For a successful operation and streamlined efficiency in 2023, regularly cleaning the warehouse should be a top priority for businesses in any industry. Studies have shown the clear connection that cleanliness has with overall job satisfaction and productivity.
If you are not keeping your warehouse clean and organized, you are not ensuring employee health and safety. Accidents and illness can lead to missed workdays and potentially hazardous consequences, especially in logistics facilities.
Keeping a cleaning routine can optimize the pace and workflow of your employees. It is critical to talk with your staff to set common expectations and solicit feedback to assure buy-in. Adding extra tasks can inspire the “it’s not my job” mentality, and keeping expectations reasonable and fluid can avoid contention. Depending on the size and structure of your warehouse, you may find that having a professional cleaning service perform regular deep cleaning is most efficient.
Do you feel your staff is ready to take on the rigorous task of a deep clean? Then understanding how to prioritize duties and create a step-by-step process can greatly improve the speed, consistency, and efficiency of the chore. Follow these guidelines on how to deep clean a warehouse to keep your operation running smoothly and employees happy.
When to Deep Clean Warehouse?
Arranging a convenient cleaning time is largely dependent on who is going to perform the cleaning: inside staff or an outside professional cleaning service. To deep clean a warehouse requires hours-long tasks that need special time allotted to prevent interruptions in the normal workflow.
If you are hiring a professional cleaning service, operating hours should never be set aside for warehouse cleaning services. Having them occupy the same space as warehouse staff trying to do their job hinders productivity for everyone. Schedule the crew to clean on weekends, evenings after close, or even early morning before your first employees arrive, depending on what would be convenient for their team and yours.
With an in-house staff, it can be hard to find a time for everyone to be fully and readily available for warehouse cleaning services. Ideally, if you can set aside several hours specifically devoted to the task, you can finish quickly and ensure everyone is held accountable for their role in the warehouse cleaning procedure. Try to incentivize them to stay extra hours after work or come in on a weekend. In many instances, this is not feasible, and you must find a slow period during a normal workday to set up a deep cleaning.
Warehouses that see a lot of traffic and significant dirt buildup should try to schedule monthly deep warehouse cleaning services. Others may need only to schedule their deep cleans once every three to six months. At a minimum, warehouses should be cleaned from top to bottom at least twice annually.
Differences Between Regular Cleaning and Deep Cleaning: Which Should You Do More?
It is important to note the difference between deep cleaning and regular cleaning.
Deep cleans are particularly essential to remove large buildups of dirt, dust, mold and other grime that accumulates in the often hard-to-reach and untouched areas. Regular cleans are less expensive, but these services don’t clean as thoroughly as deep cleans do.
Here’s how they differ and a warehouse cleaning checklist to guarantee an effective warehouse cleaning procedure.
Regular Cleaning
Everyday cleaning tasks are part of deep cleaning but should be done as they arise to prevent injury and maintain daily operations.
To make sure you have an effective warehouse cleaning procedure, here are some services to include on your warehouse cleaning checklist for regular cleaning:
- Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming large buildups or spills on the floor as they are noticed.
- Allotting 5 to 10 minutes at the end of every shift to clean individual workstations. They should be ready for use by the next person.
- Empty garbage and recycling bins daily. Have one available at each workstation if possible.
- Assign cleaning zones as necessary for light sweeping, debris pick-up, organizing, and wiping down equipment.
- Keep brooms, mops, vacuums, wipes, spray cleaners, gloves, and floor cleaners readily available for clean-as-you-go and end-of-day chores.
Deep Cleaning
When you are ready to deep clean your warehouse, you will have to integrate many of the everyday cleaning tasks into an exhaustive top-to-bottom effort.
Assign each employee a responsibility zone, trying your best to remain equitable in the amount of time and attention each zone requires. Make sure expectations are clearly laid out and employees agree on their assigned zone to prevent delays, miscommunication, or disagreements in the process.
For the first few cleans, have your team note any issues they faced, materials they needed, and the amount of time it took to complete the task. This will allow you to adjust and prepare to increase the speed and efficacy of subsequent cleans.
Follow this warehouse cleaning checklist to ensure all areas and key focal points are covered:
- Prep the area: Remove all mobile machinery, vehicles, and other large items to open the space and improve the cleaning process.
- Clean high areas first: Debris travels down, so avoid additional cleanup by starting with high-up dust and dirt on walls, vents, cooling ducts, windows, and top ledges of pallet racks. Use extension dusters and cleaning spray as needed to work through stuck-on grime.
- Sweep floors and vacuum rugs: Take time on this step, as floors are a primary source of dust and dirt on fixtures and inventory. As the normal operations proceed, debris on the floor gets kicked up and settles just about everywhere, so this step serves as an appropriate preventative measure.
- Disinfect high-touch surfaces: Use disinfectant wipes and sprays on any high-touch areas. These can include machinery, printers, keyboards, monitors, door handles, and bathroom fixtures, among others. Make sure machinery is turned off, using lockout procedures as necessary. Throughout the process, if unsafe areas or materials are noted, make sure they are communicated and labeled as necessary to prevent future injury.
- Deep scrub floors: After sweeping all the material that accumulated on the floor from the dry clean, thoroughly wet mop the floor to remove any remaining dirt. Use degreasers to pick up stubborn stains from spills, tire marks, or shifted machinery and inventory.
Your warehouse cleaning efforts can require fine-tuning even after several runs. The important thing is to communicate effectively and solicit feedback to ensure that the tasks are fair, within reason, and effective. If you feel that the cleanup requires more than is reasonable to expect from your team, consider hiring a professional cleaning service.
Common Warehouse Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The warehousing industry employs an estimated 3.4 million workers, so keeping their workspace clean and safe is a major task.
With years of experience in multiple areas, including warehouse floor cleaning service, Dallas Janitorial Services has seen it all. No matter where you are, it’s easy to make mistakes.
So, when it comes to a regular or deep clean warehouse, here are some mistakes many people make and how to avoid them.
Not Cleaning Spills On The Floor
When it comes to doing a warehouse floor cleaning service, many people leave spills with the intention of cleaning them later. The problem is that many spills are left forgotten, creating an unsafe environment.
This is a dangerous reality, considering that slip and fall accidents are huge liabilities for manufacturers. These slips can also cause injury, causing an employee to possibly be out of work for weeks which can impact productivity.
Chemical spills can also be hazardous to the environment. Leaving these dangerous materials on the floor can cause damage to machinery, affect air quality, or cause serious accidents.
Not Having An Emergency/Disaster Plan
Speaking of accidents, it’s also important for manufacturers to properly plan for a disaster or emergency.
Whatever the risk may be, being proactive in these scenarios helps everyone feel safe and more comfortable doing their job. It can also help at the moment, giving workers a procedure to follow so everyone can spring into action.
Improper Storage of Cleaning Materials/Equipment
Storage for industrial cleaning materials and equipment varies from product to product.
For example, some materials can withstand extreme temperatures while others cannot. Certain chemicals cannot be stored near each other due to their explosive reaction when mixed together.
These reasons, and more, are why it’s important to pay close attention to how you store everything. Doing so can help decrease any risks and dangers.
Lack of Training For Cleaning Staff
Whether it’s a warehouse floor cleaning service or something else, it’s crucial to have a procedure for a deep clean warehouse.
This includes safety regulations regarding machinery and cleaning chemicals and training on how to use and store everything. By doing this, you’re ensuring the safety of every worker and guaranteeing a safe environment.
Unnecessary Investment On Expensive Cleaning Equipment
Sometimes, one mistake manufacturers make is investing in expensive equipment when there’s a less costly chemical solution to the challenge.
Remember, to kill most germs, viruses, and bacteria, use appropriate cleaning products with at least 70 percent alcohol content.
To avoid this, research and advice are crucial. Before you purchase any expensive equipment, make sure you need it by researching other alternatives and asking professional cleaners for their thoughts and suggestions.
Warehouse Deep Cleaning and Maintenance Tips
Cleaning large areas takes time, so don’t expect to clean it all in one day. Large areas are also well known for trapping dirt and having pest problems due to the open space.
To make this process as painless and effective as possible, make sure you have a comprehensive cleaning list that covers everywhere in detail.
- Clean every spill on the floors, walls, and furniture immediately.
- Apply protective floor coatings every two months or whenever the coatings have been damaged.
- Replace dead light fixtures whenever the light bulb starts to flicker.
- Clean air conditioning filters or use air purifiers to improve the air quality around the warehouse.
- Regularly clean up clutter to prevent pest problems like rodents or roaches.
- Fabric window blinds are hard to clean, so avoid using them. Instead, use Venetian window blinds that are made from plastic, resin, or wood.
- Check your shelves and pallets for safety. Ones that are worn down should be replaced.
- Clean the offices along with other areas.
While all of these tasks and more can be done by your own workers, keep in mind that professional cleaners exist for a reason. Not only are these professionals well-trained, they also have extensive knowledge of a diverse range of challenges and issues.
So, make sure to call for professional help to conduct a thorough and detailed cleaning.
FAQs on Deep Cleaning a Warehouse
What is deep cleaning in a warehouse?
Deep cleaning in a warehouse often involves a cleaning team that might perform special procedures like sanitization, floor treatments, and other services to ensure the warehouse is clean and safe for workers.
It’s important to note that the cleaning team does not have to be professionally outsourced. You can also clean the warehouse on your own.
How do you deep clean a warehouse floor?
When it comes to cleaning a warehouse floor, it may be best to invest in some cleaning machinery that grabs nuts, bolts, and pallet chips.
If large debris is on your floor, consider buying a scrubber that can capture those large pieces. This way, you can deep scrub and sweep at the same time.
How often should a warehouse be cleaned?
How often a warehouse should be cleaned depends on a variety of factors like space, the work being done on a daily basis, and more.
Based on these factors, some warehouses may only need cleaning once a week. But that is the bare minimum.
How do you clean a dirty warehouse?
The process of cleaning also changes from warehouse to warehouse. For example, some may sweep and scrub daily, while others do so every day or weekly.
However often you clean, having a consistent schedule is key. In general, it’s a good idea to have a broad sweeping schedule every day and then a more detailed sweep every other day or once a week.
Are You Deep Cleaning Your Warehouse Safely and Correctly?
Remember, when it comes to deep cleaning a warehouse, safety in all aspects is crucial. You also don’t need to hire a professional team, but you may want to if it feels too complicated.
The process can be tedious, but the work is necessary to ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone in the space. So, are you deep cleaning your warehouse safely and correctly?
At Dallas Janitorial Services, we have a detailed understanding of the importance and breadth of warehouse cleaning. The services provided by our crew are executed with the highest quality equipment and expert touch, backed by a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. Contact our team today for more information on how we can help ensure the productivity of your workplace and the well-being of your employees.
