Whether you're an employee or an employer, you will want to be as prepared as possible at the office for when cold and flu season hits. Today’s blog will cover some tips and strategies that you can start using today in order to be prepared for and (with any luck) stay ahead of cold and flu season. 

Promote Hand Hygiene

The first line of defense against diseases like colds, flu, and COVID is going to be your hands. Having employees keep their hands regularly sanitized is going to be a must. But, it goes beyond just asking employees to do so. It helps if you are able to provide hand sanitizer that people can keep at their desks and to have in high-traffic public places around the office like the breakroom, bathrooms, and conference rooms. 

Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home

Yes, it can seem like a productivity hit to encourage your employees to either work from home or to stay out of the office completely if they feel they are coming down with something, but it is better than that one person giving the flu or COVID to the whole office and have everyone out sick for a week. 

Disinfect Common Areas Regularly

This can be done by management or by individuals, but it is important to ensure that it is being done. After every conference room meeting and after every lunch hour, those high traffic areas should be disinfected as thoroughly as possible to avoid any germs from lingering and spreading to the next team to occupy that space. It helps to have a signup sheet at the door or near the entrance area.

Improve Air Quality

Since most of the diseases faced in cold and flu season are primarily spread throughout the air, it helps to take steps to improve the safety and quality of the air in your office. If possible, take steps to help improve air filtration and ventilation systems in the office. Upgrade your building’s HVAC filters and ensure that the systems are well-maintained and not infected with mold or mildew themselves which can cause sicknesses of their own. Barring that, you can also place air purifiers in highly populated and used areas like break rooms and conference rooms which can reduce the chance of infection spreading. 

Encourage Healthy Habits

Consider starting an office-wide “wellness initiative” that can help to educate employees on sanitization, hygiene, and other helpful ways to combat the spread of infections. 

Communicate Preventive Measures

To help give your employees valuable peace of mind, you might want to consider sending out a weekly or bi-monthly email blast that covers exactly what you are doing to help curb the spread of illnesses in the workplace. Also let them know how they can take steps on their own to help reduce the impact of infections. 

For The Road

Getting your office ready for cold and flu season is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

 

A clean and tidy office is shown to help with employee morale as well as productivity. Perhaps even more important than the visual aesthetic of a clean office is the health benefits. With most people spending nearly as much time in the office as they do at home, ensuring that the office is a clean and healthy environment is extremely important. Here is a list of the most missed areas to clean in an office.

Behind and Underneath the Furniture

Just like your home, among the most missed places to clean is behind and underneath the furniture. Those are prime places for harmful dust and allergens to build up. 

Light Switches and Door Handles

Light switches and door handles are items that are touched several times a day by various people, yet often go unaddressed in the office cleaning. With the potential to harbor and spread lots of germs this is a spot you don't want to miss when cleaning your office.

Air Vents

Periodic air duct cleaning will go a long way to support a healthy office. These areas are ripe for spreading debris and airborne particles that must be avoided by asthma sufferers and can be harmful to any office worker.  

Tops of Cabinets and Shelves

Often overlooked when cleaning the office, the tops of cabinets and shelves are a prime location for storing germs and collecting dust. Communal areas like this are often left untouched as everyone thinks someone else will clean them.

Inside Microwaves and Refrigerators

We saved the worst for last, microwaves and fridges can be home to some of the worst messes in an office space. No one knows whose lasagna exploded in the microwave or who is responsible for the half and half in the fridge from last year. No one wants to clean anyone else’s mess; and some people do not want to clean their own. This is the main reason fridges and microwaves end up the ugliest place in the office. 

If you and your coworkers have office cleaning as one of the understood duties of your job it can be hard to divide the work in a way that everyone deems fair. In these cases, we recommend making a shared calendar of responsibilities where the jobs are rotated among the team. Everyone can help keep each other accountable and keep the office clean for each other. This will promote not only a pleasant workspace, but a healthy one as well. 

 

The BEST way to ensure that your work space is clean and healthy is to hire the professionals to do the job. Let your team focus on their expertise and we can step in and show you our expertise. Give the team at 208 Cleaning a chance to show you what experts and professionals we are in the cleaning world. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

Keeping your own home clean and sanitized is tough enough, let alone a busy, high traffic area like a workplace break room or kitchen. In today’s article, we’re going to cover some best practices for keeping these areas clean and sanitized and ready to help your employees stay happy and germ free year round. 

Deploy Public Rules For The Kitchen And Breakroom

It seems simple enough, but without a strict set of rules in and around the breakroom, things can devolve into utter chaos. Put up a sign in an easily viewable area that denotes the rules of the communal area so that everyone is aware of them and that they can follow them daily. An example of a set of rules that will help keep the area clean could go something like this:

• Clean up messes as they happen. Use the cleaning supplies under the sink
• Label all of your lunches and food clearly to avoid mix ups
• If you finish the last cup of coffee in the carafe, please make a fresh pot for the next person
• Take your food and drinks home each night or they will be thrown out during regularly scheduled cleanings each week
• Replace and restock condiments and coffee add-ins like sugar packets and stir sticks if you see they are out
• Wash your dishes when you are done with them and leave them to dry on the drying rack. No dirty dishes left in the sink or at desks, please!

Tidy Up… Then Sanitize 

If you are in charge of cleaning up the kitchen or have just taken the task upon yourself because you are a fantastic person, then we have some advice. Once you have everything put away and restocked and tidied up, it helps to then sanitize the high-touch areas within the kitchen. High touch areas are places like:

• Refrigerator handles
• Kitchen sink and the faucet handles/knobs
• Cabinet doors and handles
• Storage drawer handles
• The inside of the refrigerator, especially the meat storage area
• The doorknobs leading into and out of the kitchen
• If there is a TV in the breakroom, then sanitize the remote control

Offer Free Face Masks And Hand Sanitizer At The Entrance To Communal Areas Like Kitchens And Break Rooms

While the pandemic may be officially over, the threat of spreading germs like colds and the flu are very much still around. If you can offer your employees at least the option of wearing a mask, especially if they may be coming down with something, then you can reduce the impact of sickness in and around the office. That is a win-win for everybody!

Set A Schedule For Clearing Out Fridges And Cabinet Food Storage Areas

Make sure that the fridge and other food storage areas used by employees are cleaned out top to bottom on a regular basis. Sometimes weekly will work or twice a month for smaller offices. The important part is to not allow messes or old food to sit and spread germs as they rot.

For The Road

Putting together the perfect breakroom cleaning schedule is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

One of our flagship services that we are proud to offer is a weekly cleaning of your business’s office space. We know that you want to be able to concentrate on your strengths when it comes to operating your business and you don’t want to divert important and expensive employee time from their daily tasks to cleaning and office upkeep. That’s where we come in. We can help you to save money, time, and get valuable peace of mind when you know that your office cleaning tasks are taken care of. In today’s article, we’re going to explore the benefits that come from hiring a company like ours to help your business with professional cleaning services. 

Increase Office Productivity

The less time your staff members have to spend washing, vacuuming, taking out trash, and cleaning bathrooms, the more time they have to concentrate on business oriented tasks that help to make you money. Reduce office distractions and chores by hiring a professional cleaning company to help clean during off hours on a regular basis to help you and your team save valuable time and money. 

Enhanced Morale 

If your workplace is always kept clean, tidy, and disinfected, then your staff will tend to be happier and able to take more pride in their work, especially when compared to a workplace that is dirty, and constantly in need of upkeep. Having a regularly scheduled office cleaning can really go a long way to boosting company morale. It can even help to reduce sick leave time. Having a clean workplace allows your employees to concentrate on the work at hand rather than having to deal with garbage and cleaning tasks. 

Increase Your Company’s Image For Clients 

Having a dirty and unkempt environment for your clients is a surefire way to start off on the wrong foot. In today’s modern shopping environment, the savvy shopper expects certain things of a retailer and that is cleanliness. A clean shopping environment shows the world, and more importantly your customers, that you take pride in your work and that your offices are a safe, clean, and friendly environment to do business in. 

Cleaning Services Tailor Fitted To Your Business’s Needs

Each business has different needs and expectations when it comes to cleaning. We are here to help. We are happy to tailor our cleaning tasks and routines to fit your individual business needs. There are a lot of considerations to keep in mind when outfitting a cleaning plan for a business. For instance, a retail clothing store will have different needs as opposed to a customer service call center. The clothing store will need more attention paid to the showroom floor that the customer will be using each day while the call center may require a higher level of individual desk disinfecting to ensure that employees are less prone to spreading and being exposed to germs that can lower morale and productivity. With our vast experience in the diverse business landscape of the Treasure Valley, we can help to fit our services to your needs in the best way possible. 

For The Road

Planning your family’s recreational outings in the fall is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

It may be a little early in the season for Spring Cleaning, but it’s never a bad time to get ahead of the game when it comes to keeping your office space clean and organized. We want to help you make the most out of your Spring Cleaning time this year with this handy Spring Cleaning walkthrough for your office workstation or cubicle. You can even use these tips for your home office!

Start By Disinfecting Your Cubicle And/Or Work Station

Whether you work at a computer in a cubicle or standing up at a retail cash register, you will want to start your Spring Cleaning by cleaning and disinfecting the area that you use the most throughout the day. Prioritize high touch areas like your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and chair and then expand out from there. Here’s a quick checklist to help you get started:

• Wipe down and sanitize keyboard
• Sanitize mouse, including the cord or charging dock
• Dust off and shake out your mousepad. Lightly spray it with some cleaning solution and then pat dry with paper towels. We don’t want it damp for long. 
• If you have a wrist rest or pad, it is time to sanitize that or even replace it if it is getting worn from constant use
• Using a microfiber cloth and approved cleaning solution for monitors, carefully clean your monitor front and back
• Wipe down your computer’s tower and housing with a microfiber cloth and then if you have one on hand, blow out the rear exhaust ports with a can of dusting air (only while the machine is turned off!). Otherwise, you can carefully wipe down the dusty areas with your microfiber cloth. 
• Wipe down and sanitize your chair. It is a huge vector for bacteria and germs. 
• Wipe down and sanitize your drawers and even the surface of your desk under your keyboard as well. 

Try Our Commercial Cleaning Services (Treasure Valley)

Did you know that we offer excellent commercial cleaning services for your office? That’s right. We love to do commercial cleaning work and have years of expertise and experience to back it up. Our cleaning technicians are very thorough and can help you keep your office looking spotless year round. We have an emphasis on using natural and non-toxic cleaning solutions so that your work team is exposed to fewer chemicals each day. We stand by our work and would love to do a custom bid for your office’s needs. Set up a consultation call today and we can get you on the books for a bid. We can’t wait to hear from you. 

For The Road

Spring Cleaning around the office can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. With a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

Now that many of us are officially back in the office or are at least working from home a little less, it’s time to start really putting some thought into organizing your desk area. Organizing in this context can serve two purposes. First, it can help you work more efficiently and bring your stress levels down by reducing clutter and increasing your workflow potential. Secondly, organizing your office space will help keep it clean and sanitized so that you can help keep yourself and your coworkers healthier over the coming weeks and months. In today’s article, we’re going to explore both aspects of organizing your work area at the office. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us regarding this or if you are interested in hiring an excellent commercial cleaning company like ours! Contact us today for details. Now, on with the article! 

Start With A Quick Sort

Your desk area is going to have some clutter for sure. Start by going through the items directly on top of your desk around your computer monitor and mouse and keyboard and asking these questions of every item: Do I need this item here right now? Does this item help with my work or can it be thrown away? Have I actually used this in the last 12 months? Is it essential that this item stays here or can it be organized or put away somewhere else?

Once you can start asking those types of questions with each item taking up space on your desk, then you can quickly sort them into three piles: Keep and put away; throw away; take home. Now that you have your piles started, then proceed with each item in each drawer and cubby hole in your workspace area. 

Give Every Drawer And Area A Purpose

Now that you have things sorted into their essential parts or thrown away or designated to go home, then you can start putting things away where they belong. But, before you do that, you are going to have to make some tough calls as to where exactly everything is going to go. Everything in your desk area needs to have a home and a solid justification for being there. Essentially, if it doesn’t contribute to your work success, then it doesn’t belong in your area. Make each drawer and storage area a designated purpose and then label them as such. Once everything has a home, then you will always know where to put more items as they come across your desk through your day to day work activities. If everything has a home then there is less chance for clutter buildup. Good luck!

Clean AKA Sanitize High Touch Areas

Once everything is sorted and put away, it’s time to sanitize! Start from high to low and wipe everything down with a microfiber dust rag or slightly damp piece of scrap cloth. Once everything is wiped down, then take some bleach wipes and wipe down all of the surfaces that you regularly touch or rest your body on. Don’t forget your keyboard, mouse, and wrist pad. Also, remember to sanitize your chair as well. Give it a good wipe down top to bottom (especially the seat and armrests) just before going home for the day so that it has time to dry overnight. This will really help to reduce the spread of germs in your office for you and your workmates.

In Conclusion

Getting the most out of your office workspace can be tricky, but it is very rewarding to finally have everything where it should be. Take control of your workplace and do yourself a favor by finally organizing and sanitizing your desk area. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

With many of us finally back in the workplace for the fall and winter, it’s time we get used to (a somewhat normal) cold and flu season. If you’re a business owner or office manager, then it’s an important part of this year’s success in the office to help reduce the possible spread of cold and flu germs. Hiring a commercial cleaning company like 208 Cleaning can be an essential part of that success. We would love to help make that a reality for you and your company. Outside of that, we can also recommend a few day to day things that you can do around the office to help limit the spread of harmful and productivity-reducing germs. 

Start Behind The Scenes

Most people think to start to eliminate germs on high touch traffic areas, but that is only part of the solution. We find it is also helpful to start by looking at your building’s HVAC system and making sure that all filters are up to code, clean, and are up to the task of filtering harmful pollen, germs, and bacteria out of the air that you and your employees breathe. Since many cold and flu and COVID germs are airborne, tackling your HVAC system can be a vitally important piece of the health and safety puzzle this year. Also have your ducts cleaned and flushed and checked for leaks while you’re at it. Money well spent!

Protect The Entrances And Exits

One quick win that you can score in the battle against germs this season is to help reduce the amount of germs that are brought into your building and/or workplace in the first place. Put hand sanitizing stations and facial tissue stations at each entrance and make sure that they are kept well stocked and that the trash can nearby is regularly taken out to prevent overflow. Prevention is key! Stop the germs before they get in by encouraging your employees to sanitize everything as they enter or leave the workplace. 

Set Up Free Mask Dispenser 

It may not be mandatory these days, but it still is a good idea to keep a few masks handy for your employees who may be feeling a cold coming on or who just want to operate with an abundance of caution. Good for them! Help them go above and beyond by providing a few boxes of masks. 

Rearrange Your Workspace If Possible

Since a lot of harmful germs that cause diseases are airborne, you may want to think about rearranging your work area into a configuration that is more socially distanced. Heck, a little privacy and less crowding can also help to bring out creativity and productivity as well. Win win!

Clean High Traffic Areas Regularly

If your workplace has a breakroom, stairs with railings, conference rooms, and other high traffic and high touch areas, you will want to sanitize them each day in order to help reduce the spread of germs. You may even want to sanitize some areas twice a day or more! You can’t really go overboard here. 

Hire Professional Cleaners

That’s right! Hiring a professional commercial cleaning service like ours can greatly reduce the occurrence and spread of harmful germs this cold and flu season. Give us a call and we can start building a quote today. 

In Conclusion

Cold and flu season in the office can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! We can help you to keep your workplace clean as can be with our commercial cleaning expertise. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

If the saying “an army marches on its stomach” is true, then the break room kitchen is the heart and soul of any office space. The break room can be a place to relax, enjoy your food, or fill up on coffee and get some much needed R&R from the daily grind, but it can also be the center of office controversy and stress. Let’s explore some ways that we can help make the break room a place that sparks joy for everyone in the office and how to avoid common kitchen faux pas that you may not realize you are doing. It’s ok. We’ve all been there.

Rule #1: Clean Spills And Messes Up Right As They Happen

Even if you’re in a hurry to get to a meeting or phone call, take a moment to clean up a spilled coffee or lunch item. If you leave the mess as is and then duck out of the break room hoping that no one will notice it was you who made the mess, then that will make the rest of the day worse for everyone else who uses the break room kitchen next. They may even feel obligated to clean up the mess which could add undue stress to their plate. Please be kind and courteous when spills happen and make sure you take the time to get them cleaned up right away. 

Rule #2: Clearly Label Your Food Items In The Fridge

This can help to make sure that your lunch stays where it is supposed to be, especially if there are several people with similar lunch containers (like a brown paper bag or common lunch box etc.). If your food is labeled and stored in an out of the way place in the fridge it can help others ensure that they have enough room for their lunches and that everybody can confidently grab the lunch that belongs to them. To help keep the fridge nice and orderly, make sure that you are adding your lunch to the fridge and pushing it back as far as you can so that the next person to store their lunch doesn’t have to shuffle items around to get theirs to fit. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Rule #3: Pay Close Attention To The Odor Of Your Food

You should make sure that your lunch items don’t present an obnoxious or unpleasant odor as they are consumed or heated up. Some examples of this would be fish, steamed or roasted broccoli (raw broccoli is fine), Durian fruit, or Jackfruit, or the like, etc. These types of food, while all delicious in their own right, are not good choices for the local office kitchen. The pungent smell can be distracting to your fellow co-workers who may not appreciate the same culinary things you do. A good rule of thumb is to be aware of how pungent your food is and how it may affect your co-workers in a shared space. 

Rule #4: Restock What You Can When It’s Empty

If you see that the coffee pot has been drained or has been sitting there on the last few ounces for the last three hours, then it would be a nice thing to do for you to make a fresh pot. A fresh pot of coffee can be a nice way to brighten everyone else’s day a little bit and it takes very little effort on your end. 

As for other restocking tasks, it’s a good idea to always refill community items like creamer, sugar, disposable coffee cups, or napkins. If you use the last of a thing, then it helps if you then take a moment to replace it. A little kindness goes a long way!

This is by no means a complete list, but it is a good start to helping you and your co-workers coexist much more amicably. Need some help keeping the office clean? Give us a call for a quote! Have fun and stay safe out there!

Let’s start 2022 off on the right foot! No, we’re not talking about resolving to work out more or go on a fad diet. We’re talking about finally taking the step to hire a cleaning company for your business! Why not try something new that could help save you time, money, and hassle? Let’s look at some reasons you should hire a professional commercial cleaning company for your business this year. 

Benefit #1: You Can Ditch The Cleaning Supplies And Expensive Machinery

That’s right. If you had planned on taking it upon yourself to clean your office area yourself, then you probably looked into buying commercial grade cleaning equipment and cleaning supplies. The price tags are enough to cause nightmares! Luckily, if you hire a professional cleaning service for your business, you don’t have to buy any machinery or supplies. It’s all included. Businesses like 208 Cleaning already bought the equipment so you don’t have to! 

Benefit #2: Your Customers Will Appreciate A Professionally Cleaned Atmosphere

Let’s be honest. You didn’t go into business to be the best at cleaning commercial areas. You went into business to do what you love and that probably doesn’t involve cleaning. That’s ok. We did so you don’t have to! With trained professionals like us, you can be assured that we will apply our passion and expertise to keep your office cleaner and more sanitary than ever before. If you hire a professional commercial cleaning service, then you can have more peace of mind and be able to concentrate on your business success. 

Benefit #3: Inspire Customer Confidence And Earn More Money

In today’s shopping climate, keeping customers assured that your business not only meets but exceeds CDC recommended guidelines can mean more revenue. Confident buyers are more likely to make a purchase from a business they feel safe in and are likely to spend more than their less confident counterparts. Cleaning and disinfecting regularly are great ways to keep your customers happy and confident. 

Benefit #4: Your Employees Will Be Happier

It doesn’t just take happy customers to make a successful business. It takes happy employees too! If your area of business is kept clean, disinfected, and looking great all year around, then your employees will be happier, more productive, and take more pride in their company. All of these things have tangible effects on your business’s bottom line. 

Another side benefit to hiring a professional cleaning service: fewer employee sick days. Who would have thought that a cleaner working environment would mean healthier workers? All kidding aside, that is a really good way to keep your employees and your yearly earnings healthy. 

Benefit #5: One Less Thing To Worry About

Knowing that your business will always be cleaned and maintained can be a huge weight off your mind. You are now able to concentrate more on your business and how to make it an even bigger success.

However you decide to spend your holiday season, make sure that you are able to feel good about keeping your house clean and in good order. Give us a call for a quote! Have fun and stay safe out there!