Did you know there is a difference between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting?

Yup, there is!  But what does each of them actually mean?

Let the experts at Red Door Cleaning explain:

Cleaning

We clean to take care of our surfaces.  This is when we pay attention to dust, finger prints, dirt, spilled juices, etc. We clean to ensure our surfaces are nice and shiny and appealing to the eyes.  We aren’t necessarily worried about removing germs during this phase.

Sanitation

Sanitizing our surfaces is what we do when we want to kill a certain amount of germs or disease-causing bacteria. This is used to keep us healthy when we are out in public.  Often you will hear about different stores or restaurants sanitizing objects between customers.

Disinfecting

We disinfect surfaces to completely eliminate all disease-causing germs.  Our goal here is to destroy Bacteria! Usually, this involves some sort of chemical, or even sometimes heat!

What are the different types of Disinfectants?

• Hospital-grade disinfectants found in hospital settings
• General disinfectants found in stores for you and me to buy

Hospital-grade disinfectants are EPA registered and are for use in hospital, dental, and any clinic setting. They must kill microorganisms usually found in healthcare settings. They will kill and help eliminate the spread of viruses and germs.

General disinfectants that anyone can buy from your local store are great for your home. They won’t be as strong as a hospital-grade solution but when in your own household it’s not needed. They will still kill germs and prevent the spread of them

So, when should you clean and when should you disinfect?

When cleaning your own home soap and water will do the trick, wiping up spills or splatter from cooking. There are some times when disinfecting will be needed and that’s after meat prep, you want to make sure you are disinfecting the cutting board, knives and even the sink. Other examples are bathrooms in your home, where there’s a higher chance of bacteria being transferred. Also if you know certain people in your home are sick or they are immune-compromised you want to pay closer attention to disinfecting points of contact like light switches, doorknobs, handles…Etc.

For most people, day to day who are healthy and don’t have any health issues regular bacteria found in your home is good for your system as it helps you build up your immunity.

So how exactly do we disinfect?

Let me explain:

Using your choice of disinfectant (wipes or spray) you want to make sure the surface stays wet! This is how we know it’s doing its job. So whether you are spraying a cutting bored or wiping a light switch you want to make sure it’s extremely wet and stays that way for 3-5 minutes before wiping it away. That’s the dwell time it takes for a surface to become completely disinfected. By following these guidelines you can ensure that any surface you are disinfecting is truly cleaned and free form germs or microorganisms!

With the spread of COVID-19 the importance of cleaning and disinfecting workplaces has increased in importance. Keeping your office clean can help reduce the spread of these viral infections. This is especially important for essential workers who don’t have the luxury of working from home during this pandemic. Although the best way to fight these infections is with an office cleaning company like Red Door Cleaning who uses the best cleaning products you can still do your part to help reduce the spread. These are some tips that you can do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infections in your office.

Surface Cleaning

Clean any surfaces right after you have used them including your workstation, tables, or any other surface that other people might use. When cleaning surfaces you should wipe it down in one direction. Don’t wipe in the opposite direction as it can deposit germs that were just cleaned up.

Prevent Cross Contamination

Do not use the same cleaning cloths for multiple surfaces. Use different cleaning cloths for your surfaces to prevent cross contamination.

Know Your Cleaning Products

Household cleaning products advertise their ability to clean up to 99.9% of germs and bacteria including different flu strains. Using cleaning products is the best way to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 although they haven’t been scientifically proven to work.

Disinfecting Your Tech

Don’t forget to clean your keyboard, mouse, and phone. These have the most contact with your hands and you want to make sure they are disinfected as much as possible.

Wash Your Hands Regularly

The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to regularly wash your hands with soap. Wash your hand for at least 20 seconds and make sure to do a thorough job. Also regularly use hand sanitizer after touching the different surfaces in your office.

We hope these tips can help those who are still working in their offices during this pandemic. Even though your best chance to help reduce the spread is by hiring an office cleaning company like Red Door Cleaning to you can still do your part to help keep your office safe and clean for you and your fellow coworkers.

Starting immediately Red Door Cleaning will now be using a concentrated disinfectant solution. This new solution exhibits effective viricidal activity against influenza, vaccinia virus, avian influenza, herpes simplex type one, human immunodeficiency virus type one, Newcastle disease, laryngotracheitis virus. We can mix it to a hospital disinfection to disinfect against pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin intermediate resistant staphylococcus aureus.

Red Door Cleaning will be distributing it to our employees instead of the Lysol to use on common touch points such as doorknobs, railings, elevators, tables, chairs, light switch plates, door locks, bathroom taps, toilet flushers etc.

We believe this is a better disinfectant and will help disinfect all areas in the buildings we clean. Contact Red Door Cleaning for your commercial building and office cleaning needs.

Increased employment productivity

A clean office means a more productive office. Having an office that is clean and not covered in dirt and dust leads to happier employees. Studies have shown that working in an office that isn’t routinely cleaned can have negative effects on your employees well being. A cluttered office can lead to a lack of productivity for your employees. Successful employees need the tools, systems, and environment to be productive and commercial office cleaning helps them have a focused, clutter-free workspace.

Another way a clean office increases productivity is by reducing the sick days taken by your employees. Office cleaning by Red Door Cleaning reduces the surface viruses and bacteria that are found in employee work areas. Keep the moral high in your office by using a professional cleaning company that understands the best techniques to prevent cross-contamination and promote cleanliness.

A safer work environment

The health of employees is always a concern and many businesses are wanting to use environmentally friendly products. At Red Door cleaning we make most of our cleaning products and make sure they are environmentally friendly so there aren’t any toxins lingering in the air or any perfumed cleaning products that can cause a reaction to some people. Having clean, fresh air is important for a safer and healthy work environment.

Allergens can also affect employees in your office and our cleaning experts are trained to limit the spread of any bacteria trough our commercial cleaning process. Employees carry different allergens from outside your office around with them from pet hair and other substances which can be left behind in the carpet and furniture. Having regular carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning to remove dust and allergens from surfaces is important in keeping your employee’s productivity at their best.

Professional look of your office

When potential clients or visitors enter your office, you want their first impression of your business to be good and having a clean office can help with a positive first impression. The image your company projects to potential clients are important to its success and having a dirty office can project that your business doesn’t care or performs sloppy work. Having a clean, pristine, sanitary office produces an impact on those who visit your office and lead to higher confidence in the services of your company provides.

It is important to reduce clutter the accumulates in stairways, halls, and other walking areas in your office. Keeping trash cans clean means more than just replacing the bag along with efficient dust and dirt removal performed routinely. Many areas require to be thoroughly cleaned daily while some can be cleaned on a weekly basis. Areas where people eat like the office kitchen should be cleaned daily and the kitchen appliances, they use every day.

Higher quality cleaning

When deciding on a commercial cleaning company it is important to learn about their cleaning process. Not all cleaning companies are the same in the level of service they perform. Red Door Cleaning provides full office cleaning from office cleaning, post-construction cleaning, and floor stripping and waxing services. Our cleaning services cover a wide range including deep cleaning to restoration and remediation

Developing an office cleaning plan

Every company is unique and requires a cleaning plan the best suits them. At Red Door Cleaning our commitment to providing a great service starts with better understanding the specific needs of your company and your cleaning requirements to develop a cleaning program that addresses all your areas of concern and provides recommendations on services and how we would implement them. 

During our cleanup jobs, we sometimes come across cool and weird things. Here are some of our favourite and weird stories from different cleaning jobs.

One of the strangest things we have ever found while cleaning a large office building was a used pregnancy test in the woman’s washroom. The test was negative.  But we always wondered who it was from and we wondered if they were hoping it would have read positive.

We have also found some funny notes that employees have passed on to each other during a meeting.  One, in particular, read “Please just kill me now”.  I think it was safe to assume it was a dull meeting.

During Halloween a specific office we clean dresses up a CPR dummy into a scary zombie named Karl.  They put “Karl” in an empty office sitting at the desk.  You can see straight into the office as the entire wall was glass.  For weeks when my staff entered the office to clean, it scared them.  They knew it was coming, but it still made them jump daily!

Sometimes we find a lot of beer cans in personal garbage under people’s desks. They must’ve had a tough day at work.

We cleaned a bathroom and found a whole outfit thrown away.  We are talking about shoes, underwear, shirt, pants.  This has happened multiple times in this building.  No idea why but maybe they weren’t happy with their outfit choice for the day.

Dog poop.  Yup, we have even found some dog poop in our offices.  We even cleaned it up for our client.

We have a couple of buildings that have a shop attached to the back and they have a cat that lives there.  Its to take care of the mice in the shop, but the cats are so SO FRIENDLY!!  We just love having pets around.

We also once walked in on a client in his office doing yoga.  He was mid yoga pose when we burst into his office to clean.  Whoops! We didn’t know he was there!

We look forward to sharing more funny and weird stories so keep an eye out on our blog for new updates.

The Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre has set to open tomorrow January 15th, 2020 after going through 3 years of renovations. Renovations included:

• Conversion of the freshwater pool to saltwater
• Select tilework within the facility (pool and pool deck)
• Upgrades to pool deck drains
• Removal of exterior exit vestibules
• Front entry modifications including the addition of a cash handling room, and revisions to the family change room
• Concrete structural remediation
• Mechanical and electrical upgrades including the ventilation system, pool skimmers and piping, and select lighting
• Select plumbing fixture upgrades in the change rooms

The renovation for the pool was originally supposed to take 1-year but it ended up taking 3 years and Edmontonians have been anxiously waiting for the pool to open. The project timeline for rehabilitation of the Bonnie Doon facility was extended due to major changes to the amount of work and project budget. Often times with older buildings, the full extent of work is not uncovered until there is an investigation deep into the building structure. This work cannot occur while the building is occupied and in full operation.

At Red Door Cleaning we as a company are proud that we were chosen to complete the post construction and final cleaning of the pool. We were given the post-construction cleaning job because we use safe, non-toxic eco-friendly anti-bacterial cleaning products.

Registered programs at Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre start in January. Bonnie Doon is known for fun, fitness, and friends in a family atmosphere!

Did you know Red Door Cleaning makes our own cleaning products?

Many cleaning supplies can irritate the eyes or throat, or cause headaches and other health problems.  They often contain toxic chemicals and that is certainly something we don’t want our clients or employees breathing in every day. With the use of our colored microfiber cloths (no cross contamination here!) and some pure organic essential oils, we disinfect your office naturally.  Although we can’t make every product we use, some jobs are tough and need more than elbow grease to get the job done, we certainly try! We also re-use the bottles and containers that our products are stored in, so we aren’t throwing away hundreds of bottles each year.  Red Door Cleaning tries to cut back on as much waste as we can, and this is just one of the many ways we do.  One of our favorite blends is pure peppermint, lemon, and rosemary mixed together along with our secret organic ingredient to create the best natural cleaner and disinfectant. We are obsessed with the smell and makes us want to never stop cleaning! 

The kitchen in the office is usually a place of socialization.  People go there to get freshly made coffee from the coffee pot, or water from the water cooler.  They might even grab an afternoon snack from the fridge.  So let’s talk about ways to keep your office kitchen cleaner so you will want to spend more time there.

#1 Countertops  – It is a good idea to keep your countertops bare, or almost bare.  Cluttered countertops make a kitchen seem messy and dirty, even if it’s not! Keep items in cupboards and drawers out of the way.  You can even get cute small baskets to hold items on the countertops such as tea, coffee, and sugars.

#2 Smelly Garbage – No one wants to take out the garbage!  After you remove the bag there is usually a smelly odor that lingers even after the garbage is gone. You can take a solution of pure vinegar, or disinfectant to spray on the inside of the can after each use.  Throw the paper towel away in the smelly garbage so there is no lingering smell.  Ask us at Red Door Cleaning to even do this for you!

#3 Smelly Sink – Does your office sink smell like old food?  We have a simple solution!  Put ¼ cup of baking soda down the drain – be sure not to run any water.  Then pour 1 cup of vinegar down there as well.  It will fizz and bubble.  Let it do its work for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes you can wash it down the drain.  You’ll be left with a nice smelling sink drain.

#4 Rinsing Dishes – Most offices have a dishwasher. This is something our staff and even empty for you! But, sometimes dishes don’t get rinsed off well before they’re put in the dishwasher. This clogs up the dishwasher, which may cause it to break, leaves the dishwasher smelling foul, and it doesn’t clean your dishes well.  So be sure to give all of your dishes a good rinse to ensure there is no food stuck on them before you put them into the dishwasher.

#5 Fridge Cleaning – Absolutely no one likes to clean out the fridge.  So have Red Door Cleaning do it for you!  Once a month we dedicate a day to clean out the office fridge.  Someone from the office sends out an email to all the staff asking them to remove their items by a certain day.  We then go in and remove all items, wipe and disinfect the fridge and replace items that are not expired.  This is a great help to our clients!