Keeping an office clean takes more than responding when a trash can is full or a floor looks dirty. For facility managers, the goal is to create a cleaning program that keeps work moving day after day.
The right approach will look different for every facility. A busy office may need more frequent attention than a smaller workplace with fewer employees. Operating hours also matter, especially for offices with multiple shifts. Your flooring and the way employees use restrooms, break rooms, and other shared spaces should shape the cleaning program, too.
These 10 office cleaning tips and tricks can help you build a more consistent program and set clear expectations for employees and your janitorial team.
1. Start With a Consistent Office Cleaning Schedule
A cleaning schedule gives everyone a clear plan to follow. Instead of waiting for something to look dirty, you can identify tasks that should happen daily, weekly, monthly, or periodically.
Start with an office cleaning checklist based on your facility.
Your schedule should also establish responsibility. Employees may be expected to organize their desks, remove personal food, and keep belongings out of walkways.
Written schedules make those expectations easier to understand. They can also help different shifts and cleaning teams provide consistent service.
2. Set Daily Office Cleaning Tasks
Daily office cleaning should focus heavily on spaces that see regular use. Depending on traffic and operating hours, some areas may require attention more than once per day.
Empty Trash and Replace Liners
Trash cans can fill quickly, particularly in break rooms, kitchens, and other areas where food is discarded. Empty receptacles regularly and replace liners as needed to help control odors and prevent overflowing waste.
Address Restrooms and Break Rooms
Restrooms and break rooms are among the most frequently used shared spaces in many offices.
Depending on your service scope, daily work may include cleaning restroom fixtures and counters and addressing break-room sinks, counters, and tables.
Don’t rely on an arbitrary schedule, such as cleaning these areas only at the end of the week. Determine frequency according to occupancy and actual use.
Clean High-Touch Surfaces
Door handles, light switches, shared phones, and commonly used equipment are examples of surfaces touched frequently throughout the workday.
Use cleaning supplies appropriate for both the surface and the intended task. When sanitizing or disinfecting is part of your office cleaning program, follow the product manufacturer’s directions.
Vacuum or Sweep High-Traffic Areas
Entrances, hallways, and other high-traffic areas tend to collect dirt and debris faster than less-used parts of an office.
Entrances can require particular attention because employees and visitors track in dirt from outside. Your daily floor routine should reflect the conditions in your building.
Reset Conference Rooms and Common Areas
Conference rooms and common areas may serve dozens of people throughout the day. Remove trash and address tables, floors, and other surfaces included in the cleaning scope.
3. Set Weekly Office Cleaning Tasks
Not every surface requires the same level of attention every day. A weekly schedule can cover detailed tasks in areas that receive less frequent use.
Weekly office cleaning may include:
• Dusting shelves, ledges, and other flat surfaces
• Thoroughly vacuuming carpeted areas, including lower-traffic spaces
• Mopping or wet-cleaning appropriate hard flooring
Fabric chairs and upholstery may also need vacuuming, while interior glass can be cleaned based on its condition and use.
These frequencies aren’t set in stone. If a conference room is used constantly or an interior glass partition shows fingerprints every day, waiting until the end of the week may not make sense. Adjust your schedule based on what you see in the facility.
4. Plan for Monthly and Periodic Office Cleaning
Some cleaning tasks require less frequent but more detailed attention.
Periodic office cleaning may include interior glass cleaning, high dusting, carpet cleaning, floor refinishing, and detailed work in areas that aren’t part of the daily routine. Shared kitchen appliances may also require more detailed cleaning depending on their use.
How often should you do a deeper cleaning? There isn’t one answer for every office.
Quarterly, biannual, or annual service may make sense for different tasks and facilities. Carpet cleaning, for example, should reflect foot traffic, soil levels, carpet type, and condition. Hard-floor maintenance should account for the flooring material, traffic, manufacturer recommendations, and current finish.
Build periodic services into your overall cleaning schedule, so they aren’t forgotten until a floor or carpet shows significant wear.
5. Keep Desks and Personal Workspaces Organized
One of the most useful office cleaning tips has little to do with the janitorial crew: establish what employees are responsible for.
Employees can remove food and personal trash, organize paperwork, and keep belongings from accumulating on floors and walkways. Digitizing documents when practical can also help reduce loose paper.
An end-of-day reset makes this manageable. Employees can take a few minutes to return shared items, remove trash, and organize their own work areas before leaving.
This also makes professional cleaning easier. Janitorial employees generally shouldn’t be expected to rearrange personal paperwork, electronics, or belongings unless that responsibility is specifically included in the cleaning scope.
If an office has become particularly cluttered, start with trash and food. Clear walkways next, return shared items, organize personal belongings, and clear the surfaces that need to be cleaned. Surface and floor cleaning can then follow.
6. Use the Right Cleaning Supplies for Each Task
Cleaning products and equipment should match the job.
Microfiber cloths, for example, can be effective for dusting and routine surface cleaning.
Keeping frequently used cleaning supplies organized and accessible also helps janitorial teams work more efficiently.
Product safety matters, too. Never mix cleaning chemicals unless the manufacturer specifically directs it. Follow product labels for dilution, application, personal protective equipment, and other precautions.
It’s also important to distinguish between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting. Cleaning removes dirt and other material from a surface. Sanitizing and disinfecting have different purposes and product requirements.
When disinfection is required, use an EPA-registered disinfectant appropriate for the intended application and follow the label closely, including the required contact time.
7. Don’t Overlook Office Floor Care
Floors are one of the largest surfaces in your building, and they deal with constant foot traffic.
Routine care starts with sweeping or vacuuming according to traffic and conditions. Appropriate hard flooring should also be mopped regularly.
Periodic maintenance goes further. Carpets may require deeper cleaning based on use and soil levels. Resilient and tile floors may require refinishing or other maintenance to protect their appearance and performance.
Imperial Service Systems offers floor care as part of its broader commercial cleaning services, allowing facility managers to incorporate ongoing floor care into their cleaning programs.
8. Make Quality Control Part of Your Office Cleaning Program
A detailed checklist doesn’t mean much if no one verifies that the work meets your standards.
Start by defining expectations in your cleaning scope. Determine how work will be inspected, how problems will be documented, and how recurring issues will be addressed.
Regular inspections give facility managers greater visibility into the program. Reporting can also identify patterns. If the same area repeatedly falls below expectations, you can address the underlying issue instead of reporting the same complaint week after week.
Quality control is a major part of Imperial’s system. Our dedicated quality control team includes experts who visit client facilities during the day and independently grade the work.
That means the people evaluating your facility are separate from the staff performing the cleaning.
This additional level of oversight creates accountability and helps us identify issues that need attention.
9. Create a Clear Process for Reporting Cleaning Issues
Even a strong office cleaning program needs a simple way to handle concerns when they come up.
Facility managers should know who to contact, how issues are documented, and what happens after a problem is reported. A clear communication process helps prevent small concerns from becoming recurring problems.
10. Let a Commercial Cleaning Partner Do the Heavy Lifting
Managing an office is already a full-time responsibility. A commercial cleaning partner can take day-to-day cleaning off your plate with a program built around your facility.
The right provider can determine appropriate cleaning frequencies, assign trained teams, manage cleaning supplies and equipment, oversee the work, and adjust the scope as your needs change.
Look for a partner that takes the time to understand your square footage, traffic, flooring, restrooms, common areas, and operating hours. Ask about:
- Services and cleaning frequencies
- Supervision and quality control
- Communication and reporting
- Pricing and scope changes
- Insurance and applicable requirements
- Customer references
Put These Office Cleaning Tips Into Practice With Imperial Service Systems
Imperial Service Systems has provided commercial cleaning and janitorial services since 1973. Today, we serve more than 400 customers and clean more than 800 locations daily. With independent quality control and 24/7 live customer service, we handle the cleaning so facility managers can stay focused on everything else their buildings require.
Ready to take a closer look at your facility’s cleaning needs? Contact Imperial Service Systems to schedule an on-site assessment and learn more about our commercial cleaning services.