Did you know that one of the main reasons companies find it difficult to maintain clean restrooms in older office buildings is because of overcrowded occupancy levels?
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Mad Men, you know the commercial office buildings of the 1960s featured spacious offices large enough to double as a private conference room.
What a time to be alive, right?
Then the 1990s came, and corporate America began the transition to cubicles. And today, despite the emphasis on remote work, on-site employees are forced to work in smaller spaces or share cramped workstations with their peers.
The corporate philosophy behind this workplace stuffing has always been to reduce costs by increasing productivity while paying for less space.
Unfortunately, the more people you pack into a small space, the more likely you are to run into unintended consequences, especially when keeping your public restrooms clean and sanitized.
The Challenges of a Smaller Restroom Facility
When originally designed, it was easy to maintain clean restrooms in these old office buildings from the 1960s. Unfortunately, the architects and developers were unaware of the potential trend of fitting more workers in the same space. They only added enough restrooms and stalls to accommodate a floor with minimal employees.
The result is a restroom that simply isn’t equipped to handle today’s larger workforce. And it’s not exactly easy to remodel an office to create additional restrooms or expand existing ones.
Of course, you can see where this is going. More workers in the same space mean increased traffic in and out of the restrooms. Combine this with our newfound emphasis on the importance of personal hygiene and you have new challenges on your hands trying to maintain clean restrooms.
- More pathogens (viral, bacterial, fungal) are present on high-touch surfaces.
- Increase in complaints due to empty paper towel and toilet paper dispensers.
- More frequent spills and overflows.
- Ever-present odors due to unreliable deep cleaning.
- Higher costs due to paper goods and disinfectant spray usage
Many cleaning service providers take shortcuts to resolve many of these problems.
For example, instead of using a disinfectant spray to clean the high-tough surfaces, they might simply use water. They could also leave an industrial roll of unperforated paper towels on the restroom counter. They might even place plug-in air fresheners in an attempt to mask the ever-present odors.
How to Keep Your Smaller Restroom Clean, Fresh and Well-Stocked
Let’s be honest. There’s no easy solution for keeping your smaller restroom running efficiently. The most effective solution would be to secure a bigger budget. One way to do this is to educate senior management on how a better-maintained restroom improves your company’s bottom line.
- Improves employee morale.
- Reduces sick days.
- Increases productivity.
Another solution is to upgrade your restroom to be more efficient. Replace your old-fashioned paper towel dispensers with electric versions that reduce the overuse of hand towels. Also, switch out your old toilet paper dispensers with bigger versions that hold larger, industrial-size rolls.
Work the math and find more cost-effective options for disinfectants and other cleaners. Perform deep cleaning regularly to eliminate the funk build-up that causes those disgusting odors. And have a plumber do preventative maintenance to ensure your toilets always operate at peak efficiency.
To learn how Dallas Janitorial Services can help keep your little restrooms operational in a big way, call us or drop us a line to ask for a free on-site consultation.
