection, soap and toilet paper checks, and sink wipe downs will keep the bathroom ready all day every day. Keep plenty of refill products on hand to encourage a clean-as-you-go mentality.

Provide a strong example. Leaders can set the example for other staff members with strong etiquette demonstrations or a turn in the rotating schedule. When employees see a manager or owner taking responsibility for the shared space, they may comply with less resistance.

Enforce consequences. Some behaviors in the bathroom are unacceptable. Employees should never treat the bathroom space with disrespect. If you can pinpoint the culprit, intervene. Ask him or her to correct the situation. Other people shouldn’t have to suffer for one disrespectful person’s actions.

Nobody enjoys bathroom duty, but office spaces (vs. public facilities) have an opportunity to maintain an example of cleanliness. When everyone contributes, everyone can enjoy a clean and safe space. Commercial cleaning services can help, but bathroom cleanliness really depends upon the good habits of those who use the restroom the most.

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How to Choose the Best Cleaning Service for Your Facility

A clean office environment promotes wellness, contributes to a positive brand identity, and enhances efficiency. Well-run facilities often need a standard and thorough cleaning protocol to maintain operations.

A professional cleaning service takes the guesswork out of facility cleaning to save businesses both time and money. While justifying a cleaning service is easy, finding the right one isn’t always as simple.

Researching a Commercial Cleaning Service

Commercial cleaning services can offer a range of services, and some will deliver better results than others. As you talk to various cleaning service representatives, keep an eye out for the following criteria:

Cleaning companies must deliver consistent results to maintain a customer base. Look for an established business with positive online reviews and a willingness to share references.

Licensing and training. Some cleaning companies hire unskilled workers and fail to adequately vet and train them before sending them out to customer facilities. Find a company that bonds and insures each employee for your protection. Invest in trained cleaning crews who understand your priorities and cleaning industry best practices. Ask as many questions about the hiring and training process as needed to feel comfortable with the arrangement.

User-friendly and convenient scheduling. Commercial facilities have different expectations for cleaning services. Some offices need services every day while others prefer once-weekly or once-monthly services. Look for a company that offers flexible scheduling to meet your business’s needs.

Support and quality control. Find out how a business ensures results and customer satisfaction. Top cleaning services offer 24/7 customer support and emergency services. Seek out a company that routinely monitors and inspects cleaning crew work and offers to correct any unsatisfactory results.

Finding a cleaning service that meets your budget, scheduling, and service needs can be tough. At Image One Facility Solutions, we take a different approach to cleaning to eliminate common customer pain points. From crew training to monthly inspections, we deliver visible results in a range of commercial environments. Find out more about our satisfaction-guaranteed services today.

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Three Ways Cleaning Helps Relationships with Customers

Keeping your office tidy doesn’t just keep your employees healthy; cleaning helps relationships stay strong with customers in several ways. Here’s why you should make the effort to tidy up your work space.

Clutter Causes Stress

Clutter, especially stacks of paper, is very distracting. It looks unprofessional and will cause undue stress for your employees and your customers. Too many items vying for attention can take their focus off your products and services, making it harder for you to impress them, despite your skill.

Clutter can make you less efficient. When there are things everywhere, it’s harder to locate the files or paperwork you need. You’ll waste valuable time searching through piles. Plus, of course, purging clutter can be very cathartic!

The Nose Knows

A dirty office is probably a smelly office, and nothing turns away potential customers faster than a foul odor. What’s more, scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory, so one mistake could leave a lasting impression on and individual.

If your office smells bright and clean, customers will know you put forth the effort to take care of it and they’ll feel confident in your attention to detail. Winter noses can ignore familiar scents, so a thorough cleaning is a good idea, regardless of whether you can smell odors.

Cleaning Shows Pride

If you love something, you take care of it. The same is true for your business. Customers recognize that cleaning means you really care about your company. They’ll take a spic and span space as a sign of your dedication and be more likely to trust your services than if you were working from a neglected office.

It can be hard to maintain an office’s cleanliness. It takes a dedication and time each week – in addition to your day-to-day office processes – to keep your building looking and smelling its best. Instead of trying to worry about it yourself, consider hiring a professional service like Image One. We offer consistent, impressive results so that our cleaning helps relationships.

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Locating The 4 Dirtiest Places in Your Office and Proper Cleanliness

Keeping a clean building is important for your employees and customers. In many office settings, some areas fail at proper cleanliness than others do when it comes to cleaning. Over time, this can lead to seriously dirty patches, mold, mildew, and other harmful contaminants.

To figure out which areas are dirtiest, researchers swabbed surfaces and tested them for adenosine triphosphates. These molecules are in animal, vegetable, bacteria, and mold cells. The higher the number, the more bacteria and viruses the surface is hosting. Here are some of these unexpectedly dirty surfaces in your office and how you should clean them:

Break room faucet handles. Many people focus on cleaning the bathroom, neglecting sinks in other parts of the building. But, those aren’t the only places we need to worry about – 75% of break room faucet handles have ATP counts over 300. It’s an easy fix, though. All you need is some disinfecting spray and a cloth or paper towel.

Microwave handles. Don’t just worry about internal temps – 48% of microwave door handles also had 300+ ATP counts. This is especially disturbing because food is involved. Sanitize the outside as well as the inside and make sure to remove the plate to clean beneath it.

Keyboards are dirtier than you think – 27% of them registered high levels of ATP, but it could be higher in your workplace without proper cleaning. Encourage employees to wash their hands or use sanitizer in addition to regular wipe-downs.

Refrigerator door handles. Like microwave handles, refrigerators could contaminate food during lunch. They should be wiped down frequently and old food should be disposed of on a regular basis.

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of cleaning your office and maintaining proper cleanliness? There’s no reason to take it all on yourself. At Image One, our professional cleaning team knows how to clean your entire office, not just the hot spots. We’ll make sure everything is sanitized and fresh so you and your employees stay healthier and happier.

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How to Properly Clean Your Workstation Computer

If you’re like many Americans, you spend a significant amount of time touching your computer – especially the keyboard. It’s easy for germs and dirt to build up on your equipment, so you should clean your workstation on a regular basis.

However, it’s important to do it the right way and use the appropriate cleaning agents, or you risk damaging the hardware.

Tips to Clean Your Workstation

The Screen

Unless you have a touch-screen computer, you probably don’t spend a lot of time actually touching your screen, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get dirty. Dust and smudges can build up faster than you may think. You should use a soft microfiber cloth and specialized lens cleaner; spray the cleaner onto the cloth instead of onto the screen. Wipe gently along the center and all the corners. Make sure you clean the lip of the screen as well. It’s a good idea to clean your workstation to wipe it down once a week.

Follow these practices if you have touch-screen technology, but you may want to clean it a bit more often.

The Keyboard

The keyboard is the dirtiest part of your computer (aside from the mouse, if you have one). First, take a can of spray air and blow all the big debris out from between the keys. If possible, hold the keyboard or laptop upside down while blowing it to keep crumbs from being pushed deeper.

Apply a gentle disinfectant cleaner to a microfiber cloth. With the keyboard disconnected or turned off, wipe the keys firmly. Some keys, like the space bar, will see significantly more use than other keys do, so you might need to scrub them a bit harder. Give the same treatment to your mouse or trackpad, too, since you spend a lot of time touching them.

Your Desk

While you’re cleaning your computer, don’t forget to clean the rest of your desk, too! Wipe down all hard surfaces with disinfectant. If you can make this a weekly routine, it’ll be easier to keep up with it and keep your environment as healthy as possible.

Whether you have an office of 50 computers or just a few, at Image One, we’ll make sure they are sanitary and presentable.

To schedule a free on-site consultation with an Image One representative to discuss your cleaning needs, please call 630-616-1010.

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Five Must-Have Cleaning Tools Every Workplace Needs

Cleaning up office messes is much more effective with the right cleaning tools. Always keep a few critical cleaning items in your supply closet for fast, easy, and sanitary clean-up jobs. These basic cleaning tools are a must-have for an office in any industry:

Cleaning Chemicals

At a minimum, stock a multipurpose cleaner, concentrated antibacterial cleaner, glass cleaner, and a toilet cleaner. These will cover all your bases, giving employees a suitable cleaner for messes in all areas of the office. Depending on your goals as a company, you may want to choose green cleaners. There are many benefits to green cleaning.

Mop and Bucket

Mops are essential for cleaning up spills – a major workplace issue. Keep a mop and bucket available for cleaning hard floor areas and soaking up spilled fluids. You may want to invest in a “Caution: Wet Floors” sign to go with your mop and bucket, for safety reasons. Teach employees to use the right soap-to-water ratio in the mop bucket.

Broom and Dustpan

A broom, brush, and dustpan are perfect for cleaning up small messes and keeping areas tidy in the kitchen and around the office. Keep the broom and dustpan available to all employees in case of an emergency mess. If you are responsible for cleaning large areas of carpet, invest in a solid commercial vacuum cleaner for a more thorough clean.

Personal Safety Gear

Keep rubber gloves (latex-free to avoid allergy issues), face masks, and germ-killing chemicals available to employees. Having the right safety items will encourage employees to clean up after themselves and avoid personal injuries by keeping them safe from hazardous messes.

A Professional Cleaner’s Phone Number

Having the right cleaning tools on hand will help with a workplace mess, but remember – some messes need professional attention. If you have hazardous material spills, major messes such as floods, or areas you just can’t seem to clean, hire a professional.

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Creating a Cleaning Schedule for Your Workplace

Keeping the office clean is about to get a whole lot easier. Implementing a cleaning schedule for your employees gives them an easy and effective tool for keeping common areas tidy and sanitary.

This is the system you need if you have trouble with messes in communal areas. Here’s how to create a cleaning regime that works:

Create a Daily Cleaning Schedule

First, create a daily cleaning list. This should include the bare minimums for keeping the office clean. Every employee is responsible for the things on the daily list. Daily items can include emptying waste bins, disinfecting surfaces, throwing away all trash, and cleaning up food crumbs and coffee rings. Create a daily cleaning checklist to hang in the bathroom for extra sanitation. Depending on the motivation of your employees, you may need to implement a system where each person initials a sign-in sheet after he or she finishes daily cleaning tasks.

Instruct Employees to Clean Weekly

Weekly cleaning items are those that don’t necessarily you don’t need done every day but that shouldn’t be left longer than a week. These include throwing out perishable food items left in the communal refrigerator, cleaning windows, polishing hardwood and brass surfaces, and emptying and disinfecting trashcans. In-depth floor cleaning can also be a weekly item. Create a revolving list of employees to complete these tasks every week. These should be deeper cleaning items that help create a cleaner, healthier, and more attractive work environment.

Institute an Annual Spring Cleaning

At least once each year, your office needs to engage in a major, top-to-bottom spring-cleaning. This is the time when the company will come together to organize filing cabinets, get rid of unused items, and start fresh.

Spring-cleaning will leave your employees feeling reinvigorated, refreshed, and energized. Consider outsourcing your annual cleaning for a true professional clean.

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Two Ways to Keep the Office Kitchen Clean

Since the office kitchen is a communal space, many employees assume it is someone else’s job to keep it clean. In most cases, cleaning the kitchen is everyone’s job. Not only is a dirty office kitchen a nuisance for those who have to use it – it can also be a health hazard. Teaching proper workplace kitchen etiquette means establishing a few guidelines.

  Implement a Policy

  The workplace kitchen is one of those areas where you have to lay down the law. Create a written policy for how employees use the common kitchen area. Include the policy in your employee manual and keep a copy in the kitchen. Discuss the rules at staff meetings and training for new hires, and be sure to enforce the rules. Your policy can include rules and tips, such as each person cleans up his or her own mess, and cleaning out the microwave, sink, and eating area.

  Encourage Etiquette

  Consider hosting a staff meeting or sending an email to encourage all employees to be aware that they need to be respectful of the kitchen space and their coworkers’ belongings. Kitchen etiquette is about keeping the kitchen clean, organized, and as efficient as possible. Common kitchen etiquette includes:

  Use minimal space in the refrigerator.

Discard perishable food at the end of each week.

Let the right person know if the kitchen has run out of company-supplied items.

Take only a small portion of food brought in to share and thank the supplier.

Never take anything that has someone else’s name on it or that isn’t labeled.

Don’t leave nasty notes regarding messes in the kitchen – bring up any problems to a supervisor.

  Teaching good etiquette and enforcing a policy can put every employee on the same page. Keeping an office kitchen clean is a team effort. Guide this effort with confidence with these tips.

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Report: Cold and Flu Prevention More Important than Ever

When employees become ill, companies lose. They take hits to productivity and efficiency, which can quickly become costly. It’s only natural for businesses to want to keep their workers as safe and healthy as possible.

Why Keeping Clean is Crucial

An unclean work environment makes the perfect breeding ground for illnesses. Plus, the close contact and continued exposure means viruses like the cold and flu spread very easily. As sickness rates rise this year, it’s important to take precautions to prevent the spread of germs and keep your employees happy and healthy.

How Image One Can Help

Spraying disinfectant and passing out hand sanitizer isn’t enough to keep sickness at bay. At Image One, we can help promote sanitation because we know exactly what we’re doing. All of our employees are experienced and continuously trained to stay on top of new techniques, equipment, and cleaners.

We also tackle all the problem areas – even ones you might not think about, like doorknobs and air vents. We also have tips for helping your employees stay on top of their own sanitation. During flu season, we always recommend companies encourage cleaning of:

Cell phones, especially, are used heavily in today’s age. Unfortunately, people forget to clean them and they accumulate germs rather quickly. Headsets and corded models should be wiped down, too.

Like phones, these devices see a lot of use and minimal cleaning. We recommend employees take extra care to disinfect during the flu season.

Footwear can track germs from place to place. It’s a good idea to keep them clean, too.

Don’t leave the cleanliness of your company to just anyone. Trust the experts at Image One.

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Best Green Cleaning Products for Your Commercial Building

Many people don’t associate commercial cleaning with green, organic products, but companies want to switch to green products for health and safety reasons. Going green also helps a brand’s reputation as an environmentally conscious company. The trendy solution is green commercial cleaning products.

Benefits of Green Cleaning

Traditional cleaning supplies are notorious for lingering chemical smells, abrasiveness, and the potential to harm users in some ways. Typical cleaning supplies also are damaging to the environment. Aerosol sprays damage the ozone layer and diminish the air quality in the area, and many cleaning supplies leave residue on surfaces that can potentially harm people by causing health problems, such as eye, skin, and lung irritation.

Green cleaning supplies are not only effective at eliminating grime and odors, but do so without causing damage to the environment or people in the area. Green cleaning materials are generally safe to use on a wide range of materials and surfaces, making them ideal for many office environments. These substances are much safer than traditional chemical-based cleaning supplies and leave employees in green-cleaned offices far less susceptible to adverse health risks.

Best Green Cleaning Products

Any business will benefit from investing in green cleaning services. Most green cleaning supplies are safe for office environments, food preparation areas, and are nonabrasive and nonflammable. Simple Green is a common all-purpose cleaner suitable for a variety of uses, and most green cleaning products are exempt from the usual EPA and OSHA regulations for hazardous material protection. This could potentially save your company even more money while providing a more effective cleaning solution.

Image One proudly offers green cleaning supplies to our franchise owners. Some companies may prefer other methods, but we believe it’s important to offer our customers the choice to pursue green cleaning for their properties. Green cleaning protects the environment, creates healthier workplaces for employees, and cultivates a reputation for environmental responsibility.

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How to Get Rid of Coffee-Related Messes in the Office

Coffee is a staple in any business. Unfortunately, 50-plus cups of Joe around the office are bound to leave behind unsightly and unsanitary coffee rings, carpet stains, and ruined upholstery. Coffee stains are almost as common as cups of coffee, so it’s vital for business owners to connect with a cleaning service that can handle these common office mishaps.

Hiring a professional cleaning service to handle serious coffee stains can save a great deal of stress and money. Instead of replacing stained furniture, a reliable cleaning company will be able to remove coffee stains so everything looks new again. Many businesses typically keep a few cleaning supplies on hand to spot-clean occasional messes and the usual dust and dirt accumulation, but few have the right supplies for removing coffee stains. A professional cleaner will be able to quickly and effectively handle the problem.

Coffee spills also leave work spaces open to bacteria, and simply wiping them up with a paper towel won’t remove this potential health risk. For small spills, soak up as much coffee as possible before it has a chance to affect the lower parts of the carpet and underlying surfaces. Warm water and all-purpose cleaner will help get the remaining coffee out and prevent staining.

It’s also important to regularly clean the office coffee makers. These machines typically see much more use than the coffee makers most people have at home, so regular cleaning is essential to prevent residue buildup and harmful bacteria growth. All natural, green cleaning agents are great for coffee makers to prevent health risks from traditional, chemical-based cleaners.

Run warm water through the coffee machine (without any coffee or filter) to dislodge any accumulated residue. Then, wash all the removable parts with soapy water and allow them to air-dry. Some dishwashers may be used for this, as well. Finally, try to run a 1:1 mix of vinegar and water through the coffee maker once a month. Let it run halfway, then stop the cycle and let it sit. After an hour, start the cycle and let it finish, and run two pots of clean water through the coffee maker to rinse out the vinegar.

If coffee spills and stains are a regular problem in your workplace, a professional cleaning service can provide top-to-bottom office cleaning, including your coffee problems.

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Three Bad Habits That Lead to an Unsanitary Workplace

Desk space can easily become cluttered, disorganized, and messy, but most employees don’t realize germs and bacteria can thrive on a work desk. Many employees eat at their desks, leave dirty dishes behind, and don’t wash their hands before returning to the keyboard. Desk equipment, such as phones and chairs, rarely get the sanitary cleaning they need to be healthy and safe. It’s important to eliminate these bad habits to prevent spreading sickness and disease.

Poor Regular Spot Cleaning

It’s a good idea to encourage your employees to get in the habit of cleaning their workspaces and desks every day. Wiping up the odd coffee cup ring, dusty spots, and keyboard help prevent bacteria from accumulating. Keeping a can of compressed air in the office is handy for blowing crumbs and dust out of computers and keyboards. A clean work space prevents health problems and encourages productivity.

Bad Storage Choices

Many companies keep stockpiles of copy paper and other paper products, but it’s important that these supplies are kept in the open, not locked in a dark closet. Mold can easily grow in a stockpile of paper, and mold causes serious health issues for everyone in the area.

Neglecting Kitchens and Bathrooms

Everyone in the office invariably needs to use break rooms, kitchens, and restrooms, and these communal areas are typically breeding grounds for germs and bacteria. It’s important that employees stay in the habit of cleaning up after themselves to avoid food-splattered microwaves, unknown pools of residue in refrigerators, and dirty toilets.

These are just a few of the typical bad habits in American workplaces, and it takes individual effort as well as organizational direction to keep workspaces clean and disease-free. It’s wise to hire a professional cleaning company to handle your tougher messes, long-standing issues, and more thorough cleaning for commonly used areas.