How to keep office germs down in cold and flu season

To keep germs down in an office, clean and disinfect the shared touch points every working day: kitchen and fridge handles, the coffee maker, door pulls, light and elevator buttons, shared desks and keyboards, the printer, and the bathroom. Leave wipes where people can reach them, and make it easy for sick people to stay home.

Germs travel on hands. Clean where hands go.

Where do germs collect in an office?

On anything more than one person touches. Walk the office and list them:

• The kitchen: the fridge handle, the microwave button panel, the coffee maker, the faucet, the sponge nobody owns
• Doors: pulls and push plates, inside and out, and the badge reader
• Buttons: elevator, lights, the thermostat
• Shared gear: the printer and copier panel, conference-room remotes, hot-desk keyboards and mice, the shared phone
• The bathroom: faucets, the flush handle, the door handle, the paper towel lever
• Meeting rooms: the table edge and the chair arms

Desks people keep to themselves matter less to everyone else. Shared desks matter a lot.

How should you clean and disinfect them?

Use the same two steps you'd use at home, in this order:

1. Clean. Wipe the surface with soapy water or an all-purpose cleaner to take the grime off.
2. Disinfect. Apply a registered disinfectant and leave the surface wet for the contact time on the label. That's the part that does the work. Wiping it off in five seconds doesn't.

Work from the cleanest areas to the dirtiest, and switch to a fresh cloth for the bathroom. A color system helps: one cloth color for the kitchen, another for the bathroom, so they never swap.

For the guide to contact time, labels and safe mixing, see how to disinfect high-touch surfaces. The steps are the same in an office as in a living room.

How do you clean shared electronics?

• Keyboards: switch off, turn them over and tap out the crumbs, then wipe the keys with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol and wrung nearly dry.
• Mice and phones: the same alcohol wipe, with extra attention on the grip and the handset.
• Printer and copier panels: spray the cloth, not the screen, and wipe the buttons and the paper tray handle.
• Conference-room remotes: take the batteries out and use a cotton swab between the buttons.

Liquid never goes directly on electronics.

What about the office kitchen?

Everyone uses it, and nobody owns it, so it slides between cleanings.

• Wipe the handles and the microwave panel daily.
• Run the microwave with a bowl of water and a splash of vinegar for a few minutes, then wipe it out.
• Clear the fridge every Friday. Pick a time, put up a sign, and bin what's left.
• Replace the shared sponge often, or switch to a brush that goes through the dishwasher.

What if your office is pet-friendly?

Dogs in the office bring hair, dander, mud and the odd accident. A few habits keep it under control:

• Vacuum more often. Carpet and fabric chairs hold hair. A vacuum with a brush roll made for pet hair and a sealed filter makes it go faster.
• Keep an enzyme cleaner on hand. It breaks down the source of pet accident odors instead of covering them. Blot first, then apply it and let it sit as directed.
• Wash the pet beds and blankets weekly.
• Set up the door. A rough mat outside, an absorbent mat inside, and a towel on a hook for wet paws.
• Put the people with allergies first. Keep dogs out of their area and out of the kitchen.

What does Philadelphia's winter add?

Salt and slush. From the first snow, boots carry road salt in from the sidewalk, and it ends up as a white film on the lobby floor and the carpet just inside the door. Put down entrance mats long enough for a few steps on each, and add damp-mopping the entry to the daily list on salty days. Whether your office is a floor of a Center City tower or a converted rowhome, the front door is where winter comes in.

Should you hire it out?

If someone on staff is spending part of every day wiping the kitchen and the bathroom, it's worth pricing out. Look at our office cleaning page, then request a quote for Commercial Cleaning with your square footage, the number of people and the rooms you want covered.

FAQ

Where do germs collect in an office? On the things everyone touches: the kitchen, the coffee maker and fridge handles, door pulls, elevator and light buttons, shared desks and keyboards, the printer, and the bathroom. Those are the surfaces to clean and disinfect first.

How often should office surfaces be disinfected? The shared touch points should be cleaned and disinfected every working day during cold and flu season. Personal desks can be wiped by the people who use them, with wipes left out where they can reach them.

How do you clean a shared keyboard? Unplug it or switch it off, turn it over and tap out the crumbs, then wipe the keys with a cloth or wipe dampened with rubbing alcohol and squeezed nearly dry. Let it dry fully before it goes back on.

How do you keep a pet-friendly office clean? Vacuum the carpet and soft seating often with a vacuum that handles pet hair, keep an enzyme cleaner on hand for accidents, and wash pet beds and blankets weekly. Put a mat and a towel by the door for wet paws.

Request a quote

Our service area: every Philadelphia neighborhood, plus the Pennsylvania suburbs within about 30 miles of Center City, in Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester counties. Request a quote at phillyscleanteam.com/request-a-quote, or call or text (215) 798-7576, 9 AM to 9 PM, every day.