Office shut down - the cleaning and maintenance checklist you need!
25 October 2023
As we near the end of the year, many workplaces will be shutting down for the Christmas Holiday and New Year period. Beyond your usual office cleaning checklist, there are some tasks that you might want to include to ensure you start the new year off right.
Set your office up for success in the new year by thoroughly tidying, cleaning and organising the workspace before you set off for the holiday break.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our Office Shut-Down Cleaning Checklist:
1. Schedule your annual cleaning and maintenance services early
Take advantage of the empty office and parking lot and schedule some of your annual or bi-annual professional cleaning and maintenance services. Whether you choose to hire a professional service or take on the task yourself, the holiday office hiatus is the perfect time to tackle some of your office upgrades or deep cleans which might otherwise be disruptive during regular office hours.
Be sure to schedule early as availability can be limited for these services this time of year or schedule someone from your team to come during the holiday period to tackle these tasks. Some services you may want to schedule include:
- Professional carpet cleaning and deep-cleaning upholstered furniture
- Air conditioning service to clean, sanitise or disinfect your air vents
- Security systems, smoke detectors or sprinkler system testing
- Mould removalists
- Resurfacing and or repainting your parking lots
- Dry cleaning curtains
- Gutter cleaning
- Pressure washing exterior walls, pathways, patios and parking lots
- Painting
- Pest control
If you are unable to secure these services during this busy period consider taking some of these projects on over the holidays. At WS we have a range of professional cleaning equipment including pressure cleaners, carpet cleaners and floor scrubbers which could be a good business investment in the long run, rather than hiring these service providers regularly. We also stock a range of coveralls to protect your clothes while performing these cleaning and maintenance tasks.
2. Pack up festive decorations
The end of the year is a time of celebration and festive office parties. While we often schedule the time to decorate the office and may even have office decorating parties or working groups, we often forget to take the time to undecorate and safely store our decorations away for the following year.
To ensure a clean start in the new year, make sure to pack up and safely store away your decorations. For your more fragile items, consider wrapping them in bubble wrap and marking the boxes as fragile or use Fluro orange fragile tape for higher visibility.
3. Do a clutter sweep
Take the time to declutter and reorganise the office.
- File your paperwork or dispose of unnecessary paperwork by recycling it or shredding confidential information.
- Put some time aside to ensure that employees can tidy and declutter their individual workspaces.
- Declutter and organise storage spaces and closets.
- Declutter and reorganise conference rooms, foyers, shared workspaces and break rooms.
4. Tidy and sanitise individual workspaces
Individual workspaces often get missed during regular cleans. Use this period to not only clean but sanitise desks, monitors, keyboards and telephones. Our Sabco Antibacterial Wet Wipes are perfect for sanitising these surfaces and kill 99.9% of germs. They are mess-free and need no water, simply use them to wipe your surface and let it dry.
5. Sanitise and disinfect high traffic areas
Go beyond the usual clean and ensure that your high-traffic areas are properly disinfected. For hard surfaces use our RapidClean Tutti Fruitti Disinfectant a commercial-grade disinfectant with built-in detergent to remove all germs and bacteria and deodorise the room with a pleasant Tutti Fruitti fragrance.
Ensure that the following high-touch areas are properly sanitised with an Antibacterial spray and wipe like the Septone Spray & Wipe or use disposable Sabco Antibacterial Wet Wipes.
- Elevator buttons
- Door handles
- Printers/copy machines buttons
6. Clean those hard-to-reach places
Take the time to clean those areas of the office that might be overlooked during your everyday cleaning regimen including behind furniture, ceiling fans, doorframes, air vents and lights. Our Sabco Microfingers Flexible Duster is great for dusting hard-to-reach areas, while our range of cobweb brushes is perfect for getting rid of any spiderwebs you may find.
7. Deep clean your kitchen and break areas
Just before the holidays is a great time to do a deep clean of your kitchen and target the areas that might be skipped during your routine kitchen cleans.
- First, clear out your fridge of all food that will go off or expire during your office hiatus. Then wipe down all surfaces of the fridge.
- Clean your coffee or espresso machine. Use a special detergent like Kassie Coffee Clean - Coffee Machine Cleaner to ensure your espresso machine is clean and running efficiently.
- Clean and sanitise general surfaces and kitchen equipment, countertops and tables. Consider using a cleaning solution like the RapidClean Foam Chlor Cleaning and Sanitising Foam for sanitizing hard surfaces and removing fat, dirt and grease.
- Thoroughly clean microwaves, ovens or stovetops.
- Clean utensils, drawers and inside shelves with a light detergent like our RapidClean Sudzee Sink Detergent.
- Spot clean cabinets and the exterior of appliances.
- Clean water cooler.
- Run a clean cycle on your dishwasher.
8. Stock up on supplies for the new year
Start the year off smoothly by stocking up on your office essentials before you leave for the holidays.
- Ensure you have plenty of hand soap, paper towels and other washroom supplies.
- Check the inventory for your kitchen and breakout area supplies and replenish, where needed.
- Restock your stationery supplies and photocopy paper.
- Turn off all unnecessary lights and work equipment. For security purposes consider putting lights on a timer at night.
- Minimise your air conditioning by setting it to a higher temperature than you would if people were regularly in the office.
- Ensure all employees shut their computers down before leaving for the break and unplug laptop chargers.
- Keep your data safe by backing it up before you leave for the holidays.
9. Lock up your valuables
Ensure all office valuables that aren’t nailed down are locked away or hidden out of view. Ask employees to take all of their personal valuables home for the holidays.
10. Power down
Keep your power bills down over the holidays by powering down for the holidays.
With everything ticked off your Office Shut-Down Cleaning Checklist you can fully enjoy your holidays without the nagging feeling that you may have forgotten something. Best of all, when you return in the New Year, you can rest assured you’ll be starting off on the right foot.
If you are looking to restock for the New Year or you need help finding the right products to initiate your office shut-down cleaning, our specialist team are happy to help. Give us a call today on 07 3902 0900 or send an email to [email protected].