Office deep cleaning services … just how important are they and why are they needed? We all know that a clean office is important, and for many reasons, but let’s take a few minutes and take it a little further than just your average, big picture cleaning and look at the smaller things beyond that. A clean office is more than just mopped floors and clean windows, as it goes much deeper than what the eye can see. Your office may look clean, but how clean actually is it and the most commonly used things in it that on a daily basis we all depend on?
We compiled this list of the 7 dirtiest and germiest places in the office to help show how important office deep cleaning services are and why they matter for your business.
The 7 Dirtiest Places in the Office that Need Office Deep Cleaning Services
1) The Start Button on the Copier
The average toilet seat has 3,200 CFU (colony forming units) per square inch, but that’s understandable as it’s in the restroom, so the office copier should have less than that, right? Wrong! The copier is actually one of the most germ-ridden spots in your office, and according to a study by template maker Hloom, the start button on the copier had over 1.2 BILLION CFU per square inch!
2) Coffee Maker and the Coffee Pot Handle
That same study by Hloom found that there were over 108,000 CFU per square inch on the handle of the office coffee pot! That’s not all, on top of it, 99% of which were gram-negative rods (this is a type of bacteria that is known to be resistant to antibiotics). In another study by microbiologist Charles Gerba at the University of Arizona, viruses were placed on doorknobs to see how fast they traveled, and where was the first place they popped up on? Coffee pot handles.
3) Desktops
Do you know what has 400 times more germs than the office toilet seat? Your desk! Believe it or not, at any one time your desk is home to about 10 million germs, according to Charles Gerba. The area by our computer keyboards where we rest our hands contains up to 10 million instances of bacteria, as found in more of Gerba’s research.
4) Door Handles
In a test CBS News did, a non-dangerous tracer virus that mimicked the common norovirus was placed on just one door knob in an average sized office. It only took a mere 4 hours before contamination showed on 60% of surfaces in the office such as phones, work areas, door handles, phones, computers, and light switches. An estimated 19-21 million illnesses are caused each year by noroviruses, which also contribute to 56,000-71,000 hospitalizations and 800+ deaths on top of it. Don’t let your employees be part of these numbers, office deep cleaning services can help keep door handles safe and clean.
5) Kitchen Sink
The kitchen faucet in the break room is the dirtiest place in the office. According to a Kimberly-Clark study, 75% of all breakroom faucet handles were high-risk for spreading illness, and 91% of them could benefit from office deep cleaning services as the study also found they should be disinfected. It’s not just the handle on the sink either, but the metal drains in them as well. Well+Good, a wellness blog, had a microbiologist come to their office and test for germs; to their shock, they found that the drain in the kitchen sink had a whopping ADP count of 1391!
6) Office Refrigerator
We all know the office fridge can get gross… but did you know that the average refrigerator contains about 7,850 bacteria CFU per square inch? This is a prime example of the need for office deep cleaning services, as experts actually even say that the office fridge should be cleaned out and wiped down with a strong antibacterial cleanser every two days!
7) Office Mugs and the Sponge Used to Clean Them
Charles Gerba, the microbiologist from the University of Arizona mentioned throughout this article, found in a study of bacteria in office coffee mugs that up to 20% of clean mugs had traces of coliform bacteria (AKA fecal matter). That’s not all, but once they were wiped using a communal dishcloth or sponge, that number jumped up to 100% PLUS 20% of those then also testing positive for E. coli on top of it! Coffee anyone? Not without professional office deep cleaning services to clean those mugs up for you first!
Are you convinced that professional office deep cleaning services from a commercial cleaning company is something your office needs? Contact us for more information and a free quote! Sparkle and Shine Cleaning Company is a professional commercial cleaning business in Blythewood, SC that can help you get the top quality office deep cleaning services you need.