Tips for Controlling Office Odors

Working in an office means you also must deal with the habits and odors of your coworkers. Asking your fellow workers to keep the refrigerator clean or empty out their bins is a great place to begin controlling these odors. However, more pervasive smells will make it difficult to remain productive and could make office workers sick. Here are a few tips to help you control office odor.

Deal With Everyday Odors

You can tackle some general, everyday odors with changing policy and making sure you hire the right janitorial staff. Here are a few simple tips to help you control everyday odors you will encounter in the office:

• Create an odor maintenance protocol. Install automatic air neutralizers throughout the office. Choose a product that is an odor neutralizer and an air freshener.
• Create a cleaning schedule. Basic cleaning rules could be wiping down your desk and keyboard every day after work, cleaning out the trash, and ensuring you don’t leave any food or drinks overnight.
• Hire a janitorial service. Depending on your needs and budget, the janitorial service could perform basic cleaning several times a week or month and a more thorough cleaning several times each year.

Investing money on cleaning products and hiring a quality janitorial service is important to maintain the appearance and odors of your office and the health of your office staff.

Keep Your Floors Clean

Whether your office space has hardwoods, marble, carpets, or laminate, maintaining the floors properly will help control the odors in your office. This is especially true of carpets because, in addition to being the source of many odors, carpets can also harbor mold. The first step in keeping your carpets mold-free is to make sure they remain clean and dry.

Create a protocol to clean up and eliminate stains. Hire a professional to eliminate the tougher stains for you which will help control office odor. Testing your carpet for mold contamination will also help you eliminate the problem before it begins impacting the health of office workers. If you suffer a flood, hire a water cleanup and mold remediation company immediately.

Clean Your Office Furniture

In addition to cleaning your desk and other wooden furniture, you must keep upholstered furniture clean. Regularly clean and sanitize office chairs, lounge chairs, and couches to prevent unsightly odors. Hire a company to maintain your office furniture, which includes regularly vacuuming and deep cleaning, to help improve the longevity of the pieces while preventing odors.

Avoid Restroom Odors

One of the most common sources of foul odors inside an office is the bathroom. Create a memo that outlines the staff’s responsibility for keeping the bathroom clean. Provide the staff with safe cleaning products and rubber gloves to allow your staff to eliminate odors and accidents on a day to day basis. The bathroom should be cleaned and deodorized by professionals regularly.
Depending on the size of your facility and the number of employees, you should have your bathroom professionally cleaned and sanitized at least three to four times each week. In addition to performing a regular cleaning several times a week, your professional janitorial service should periodically perform a more thorough cleaning.

This deep cleaning includes wiping down the bathroom walls and the walls of the stalls. The grout between tiles should also be cleaned professionally to prevent bacterial growth and control odors.

Preventing and eliminating odors throughout your office space will help increase the longevity of your equipment, prevent illness, and make the office a more pleasant place to work. For professional cleaning services for both regular and deep cleaning, contact DRC Contract Cleaning.