When thinking about keeping an office clean, the average company would look at a daily cleaning service as the only solution. You might assume, as this is our industry, we’d want you to spend as much money as possible on office cleaners. Controversially, we feel that to provide the best office cleaning service, we should advise how your business can maintain a cleaner office for the least possible money, even if that money is not spent with us.
In order to see how this could be done, let’s take a look at where the majority of dirt comes from.
Our Shoes: 70-80% Of Soiling Within An Office Is Tracked In
Especially during the Autumn and Winter months, we see an increase in mud, dirt, leaves and water tracked into offices on the shoes of employees and visitors. During snowy months, this can be even worse with excess water, salt, grit and mud smearing across a reception floor and leaving an entrance mat sodden.
What Is The Cheapest Solution To Reduce Tracked In Dirt?
Well quite simply, you could ask all your employees and visitors to take their shoes off at the door and store them in a shoe rack by the door, perhaps whilst providing slippers to roam around the office. Sadly though, although this is perfectly acceptable in a home environment and we don’t doubt some offices may actually do this, it is not really something which most staff or visitors would expect. If this is your thing though, check out an article on the no-shoe policy office by startup, Gusto.
Image from: Business Insider (see link to Gusto no-shoe policy)
How Does Reviewing What My Business Spends On Matting Save Money?
Reduce additional office cleaning hours
By ensuring you have the correct matting for the needs of your office, your business can save money on the amount of time needed for an office cleaner to mop floors, vacuum carpets and wipe down stairs. It is likely that during winter months, a office cleaner can be sidetracked from usual tasks due to excessive time needed on flooring. If you don’t have suitable matting, you may find that your office requires additional cleaning hours during winter months to maintain a good standard.
Avoid additional floor maintenance costs
In addition to this, floor maintenance such as office carpet cleaning, scrubbing and strip and sealing can be carried out less often. In extreme circumstances, it could be the difference between replacing flooring altogether. It is important to note that to attempt vacuuming a wet carpet or mat will likely result in breaking the vacuum cleaner and is dangerous for the cleaner.
Avoid costs associated with office slips and falls
By reducing the likelihood of excess water from rain, snow, ice or mud on your office floors, you can save your business the guilt, hassle and costs associated with someone slipping and falling on your premises.
Lay Your Office Entrance Mats For Best Effectiveness
When we walk through double doors, the absolute norm in an office is to find a long rubber backed mat laid horizontally across the width of the doorway (because it looks aesthetically pleasing). We step through one door only, put one foot on the mat (maybe two) and then tread the rest of our dirt across the office reception flooring and onto the first carpet we come to. If you want to save as much money as possible by having a smaller entrance mat, as well as save money on office cleaning time, lay your mat vertically in front of the door which actually opens.
If your office wants to focus more on visual impression or have logo matting with a horizontal design, the most effective way would be to lay a second horizontal mat in front of your existing one, or replace it with a larger mat.
Consider Matting In Other Office Locations
Whether you have a smoker’s exit, a back door for deliveries or a high traffic corridor which leads onto a carpet, it is well worth considering matting in all of these office locations, as well as your main entrance.
Choose The Right Matting Solution For Your Office
In over 90% of the offices we visit to quote for cleaning, we find ineffective matting and it is not surprising. When purchasing a mat or signing up to a lift and lay matting service in the past, there really only was one type of mat called a ‘standard mat’ or ‘basic absorber’. This would typically have a heavy duty rubber non slip backing and a short pile top. On a good weather day and with low foot traffic, these are quite sufficient. In the majority of offices and on the majority of days however, these mats are not effective. It is now possible to get ultra absorbent mats (for wet feet and fine particles), scraper mats (for mud and debris) and combination mats which cover both requirements.
How Should I Go About Upgrading Our Office Matting?
If you have a very small office and just want to get a little extra protection during the worse months, it may be worth buying and self-laundering a couple of super absorbent microfibre doormats or similar. If however, you need large high traffic mats for your office which can be laundered on a weekly or fortnightly basis via a lift and replace service, please get in touch with aZtec to discuss our matting service or contact your current matting supplier for an upgrade. If you are in a contract, it is usually possible to upgrade to a higher priced service within the contract term.
Should you have any questions regarding your office matting requirements or cleaning service, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 01525 372322 or info@aztec.co.uk. Additionally, if you like this article, please like and follow us on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter.
