Professional bathroom cleaning is one of the best ways to demonstrate to every person who visits your business that management is on top of the details and invested in ensuring everyone is healthy, safe and comfortable. From customers who visit once to employees who are there every day, everyone can appreciate a clean bathroom fully stocked with seat covers, hand soap, paper towels and toilet paper. Clean, stocked bathrooms communicate that your business cares about each person’s health and well-being.
Conversely, a dirty bathroom that is full of germs, smells bad and is short on the basics leaves a bad impression on customers and employees alike. It can also be a breeding ground for illness, increasing the frequency of sick days for employees and lowering sales when customers don’t return.
The good news is that you do not have to hire an expensive daily cleaning service to get the job done at a professional level. In fact, it’s far easier to ensure commercial bathrooms maintain a high level of cleanliness when you manage the cleaning schedule in-house.
Here’s your step-by-step guide to maintaining a professionally clean bathroom.
Gather Your Cleaning Supplies
When keeping commercial bathrooms clean, you should always have certain supplies on hand:
Disinfectant cleaners.
Toilet cleaners.
Window cleaners.
Floor cleaners.
Toilet scrub brushes.
Cleaning towels.
Scrub brushes with long handles.
Old toothbrushes.
Brooms.
Mops.
Latex or rubber gloves.
Trash bags.
Optional: squeegees.
A few primary areas require regular cleaning in a professional bathroom: toilets, sinks, mirrors, counters and floors. Stocking the supplies listed above will ensure you always have the appropriate cleaner for the job you are focusing on.
Rather than using and reusing sponges that carry germs, we recommend using cleaning towels that can be washed after each use. Additionally, you should disinfect toilet scrub brushes and old toothbrushes after using them to clean hard-to-reach places. All other supplies will need to be replaced regularly.
Takeaway Tip: Hire a facilities management company like Alsco to make sure your bottles of disinfectant cleaners are always full; cleaning cloths are cleaned promptly and efficiently as well as replaced with fresh, clean ones when needed; and new mop heads and boxes of rubber or latex gloves are replenished as needed. This ensures employees will have what they need to do the job well. If supplies are always available, employees won’t have to cut corners.
Stay Stocked on the Basics
In a professionally clean bathroom, customers have what they need for proper hygiene. This means that toilet paper, paper towels, soap dispensers, hand sanitizing stations and toilet seat covers should always be fully stocked.
Checking these supplies should be part of any cleaning checklist so employees can promptly respond if a patron uses more of these items than expected, there is a leaking container or other forms of loss occur.
Takeaway Tip: Alsco can supply the dispensers for soap, toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer and toilet seat covers. We make sure you always have enough product on hand to keep the supplies full without requiring an abundance of storage space. Additionally, if a dispenser breaks or leaks, we can replace it right away.
Start With the Trash Cans
Overflowing trash cans look and smell bad, making an otherwise clean bathroom appear unattended. They need to be promptly emptied to keep the bathroom looking and smelling clean. Throwing out full trash bags and replacing them with clean liners is every employee’s responsibility.
At least once a week, and any time there is a spill, it is important to disinfect the trash cans. This can be done by simply spraying a trash can’s interior and exterior with disinfectant cleaner and allowing it to sit before rinsing it out. Use a scrub brush with a long handle to remove caked-on filth. Dry the can thoroughly or allow it to air dry before putting in a clean liner.
Takeaway Tip: Rather than immediately throwing away half-empty trash bags, keep one open so you can easily discard used cleaning items and trash you find along the way.
Clean the Mirrors & Windows
Using a window cleaner and cleaning cloth or paper towel, spray all the mirrors and wipe them thoroughly. Some people like to use a squeegee to remove streaks and smears quickly, but this is not required.
If the bathroom has windows, clean these at the same time with the window cleaner. Use a toothbrush or scrub brush to remove any dirt from the tracks. Then, wipe the sill and casing with a surface cleaner.
Blinds can be wiped down and curtains should be washed weekly and replaced as needed.
Takeaway Tip: Mirrors get splattered and smeared throughout the day, so it’s a good idea to clean these after every shift. Mirrors should be kept clean because they are often a focal point in the bathroom and one of the first things patrons see.
Clean the Toilet
The toilet is not fun to clean, but it can be done efficiently and quickly— even if there are multiple in the bathroom. Following a few clear steps, employees will know exactly what to do.
Squirt toilet bowl cleaner into the bowl and let it sit. Then spray the outside of the toilet bowl, the base and the back with disinfectant. Allow the spray to sit to break down any grime while you scrub the inside of the toilet bowl thoroughly, making sure to get under the lip.
Do not flush while the cleaner sits in the toilet bowl, doing its work. While you wait, wipe down every external inch of the toilet bowl, tank and base. Use a microfiber cleaning cloth to dry it after to remove all dust and particles. Spend a little extra time on the toilet seat and handle where most of the germs will be.
Work systematically to clean each toilet in the bathroom. When finished, flush all toilets to wash away cleaner, dirt and particles from cleaning.
Takeaway Tip: If there are multiple toilets or stalls in a bathroom, pour the cleaners into the bowls and spray down the bases and tanks with disinfectant. Then, go back and clean them one by one to give the cleaning solution more time to break down any grime and kill germs.
Clean the Sinks & Counters
Wipe down sinks and counters, spending extra time around the handles. Use a scrub brush to remove any built-up grime or stains in the sink or on the counter. Use a toothbrush to get into the crevices around the handles and faucet.
Wipe down the soap dispenser, hand sanitizer dispenser and paper towel dispenser, using disinfectant anywhere patrons may touch. Refill as needed.
Dry everything with a clean, dry microfiber towel when finished to remove all remaining particles, spots and debris.
Takeaway Tip: Alsco can make sure all dispensers are functional and full, topping off everything patrons will need in the bathroom to leave one less thing for the team to manage.
Sweep & Mop Floors
When everything else is clean, turn your attention to the floors. Start by sweeping thoroughly. Then go back with a brush to address any dirt or grime built up in the corners or crevices in the tile or linoleum, if applicable.
Use a spray bottle with floor cleaner to spray the section you are about to mop. Ensure your mop head is clean. Start in the back and work toward the door, bringing your supplies and the trash with you to avoid stepping on the clean floor. When you finish, you’ll leave behind a sparkling clean bathroom floor.
Takeaway Tip: In addition to making sure you have floor cleaner available at all times, Alsco can provide clean mop heads, take away the dirty ones and clean them for you. Your employees will always have the supplies they need.
Clean Your Cleaning Supplies
Mop heads need to be cleaned after each use so you don’t inadvertently drag germs onto the floor. The same is true for toilet bowl brushes. Both should be replaced regularly. Otherwise, cleaning is not as effective and efficient as it could be.
Cleaning cloths need to be washed and sanitized after every use for the same reason. If they aren’t sanitized, they can introduce bacteria to other surfaces or areas where cleaning supplies are kept.
Takeaway Tip: Rather than adding laundry to your already full to-do list, let Alsco handle it. We can sterilize used cleaning towels and mop heads, replace them as needed and ensure a fresh supply is always on hand.
Business Bathroom Step-by-Step Cleaning Checklist
Follow these steps to ensure your business bathroom is professionally cleaned:
Put on gloves and other protective gear.
Pull out full trash bags. If there is any room in them, keep at least one open nearby for use during the cleaning process.
Spray down sinks and counters with disinfectant cleaner and allow it to sit.
Pour toilet bowl cleaner into all bowls and allow it to sit.
Spray down all toilets’ bases, tanks and seats and allow the solution to sit.
Disinfect trash cans and place them in the sun to dry, if possible. Otherwise, allow them to air dry.
Clean windows and mirrors.
Clean toilet bowls and exteriors. Then dry the outside.
Clean sinks and counters. Then dry them.
Check the levels of paper towels, seat covers, toilet paper, soap and hand sanitizer. Top off as needed.
Dry inside trash cans if needed. Put in new liners and return the trash cans to their original location.
Sweep and mop floors.
Clean all cleaning equipment and sort items that need to be washed.
Put all protective gear, including gloves and disposable items used to clean, into the used trash bag from Step 2. Take out the trash.
Get Help Managing the Business Bathroom Cleaning Schedule
It’s easy to hand a checklist to team members so they can maintain business bathrooms throughout the workday and at shift changes, and the job becomes even easier when Alsco is in charge of supplies. It’s one less thing you have to manage.
Too often, businesses choose between paying high prices for individual bottles of cleaner or packs of cleaning towels or getting discounted items in bulk that require huge amounts of storage space. You can have the best of both worlds when you work with Alsco. We’ll always keep your cleaning supplies stocked, but we won’t leave so much that supplies take up unnecessary storage space.
With Alsco, you will always have enough cleaning supplies on hand. Cleaning towels will be cleaned and replaced as needed, and all bathroom dispensers will be stocked and ready for customers. We simplify your professional bathroom cleaning process, making it easier to keep your bathrooms looking great. Call now to find out more.