What Is Commercial Cleaning: A Complete Guide

In today’s fast-paced business world, maintaining a pristine commercial space is not just about aesthetics; it’s a testament to an organization’s commitment to health, safety, and professionalism.

As businesses grapple with their core operations, the significance of commercial cleaning services has never been more pronounced. Whether you’re a business owner overseeing a vast commercial space or managing a cozy office, ensuring a clean and hygienic environment is paramount. This not only safeguards the health and well-being of employees but also creates a lasting impression on clients and visitors.

But what exactly does commercial cleaning entail? Is it merely about dusting desks and vacuuming, or is there more to it? From window cleaning to deep cleaning, from industrial carpet cleaning to routine and general cleaning, professional cleaners employ a range of cleaning methods to cater to diverse needs.

If you’ve ever pondered the difference between domestic cleaning and commercial cleaning, or wondered about the myriad services offered by professional cleaning services, you’re in the right place. Dive in as we unravel the world of commercial cleaning, its importance, and how to choose the best services for your business.

What is Commercial Cleaning?

Commercial cleaning refers to cleaning services that are undertaken by a professional cleaning company to ensure the general maintenance and sanitisation of a company or organisation’s premises. Commercial cleaning companies may be large, nationwide enterprises that cover all of the following sectors or they may be locally-based specialists in one or more sectors.

Office commercial cleaners
Medical facility commercial cleaners
Retail commercial cleaners
Industrial premises cleaners
Residential complex cleaners
School cleaners
Leisure and sports facility cleaners
Commercial window cleaners
Commercial ventilation system cleaning

What do Commercial Cleaners Do?

Commercial cleaners will undertake a wide variety of cleaning tasks to suit your business’s needs. Your commercial cleaning company will arrange for trained members of staff to see to the daily or weekly cleaning of your premises as required, as well as arranging for more extensive deep cleans periodically.

Typical tasks include:

Vacuuming carpets/cleaning hard flooring
Emptying bins/waste containers
Dusting and cleaning furniture and fixtures
Disinfecting toilets, bathrooms and hand basins
Replenishing bathroom/toilet supplies

For more information about the tasks that commercial cleaners undertake, the Australian Bureau of Statistics provides a concise overview.

Beyond the standard tasks of vacuuming and dusting, commercial cleaners offer a plethora of specialized services tailored to the unique needs of different businesses. Window cleaning, for instance, is crucial for establishments that wish to present a polished image to the outside world. Deep cleaning goes beyond surface-level tidiness, targeting accumulated grime and ensuring a thorough sanitization of the premises.

In industrial settings, specific cleaning methods are employed to handle the challenges posed by heavy machinery and industrial waste. Medical facility cleaning is another specialized area, where adherence to stringent health and safety protocols is paramount.

The disposal of hazardous waste, maintaining optimal air quality, and ensuring the cleanliness of medical equipment are tasks that require trained professionals. In essence, commercial cleaners play a pivotal role in ensuring that businesses operate in a clean, safe, and hygienic environment.

Advantages of Employing a Commercial Cleaner

In addition to being able to enjoy a healthier and cleaner workspace, there are numerous reasons to employ commercial cleaning companies.

Trained Professionals

When you contract a commercial cleaning company, you can rest assured that you will be employing trained professionals. Unlike cleaners who may take up a cleaning job in their spare time, commercial cleaners are fully trained to ensure that they are competent to take on your business’s cleaning needs. Their techniques and skills will make all of the difference to your premises’ cleanliness while dealing with true professionals is always a much easier experience.

Professional Cleaning Equipment

Does your company have thousands of spare pounds or dollars sitting around to purchase professional cleaning equipment, as well as maintaining it and training your staff to use it? There will be plenty of better investments you could make with any available spare funds. Hiring a professional commercial cleaner gets your premises professionally cleaned with the right equipment, without you having to research or invest in any material.

Save Time

Commercial cleaners are a great way to save time. Rather than employing someone to half-heartedly tackle your cleaning tasks, commercial cleaners will dive in, leaving you free to focus on the other aspects of your company or role. You will save time programming, organising and checking up on your cleaning staff by simply contracting a professional commercial cleaner.

Vetted and Background Checked

It is important to know that you can trust your cleaner, especially if your office handles potentially sensitive data or your shop contains valuable items. All professional commercial cleaning companies will thoroughly vet and background check their staff so you can rest assured that you are employing professional and responsible individuals.

Insurance

Your commercial cleaner will have their own insurance to operate their cleaning equipment. They will also have their own public liability and worker’s compensation insurance, one less thing for you to worry about.

Reliability

Ever had your regular cleaner call in sick? What about cleaning on their days off or over holiday periods? If you contract a commercial cleaning company, you’ll never have to worry about reliability again. Thanks to their large number of employees, they can simply adapt their employees’ schedules to ensure that you will always have a cleaner on call for your premises.

Types of Commercial Cleaning

Commercial cleaning is a vast field, encompassing a range of services tailored to different sectors and needs. Here’s a closer look at some of the types:

Domestic vs. Commercial Cleaning: While domestic cleaning focuses on homes and residential spaces, commercial cleaning caters to business premises, from offices to retail stores. The latter often requires specialized equipment and expertise, and not just for cleaning office desks.
Ventilation Cleaning: Ensuring clean air circulation is crucial for health. This involves cleaning ducts, vents, and other components of a building’s ventilation system.
Pressure Washing: Ideal for exteriors, driveways, and other outdoor spaces, pressure washing uses high-pressure water spray to remove dirt, mold, and grime.
Medical Facility Cleaning: Given the critical nature of healthcare facilities, this type of cleaning adheres to strict standards, ensuring spaces are sterile and safe.
Hotel Housekeeping: Beyond cleaning hotel rooms, this involves ensuring all guest areas, from lobbies to swimming pools, are pristine.
Hardwood and Hard Floor Cleaning: Different floor types require different cleaning methods. Whether it’s hardwood, tile, or concrete, professional cleaners have the tools and know-how to get the job done.
High Traffic Area Cleaning: Areas like entrances, hallways, and corridors see a lot of footfall and need regular cleaning to maintain their appearance.
Specialized Window Cleaning: Using tools like water fed poles, commercial cleaners ensure that even hard-to-reach windows sparkle.

Each type of commercial cleaning has its own set of challenges and requirements, necessitating the expertise of trained cleaners who are equipped to handle diverse cleaning needs.

How to Choose the Best Commercial Cleaners

Avoid simply relying on trial and error when employing a new commercial cleaning company. Here’s how to ensure you start off with the best commercial cleaner for your business.

Speciality

When choosing a commercial cleaning company, make sure that they have experience cleaning your type of premises. This will ensure that they will be able to get the job done with next to no guidance or intervention from yourself.

Location

It is not uncommon to choose a nationwide commercial cleaning company to ensure that you get professional standards from a large enterprise. However, it will help to make sure that your commercial cleaners have a local office in your city or at least in your state. You’ll want a local named contact to deal with who is familiar with your area and needs.

Reputation

It can be hard to judge a commercial cleaner’s reputation unless you have business acquaintances who have dealt with the same agency.

It is good practice to make contact with the company several times before contracting them. Ask questions and pay close attention to how your calls are received. Do they sound like a welcoming company that you feel value their employees? Are they always happy to take your call and work through your questions in detail?

Cost

How much does a commercial cleaning service cost? It all depends on the size of your premises, how often you would like it to be cleaned and any extra services that you may require.

Make sure that you get a detailed quote that covers all of your needs and be wary of prices that seem too good to be true. You should also ask for several different quotes from each company. That way, if you decide at a later date that you would like to scale back or increase your cleaning duties or frequency you’ll already have a good idea of the amount of money you could save or have to pay extra.

Final Thoughts

In the dynamic landscape of business, the role of commercial cleaning services cannot be understated. Whether it’s a sprawling industrial cleaning project or the regular upkeep of commercial spaces, the expertise offered by commercial cleaning companies is unparalleled. From state-of-the-art washing facilities to specialized services, the benefits of choosing to hire commercial cleaners are manifold. As businesses continue to evolve, so does the need for a pristine environment, and with the right commercial cleaning service, this goal is effortlessly achievable.