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Best Practices for Cleaning Schools

Tips on Cleaning Timelines to Keep Everyone Healthy and Happy

Keeping schools and universities clean has never been more important than it is this year. Schools, like any other area for gathering and activity, can be a literal playground for germs and infectious diseases. Keeping schools clean can help slow the spread of the flu, common cold and COVID-19. 

Not only does keeping your school clean help stop the spread of illnesses, but it is also something that generates pride for your school. When your building is clean, your teachers, staff and students will all enjoy coming to school and take pride in it. It also helps you put your best foot forward to parents and other visitors, such as prospective students.

Here are our best practices for cleaning schools:

Day Porters

A day porter is a person who is stationed in a building to assist with daily facility duties. These duties are generally cleaning related, such as mopping up spills, but they also can change light bulbs, restock paper and soap supplies in restrooms when needed, and keep common areas clean and free of trash. The day porter works in conjunction with the rest of your cleaning team to provide continuous cleaning efforts. 

High Touch Areas

Electrostatic Spraying

Traditional dry and wet dusting and cleaning are tried and true methods. However, electrostatic spraying should be employed weekly or bi-weekly. What is electrostatic spraying? It is the process of spraying a fine cleaning mist that is electrostatically charged onto surfaces and objects. The positively charged particles in the spray aggressively adhere to these surfaces and objects, allowing the cleaning solution to really clean, making it a great solution for germ-ridden areas. It is also perfect for sensitive places such as clean rooms and labs. 

Disinfecting high touch areas is key to keeping the environment of schools healthy for everyone. This should be done multiple times a day and can be done by a day porter. Also, until a vaccine is found for COVID-19, staff and teachers should be helping with the efforts of cleaning these hot spots to ensure that everyone is as safe as possible. Be sure that the rags that are used to clean high touch areas are washed regularly to prevent spreading germs around. 

Restrooms

These germy areas should be cleaned once to multiple times a day depending on how heavy the traffic is in the restroom. Day porters can help to clean spills and keep the paper and soap products stocked, however, a good disinfection by cleaning crews should be done at least once a day. 

Kitchen and Cafeteria

These areas should be cleaned often and thoroughly. Cafeteria high touch points and areas should be wiped and sanitized several times a day. Floors should be mopped and kitchen surfaces disinfected daily or several times a day. Appliances should also be wiped down and sanitized at least daily. 

Floors

Carpeted areas should be vacuumed daily and hard flooring mopped daily. When bad weather hits, such as rain or snow, avoid slips and falls by having your day porters set out additional mats and caution signs as well as mop up any excess water. They can also sweep debris from windy fall days throughout the day to keep your entryways looking clean. Waxing or buffing hard flooring should be done as needed depending on the traffic in the different areas of your buildings. 

Windows and Window Treatments

Windows can be cleaned weekly or bi-weekly, though windows in and around doors should be cleaned daily or even throughout the day by a day porter. This will keep them clean and smudge free. If you have any openable windows, make sure to clean touch points daily. Window treatments, such as blinds, should be dusted weekly to keep germs and dust from building up.

Other Surfaces and Objects

Other surfaces and objects like radiators, baseboards, ledges and light fixtures, to name a few, should be cleaned and dusted regularly. Depending on the traffic and the surface or object, these tasks can generally be done daily, weekly or bi-weekly. For example, high traffic surfaces and areas like switch plates, door frames and hardware should be cleaned and dusted daily, while other things such as framed decor, lamps and HVAC grilles and registers can be cleaned and dusted weekly. 

Trash Removal

Trash should be removed from classrooms, lunchrooms and other common areas daily. Other debris such as shipping cartage, newspapers and kitchen waste should also be removed daily or as needed. 

Conclusion

Keeping your school’s buildings clean is of utmost importance, especially now. If you are ready to hire a team that offers a full range of janitorial and maintenance services, AK Building Services is ready to help! We understand that clean school buildings translates to healthy staff, teachers and students and fosters pride in the academic institution. Contact us today to find out what we can do for you!

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