Hiring a Cleaning Service: What Kind of Company Should You Choose?

Hiring a cleaning service to outsource janitorial duties is a good idea for any business. A professional cleaning service specializes in providing optimal results and allows your employees to focus on the work they are paid for. An additional benefit to hiring a cleaning service is that you won't have to hire in-house cleaning staff and pay them a salary, benefits, and workman's compensation. Essentially, hiring a cleaning service is a cost-effective solution to commercial cleaning. When deciding on which cleaning service to hire, you have to first determine if you prefer working with a large, national company or a small "mom and pop" operation.

The Difference between a Small Cleaning Service and a Large Cleaning Service

A small cleaning service will provide you with personalized attention and some small companies may even specialize in the particular maintenance or cleaning service your business requires. However, small companies may not be well-equipped, follow a regular cleaning schedule, or provide you with services on short notice. A large cleaning service will typically have all of the best equipment and utilize the most effective cleaning techniques. Due to having more staff members, a large cleaning service is typically more reliable. However, you may find that with a large cleaning service, the attention is less personalized. To get the best of both worlds, you can hire a large company with franchises. Franchises are run by independent owners/operators that provide services on a more personalized level yet are still equipped with everything a large company has.

Cleaning Greener

When you hire a cleaning service, it's important to choose a company with up-to-date policies and practices. Obviously one of the biggest concerns in our recent times is the environment. Find out from the cleaning service providers you interview what they are doing to protect the environment. While it's hard to find cleaning companies that use only environmentally-friendly cleaning products, it is possible to find a cleaning service that strives to lessen its impact on the environment. Rather than dwelling on what cleaning chemicals a company uses, it's important to question how they use those chemicals. For example, hospital-strength cleaners may be necessary for some industrial cleaning jobs but there are techniques that allow janitors to cover a larger area while using less of the cleaning product.

Other ways you can determine whether a cleaning service is “green” or not is to find out if they use any energy saving techniques. You can also find out if they separate trash items for recycling. Another point to consider if the cleaning service provides items such as toilet paper and paper towels is whether they supply eco-friendly, recycled products. The use of microfiber towels for cleaning is also more eco-friendly and efficient than using cotton towels. Microfiber towels trap dirt more effectively and can be washed and dried more times than cotton towels.

In conclusion, when you hire a cleaning service to outsource janitorial duties at your workplace, be careful about what kind of company you choose because it can greatly affect the quality of the service you receive. Make sure that the cleaning service you choose practices green cleaning policies. Also, try to find a franchise so you can get the personalized attention a small cleaning service offers while at the same time enjoying the benefits provided by a large cleaning company.