Office Cleaning During Cold and Flu Season

That Cleaning Girl · Office Cleaning

Every winter, a cold sweeps through the office. One person brings it in, and before long half the team is sniffling. Cleaning can't stop every bug, but it can help. With your trash setup sorted from Office Trash and Recycling: A Simple System That Actually Works, this is a good time to think about the surfaces that spread germs.

Here's what we focus on in small offices around Waxahachie, Midlothian and south DFW when the season turns.

How germs move around an office

Germs spread through the air, but they also spread through the things everyone touches. Someone coughs into their hand, opens the break room fridge, and the next person grabs the same handle. Shared surfaces are where cleaning makes the biggest difference.

The good news is that you don't have to scrub the entire office every day. You just need to focus on the right spots.

The touch points that matter most

These surfaces get the most hands on them every day:

• Front door handles and push plates.
• Restroom door handles, faucets, flush handles and soap dispensers.
• Break room fridge, microwave and coffee maker handles and buttons.
• Light switches.
• Copier and printer buttons and screens.
• Shared phones and keyboards.
• Conference table edges and chair arms.
• Water cooler taps.
• Stair railings.
• Pens and tablets at the front desk.

During cold and flu season, these should be cleaned on every visit, and more often if you can manage it.

Cleaning versus disinfecting

Cleaning removes dirt and grime. Disinfecting kills germs on a surface. For the best results, you clean first, then disinfect. A disinfectant sprayed on a dirty surface doesn't work as well, because grime protects the germs.

Disinfectants also need contact time. The surface needs to stay wet for the time listed on the product label before you wipe it off. Spraying and immediately wiping dry is a common mistake. Always follow the label.

Adding a visit during peak season

Many offices bump up their cleaning frequency during the worst months. If you're normally on an every-two-weeks schedule, going weekly for a few months can help. If you're weekly, adding a midweek touch point wipe is an option.

You don't have to commit forever. Seasonal changes are common, and you can drop back when the weather warms up.

What your team can do every day

The cleaning visit helps, but daily habits from your team matter just as much:

• Keep hand sanitizer at the front desk, in the break room and near the copier.
• Keep disinfecting wipes in a few spots and encourage people to wipe their own keyboard and phone.
• Make sure the restroom always has soap and paper towels.
• Use paper towels to open the restroom door on the way out.
• Encourage people who are sick to stay home if they can.

Simple, obvious, and easy to forget when everyone is busy.

It also helps to declutter shared surfaces for the season. A reception counter covered in a pen cup, a candy bowl, a business card holder and three brochure stands has a lot of things for hands to land on, and every one of them needs wiping. Clear it down to the essentials and it gets cleaner, faster.

Special spaces need extra attention

Some spaces see more germs than others:

• Church nurseries and classrooms with kids.
• Waiting rooms at medical, dental and wellness offices.
• Salons and studios where clients come and go all day.
• Shared desks or hot-desking setups.

For these, touch points and restrooms should be cleaned more often during the season. Toys, low tables and door handles at kid height in nurseries should be on the list too.

Don't forget the air and the dust

Dust builds up on vents and air returns, and dirty filters don't do your office any favors. Changing HVAC filters on schedule is usually a building maintenance job, but dusting vent covers can be part of your cleaning rotation. In North Texas, our winters often swing between warm and cold, which means the heater and AC both get used, and dust can build up fast. Cedar season lands right in the middle of all this, so a lot of folks are already sneezing before any cold shows up. Clean vents and dusted surfaces help on both fronts.

It's worth wiping down the electronics people share most, too. A shared tablet at the front desk or a single office laptop that gets passed around picks up germs just like a door handle does. Follow the manufacturer's cleaning guidance and keep wipes nearby so it becomes habit.

Healthier winters start with the basics

Clean touch points, stocked restrooms, good habits and a little extra attention during the worst months. That's the recipe. It won't make anyone immune, but it does make your office a less friendly place for germs. To set up a schedule that fits your office through the season, see our office cleaning services.