Hidden Cleaning Issues in Commercial Facilities

Key Takeaways:
• Clutter in personal areas can hurt first impressions and make cleaning more difficult.
• A truly clean facility should have no noticeable scent, dust, allergens, or pollutants.
• Overflowing trash and recycling bins can signal poor cleaning and may reflect inadequate service or capacity.

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Restrooms, entryways, and waiting areas are the spaces most associated with first impressions in a facility because they're right up front. However, there are less obvious things in a facility that can cause a negative first impression.

Walker says clutter in personal areas—such as an employee's desk—is something visitors most often notice. However, this situation is tricky for BSCs.

For example, the man who works the reception desk littered with yellowed papers and old lunch containers isn't a member of the cleaning team. Nor is his desk the cleaning team’s responsibility, but if the clutter is out of hand, it can prohibit cleaning, making it more than an eyesore.

"If the area is cluttered, then, at most, the space is only getting trash service and maybe a quick spot vacuum depending on the agreed level of service," says Walker.

There are also considerations to be made regarding intended fragrances. Some businesses participate in "scent hacking," an emerging science related to environmental design where a specific scent is intentionally emitted to boost human behavior.

For instance, a hospital might want a light scent in its waiting room to create a calming effect. However, placing a pleasant fragrance just to make a space seem clean isn't an act experts support. In fact, they say no scent is the best scent.

"I would say that no scent is going to be one of the key indications that your cleaning program is contributing to a healthy environment, with one added caveat: No scent isn’t just the absence of fragrance, it’s also the absence of dust, particulates, allergens, molds, and other indoor pollutants," explains Walker. "Your daily dust control, vacuum filter maintenance, route of work, and detail cleaning frequencies play just as important of a role, if not more, than what’s in your spray bottle."

Another factor to consider is the sheer number of recycling and trash bins throughout a facility. The amount may be impressive, but are these receptacles discussed much when considering first impressions? Maybe they should be. After all, a visitor who spots a trash bin overflowing with garbage would be justified to wonder, "Is this place being cleaned?"

When trash and recycling containers are overflowing, the issue is usually one of two things. Either the containers aren't being serviced frequently enough, or the size and number of receptacles doesn't match the facility's usage.

"We sometimes see photographs of restroom waste on the floor and immediately blame the occupants or cleaning staff,” says Thompson. “However, if 40 students enter a restroom, dry their hands, and are expected to place the waste through a small opening into a 20-gallon container, that container will quickly overflow unless it is serviced according to that level of occupancy.”

Ultimately, it's good business for BSCs to instill the importance of a facility’s first impression in clients and explain how positive visitor experiences can be accomplished through proper cleaning for health and safety. The conversations today will generate business wins tomorrow.

"Spending time in a clean environment is very important to people," says Walker. "Many years ago, an NBA team was getting ready to open its new arena, and they polled season ticket holders to determine what made a great experience for them. Interestingly enough, they rated the cleanliness of the arena higher than whether or not the team won."

Jake Meister is the Managing Editor for Trade Press Media Group's Cleaning Group of brands. He works on three magazines: Sanitary Maintenance, Contracting Profits, and Facility Cleaning Decisions, as well as on Cleanlink.com, the home of all three publications. Jake has over five years of experience covering the commercial cleaning industry as an employee of Trade Press Media Group, but also spent time as a freelance journalist for the company.
Jake has attended many commercial cleaning events where he enjoys connecting and networking with representatives from all corners of the industry. This often lays the groundwork for profile articles featured across the group. He excels at identifying outstanding individuals and/or programs that showcase the great things the commercial cleaning industry represents.
In addition to writing, Jake moderates many of CleanLink's educational webcasts, and he is the voice behind some of the social posts.
Follow Jake on LinkedIn here.

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Ways to Improve Occupants' First Impressions of a Facility