5 Ways to Give Your Business the Winter Cleaning It Deserves

In some ways, winter makes it easier to keep your commercial property clean. After all, doors and windows are kept closed, and there’s less lawn debris being tracked in. Yet, your building being essentially sealed during the winter months also presents some new cleaning challenges.

Although everyone thinks of spring for deep cleaning, you don’t really have to wait. You can give your commercial property the winter cleaning it deserves now.

Maintenance Service Systems, Inc. (MSSI) are the commercial cleaning experts. We provide routine cleaning services to maintain a hygienic and aesthetically pleasing professional environment. We also provide the heavy-duty deep cleaning surfaces needed to restore a commercial property that’s been neglected too long. To avoid major spring cleaning expenses, we suggest incorporating these practices into your winter cleaning routine:

  1. Sanitize
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically do not declare flu season over until March, and most years see a spike in reported flu cases in February. That means all winter long, your commercial cleaning routine should include sanitation (not just wipe-downs or dusting) of high-touch surfaces—e.g., door knobs/handles/pulls, phone receivers and all bathroom fixtures.
  2. Clean your sidewalks
    The salt or ice melt you spread to reduce the risk of slips and falls leaves an unsightly and sometimes damaging residue when tracked inside and allowed to get dried and caked on your floors.

    You can minimize the chalky residue and flooring damage by removing excess salt and ice melt.

    When all ice and slush has melted and re-freezing is unlikely, then use a stiff-bristled push-broom to sweep away remaining crystals. If the weather is going to be above 40° long enough for water to completely dry (at least two hours, depending on the size of the area you are cleaning), you may also consider hosing off your sidewalks.

  3. Deep clean your floors
    Although there’s no way really predict if there is going to be a late winter snow or ice storm, average temperatures in New Mexico in late February are mild. And once ice and snow season is over, you can perform a deep clean (i.e. floor stripping) to remove the salt/ice melt residue ground deep into your porous or carpeted flooring.

    Because floor stripping also entails applying wax and polish, your floors are protected against salt/ice melt that may be needed for late winter weather events.

  4. Clean your windows
    Ambient moisture is hard water. So, condensation on your windows, common on winter mornings, may leave a thin white film (mineral buildup) on your glass. Regularly wiping windows prevents the mineral deposits from hardening, leaving unsightly and difficult-to-remove streaks.
  5. Lighting spot checks
    Days are getting incrementally longer, but there’s still not enough daylight to ensure employees and patrons can see their path or any obstacles in it without artificial lighting. Make sure this lighting is really provided by conducting quick walk-around inspections of your premises during low-light hours. Change any burnt-out or broken bulbs, post signage where potential hazards exist that cannot be easily cleared, etc.

MSSI clients do not have to perform any of these winter cleaning jobs. Most of these tasks are already part of your contracted commercial cleaning services, and your account manager has likely already developed a schedule for non-routine tasks like deep floor cleaning.

For business owners or commercial property managers who would like to delegate these tasks, contact MSSI. We customize commercial cleaning services to meet your needs.