Office cleaning by season: a year-round checklist

Office cleaning should change with the seasons. In a Philadelphia winter that means road salt at the door and flu on the door handles. Spring brings pollen and a deep clean, summer brings humidity and quiet weeks, and fall brings leaves and the first dusty run of the heat. The daily list stays the same; what you add on top moves with the calendar.

What does winter add?

Salt and slush. From the first snow, boots carry road salt in from the sidewalk, and it dries into a white film on the lobby floor and the carpet just inside the door.

• Put down long entrance mats, outside and in, so people take a few steps on each.
• Add a boot tray by the door for wet shoes.
• Sweep or vacuum the dry salt before you mop, then damp-mop with warm water and a cleaner made for your floor. Rinse the mop often, or you spread salty water.
• Blot salt marks on carpet with warm water and dry the spot.

Cold and flu. Shared touch points get cleaned and disinfected every working day: door pulls, the kitchen, light switches, shared desks and the bathroom. Our guide to keeping office germs down has the full list.

Closed windows. Dust and stale air have nowhere to go. See how to improve indoor air quality in your office.

What does spring add?

Spring is a natural time for the office's deep clean:

• Windows inside, plus the sills and the tracks
• Blinds, one slat at a time, or taken down and washed
• Carpet and upholstered chairs
• Vents, returns and the tops of cabinets and partitions
• A full clear-out of the kitchen fridge, cabinets and microwave
• The supply closet and storage rooms

Pollen arrives at the same time. Keep the entrance mats down, and vacuum the carpet near the doors more often.

What does summer add?

Humidity. Watch for damp in basements and storage rooms, and empty dehumidifiers often. Clean window AC units' filters and front grilles before the first hot week and once or twice through the season.

Heat in the kitchen. Food left in the fridge or on the counter goes off faster. Clear the fridge every Friday.

Quiet weeks. With people on vacation, it's a good time for jobs that need an empty office, like carpet cleaning or moving desks to clean behind them.

What does fall add?

Leaves and rain. Wet leaves get tracked onto hard floors and stick. Keep the mats down and mop the entry on rainy days.

The heat comes on. Dust that settled on radiators, baseboard heaters and vents over the summer burns off the first few times the heat runs, and the office smells like it. Vacuum and wipe them before the heating season starts.

Before the holidays. Clean before the office party or client visits, and plan the after-party clean.

What stays the same all year?

• Kitchen counters, sink and appliance handles
• Bathrooms
• Trash and recycling
• Vacuuming high-traffic carpet and mopping hard floors
• Wiping shared desks and touch points

Write the seasonal jobs onto the calendar now, so they don't depend on someone remembering.

Should you hire it out?

If the seasonal jobs keep slipping, it's worth pricing out. See 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

How do you get salt stains off office floors? Sweep or vacuum the dry salt first, then damp-mop with warm water and a little floor cleaner made for your floor type, rinsing the mop often. On carpet, blot the white marks with warm water, then dry the spot. Long entrance mats cut down how much salt gets in.

When should an office get a deep clean? Quiet weeks, like the week between Christmas and New Year's or a summer holiday week, are good times because fewer people are in.

What should be on a spring office cleaning list? Windows inside, sills and tracks, blinds, carpet and upholstery, vents and returns, the tops of cabinets and partitions, and a full clear-out of the kitchen and the supply closet.

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.