Tips: How to Clean Office Carpet and Kitchen Area

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Tips: How to Clean Office Carpet and Kitchen Area

 

Maintaining and Cleaning Office Carpet

Office carpets can easily become the dirtiest part of the entire building. It can effortlessly attract dirt, mud and greasy residue from other parts of the office. Dirt and dust from the wheels of chairs and the underside of furniture can get trapped and overall, it becomes a bit of an eyesore.

Regularly spot clean any stains and spills as soon as they happen is the easiest way to keep your carpet looking better for the time being. Vacuuming at least twice a week is a must to keep dirt and dust from accumulating. It is smart to have a cleaning service come in and really shampoo and steam clean your carpet to make sure it is as clean as possible. It depends on how big your business is and how much traffic it has, but you’ll want to do this every 2-week to a month depending. Your carpet needs to be taken care of to avoid employees getting sick or having allergic reactions to dirt and dust within the fibres. Sometimes there are microscopic bacteria and dirt that can still get us feeling pretty bad, even if we can’t see them. So be on top of cleaning with a Professional Office Cleaning Company, as well as putting in some of your own efforts!

 

Maintaining and Cleaning Tea Points, Kitchen and Kitchenettes

Maintaining the office break room and kitchen area are some of the most important things you can do. You want your employees to stay healthy and eat food in a clean environment. Ingesting bacteria is one of the quickest ways to get sick, so constant cleaning of the kitchen and break room area is important. It is also important that the chemicals used are safe so that they, too, don’t make people sick. Here’s a brief run-down of what should be done:

 

  1. All dishes should be washed if a common sink is shared. This should really be done by employees as they use them.  Another way to avoid a pileup is to use disposable plates and utensils.

 

  1. The sink should be cleaned and disinfected. The sponge used to clean the sink and counters should be replaced every week or so.

 

  1. The microwave should be wiped down, inside and out. Bacteria can fester and thrive inside, contaminating any other food that goes in.

 

  1. The fridge should be cleaned out at least once a month. Employees should be notified of the tossing of food in case they want to save anything. It should be disinfected entirely and defrosted.

These sorts of tasks can be performed to a good level by an expert Cleaning Company like Citywide Cleaning Services. You can be sure to always have a clean kitchen.

Top 10 Tips on Doing a Final Clean Before Moving Home

Top 10 Tips on Doing a Final Clean Before Moving Home/Office

When it comes to moving house or an office, cleaning is the one task that always needs to be done. While some people love cleaning, there are many of us who don’t enjoy it all and if you are moving out of a place, the clean needs to be pretty thorough. So, how do you take the hard work out of cleaning?

These top 10 tips will not only leave your place looking clean but will help get the job done quickly. This checklist is for people that decide to do the final clean themselves and not hire a professional cleaning company. For the sake of leaving your property in the best possible condition, we always recommend using an experienced cleaning company that not only has the right tools and products but also know how to clean difficult areas properly.

 

1. Make a Checklist
Make a checklist of the rooms and the items in those rooms that need to be cleaned, e.g. the oven in the kitchen, etc.

 

2. Clean Once the House or the Office is Empty
Cleaning once all furniture and boxes have been moved out by removalists will make cleaning easier.

 

3. Have the Right Tools
Have all the cleaning supplies you need such as brooms, cleaning cloths, disinfectant, buckets, and gloves, etc before you start.

 

4. Start from the Furthest Point from the Front Door
By starting in the rooms that are furthest from the front door you eliminate the chance of messing up the already clean spaces.

 

5. Clean from the Top Down
Start cleaning from the tops of the cupboards and shelves so that any dust that falls won’t mess up already clean floors.

 

6. Clean One Room at a Time
Once you start cleaning a room, finish it. This will save having to go back and forward checking if everything’s clean.

 

7. Use Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus oil is great for removing stubborn stains especially those left by adhesives (blu tack, sticky tape, etc).

 

8. Use Bi-Carb Soda to Clean the Oven
Bi-Carb Soda is great for removing grease and stains from the oven.

 

9. Finish with the Floors
Give the floors a final vacuum and mop just before you leave for the last time.

 

10. Set-Up a Fun and Upbeat Playlist
Listen to your favourite music while you clean, you’ll be having so much fun you may forget you’re cleaning! Hopefully, these tips will help take the hard work out of cleaning before your next move.

 

This article was written in conjunction with Hire A Mover a professional Sydney removalist company.

How to Reduce Employee Sick Leave: A Year-Round Workplace Hygiene Guide | Citywide Cleaning Company

Office-Cleaning-Necessity
How to Reduce Employee Sick Leave: A Year-Round Workplace Hygiene Guide | Citywide Cleaning Company

Citywide Cleaning Company · Workplace Hygiene Guide · 2026

How to Reduce Employee Sick Leave: A Year-Round Workplace Hygiene Guide

Most workplace sick leave comes from minor, preventable illnesses spread through shared surfaces, washrooms, kitchens and stale air — not from winter alone. Reducing it is a year-round discipline of consistent hygiene and genuine care for your people.

Cold-and-flu season gets the blame, but the bugs that empty your desks circulate all twelve months. The lever you actually control is hygiene.

This guide covers how illness really spreads at work, the hygiene measures that cut absence, a season-by-season plan, and the culture of care that makes it stick.

Get a Free Hygiene Quote Office Cleaning in London

The Short Answer

To reduce employee sick leave year-round, focus on five things: daily sanitising of high-touch surfaces, proper washroom and kitchen hygiene, good ventilation and air quality, periodic deep cleaning, and a culture of care that gives people the hand-hygiene tools they need and the permission to stay home when ill. Winter matters — but so do spring allergens, summer stomach bugs and the autumn back-to-office surge.

Charles Alabi — Chief Operating Officer, Citywide Cleaning Company UK

22+ years in commercial cleaning and facilities management across London. Charles advises facilities and office managers on the hygiene programmes that keep workplaces healthy, presentable and productive — through professional office cleaning built around how a building is actually used.

22+ years FM experience DBS-checked operatives COSHH-trained teams LinkedIn →

Key Takeaways

  • It's not a winter problem. Minor illnesses are the single biggest cause of UK sickness absence — and they spread all year.
  • The numbers are real. The ONS reports UK workers lost an average of 4.4 days each to sickness in 2025 — 148.8 million working days in total.
  • Surfaces, washrooms, kitchens and air are where transmission happens. Each is a hygiene lever you control.
  • Consistency beats the one-off. A scheduled daily programme reduces absence far more than a seasonal deep clean alone.
  • Care matters as much as cleaning. Around two-thirds of employees admit to working while ill — presenteeism spreads infection.
  • It pays for itself. Avoided absence and protected productivity routinely outweigh the cost of a proper hygiene contract.

Related Services

Office Cleaning London Professional Office Cleaning Deep Cleaning Services Washroom Hygiene Services Carpet Cleaning for Offices Managed Workspace Cleaning

The Reframe

Sick leave isn't just a winter problem

Winter gets the blame because colds and flu peak in the cold months. But the data tells a broader story. According to the ONS, minor illnesses — coughs, colds, stomach bugs — are the single biggest cause of UK sickness absence, and they circulate every month of the year. Treating absence as a December-to-February issue means leaving the other three seasons unmanaged.

Each season simply changes the threat, not the principle:

  • Winter: cold, flu and norovirus thrive indoors with windows shut and people packed together.
  • Spring: pollen and allergens drag down anyone prone to hay fever; dust disturbed by spring works adds to it.
  • Summer: heat, food left out in kitchens and harder-working washrooms raise hygiene and stomach-bug risk.
  • Autumn: the back-to-office surge concentrates people again and resets the transmission cycle.

The constant across all four is the workplace environment itself — and that is the part an employer can actually control. Our companion piece on office hygiene and its impact on business goes deeper on the evidence.

The Mechanism

How illness actually spreads at work

Transmission in an office is predictable. It happens in four places, and each responds to a specific hygiene measure:

High-touch surfaces

Door handles, lift buttons, shared keyboards, phones, printer screens and kitchen taps collect and pass on germs between dozens of hands a day.

Washrooms

The highest-risk room in any building. Inadequate cleaning, empty soap dispensers and poor ventilation turn it into a transmission point.

Kitchens & breakrooms

Shared fridges, microwaves, kettles and worktops — food residue and shared contact make these a year-round hotspot.

Air & ventilation

Stale, poorly ventilated air keeps airborne particles circulating. Dust and allergens build up where cleaning doesn't reach.

One person arriving unwell in an under-cleaned office will infect a far higher share of colleagues than the same person would in a regularly sanitised one. The cost isn't only the sick days — it's the knock-on hit to projects and deadlines when several people are out at once.

The Measures

The hygiene measures that reduce sick leave

These are the controllable levers — the practical core of any programme to keep a workforce healthy through the year.

Daily

Touchpoint sanitising

Targeted disinfection of handles, switches, rails, shared devices and taps on every visit — not just surface dusting.

Daily

Washroom hygiene

Full sanitisation, restocked soap and sanitiser, and odour and ventilation control. The highest-impact room to get right.

Daily

Kitchen & breakroom

Sanitised worktops, sinks and appliance touchpoints, with waste removed before it becomes a hygiene issue.

Ongoing

Air & ventilation

Reducing dust and allergen build-up, supporting good airflow, and keeping vents and surfaces clear.

Periodic

Deep cleaning

Scheduled intensive cleans reaching what daily routines can't — the reset that stops grime and germs accumulating.

Always

Consumables & waste

Soap, sanitiser and tissue never run out; bins are emptied before they overflow. Simple, and constantly neglected.

The two highest-leverage upgrades for most offices are washroom hygiene services and periodic deep cleaning services — the areas daily routines most often under-serve. For the full scope of what a programme can include, see what commercial cleaning covers.

Year-Round Plan

A season-by-season hygiene calendar

Same principles, shifting priorities. Use this to keep the programme active all year rather than reacting in January.

Winter

Cold, flu & norovirus

Step up touchpoint frequency, prioritise washroom and kitchen sanitising, keep sanitiser stocked, and respond fast to any outbreak with targeted disinfection.

Spring

Allergens & reset

A spring deep clean to clear winter dust and allergens; attention to soft furnishings, carpets and vents for hay-fever sufferers.

Summer

Heat & food hygiene

Harder-working washrooms and kitchens, more frequent waste removal, and odour control as temperatures rise.

Autumn

Back-to-office surge

Occupancy climbs again — review frequency, refresh the deep clean, and prepare for the winter season before it starts.

Beyond Cleaning

Care, not just cleaning

Hygiene infrastructure only works alongside a culture that lets people use it. The biggest single driver of office outbreaks isn't a missed clean — it's the employee who comes in unwell. Work Foundation research found that around two-thirds of employees have gone to work while ill when they felt they should have stayed home. Every one of them is a transmission risk.

  • Make it safe to stay home. A clear, fair sick-leave policy that doesn't punish absence is the most effective anti-infection measure most employers overlook.
  • Make hand hygiene easy. Visible sanitiser stations, well-stocked washrooms and soap that never runs out remove the friction.
  • Use hybrid sensibly. Encourage anyone with symptoms to work from home where the role allows, rather than tough it out at a shared desk.
  • Communicate during outbreaks. When something is going round, a quick reminder plus a visible increase in cleaning reassures staff and slows spread.

This is the "care" half of the equation — and it costs little. The cleaning programme protects the building; the culture protects the people in it.

The Business Case

What sick leave actually costs — and how hygiene compares

The ONS reports an average of 4.4 days lost per worker in 2025, totalling 148.8 million working days across the UK. For a single office, multiply your headcount by your day rate and the loaded cost of cover and disruption, and the annual figure is rarely small.

Against that, a structured hygiene programme is a modest, predictable line. The question isn't whether you can afford proper cleaning — it's whether you can afford the absence that under-cleaning quietly causes. For how cleaning investment translates into broader business value, see how office cleaning improves your business; for current rates, our breakdown of office cleaning costs in London sets expectations before you request a quote.

Putting It In Place

What to put in place — and what to ask your provider

Whether you manage cleaning in-house or contract it out, these are the components of a programme that actually reduces absence. When choosing a provider, our guide on how to choose a cleaning company covers what to insist on.

Must have

  • A written specification naming touchpoint sanitising, washroom and kitchen hygiene as daily tasks
  • Reliable consumables supply — soap, sanitiser and tissue never running out
  • A periodic deep-cleaning schedule, not just daily routines
  • Trained, vetted operatives and the right disinfection products (with COSHH data sheets)

Should have

  • The ability to step up frequency or deploy targeted disinfection during an outbreak
  • A quality-audit process so standards don't quietly drift
  • Frequency reviewed against actual occupancy at every renewal

How We Help

Healthier London workplaces, all year round

Citywide builds hygiene into every contract from day one — daily touchpoint sanitising, full washroom and kitchen hygiene, periodic deep cleaning, and the ability to step up fast when something is going round. All operatives are DBS-checked and COSHH-trained, with a named account manager and same-day absence cover so the programme never lapses. We deliver office cleaning in London across all central zones and the surrounding boroughs.

City of London Canary Wharf West End Holborn & Covent Garden Shoreditch & Liverpool Street Kensington & Chelsea

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Does office cleaning really reduce sick leave?

It reduces the transmission of the minor illnesses that cause most absence. Regular sanitising of high-touch surfaces, proper washroom and kitchen hygiene, and good air quality all lower the chance that one unwell person infects the wider team. It's risk reduction, not a guarantee — but across a year it makes a measurable difference.

Is sick leave only a winter issue?

No. Winter brings cold and flu, but minor illnesses circulate all year, and each season has its own drivers — spring allergens, summer stomach bugs and food hygiene, and the autumn back-to-office surge. A year-round programme beats a seasonal reaction.

Which areas matter most for workplace hygiene?

High-touch surfaces, washrooms, kitchens and ventilation. Washrooms and kitchens are the highest-risk rooms, and shared touchpoints are the main transfer points — which is why daily sanitising of these areas has the biggest impact on absence.

How often should an office be cleaned to keep staff healthy?

For a fully occupied office, daily cleaning with daily attention to washrooms, kitchens and touchpoints is the standard, supported by periodic deep cleaning. Hybrid offices may need fewer full visits but should keep high-risk areas on a daily or near-daily schedule. Review frequency against actual occupancy at every renewal.

What can we do beyond cleaning to cut absence?

Make it culturally acceptable to stay home when ill — presenteeism spreads infection — keep hand sanitiser and soap freely available, use hybrid working sensibly for symptomatic staff, and communicate clearly during outbreaks. Care and cleaning work together.

This article offers general workplace-hygiene guidance and is not medical advice. Figures are drawn from ONS sickness-absence data (2025) and Work Foundation research.

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Ready When You Are

Build a healthier workplace, all year round

Tell us about your office and we'll design a hygiene programme around how it's actually used — daily sanitising, washroom and kitchen hygiene, and deep cleaning that keeps absence down. Trusted for office cleaning in London by businesses that can't afford to lose people to preventable illness.

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5 Ways to Get Settled After a Move

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Welcome Home: 5 Ways to Get Settled After a Move

A house isn’t a home until you’ve cooked and eaten a meal as a family under its roof. But before you get that far, there are a few things you can do to make a new space your happy place.

Clean the Things You Can and Can’t See

Unless you’ve commissioned the building of a new property, your home’s previous owners likely left behind a few remnants of their existence. The best time to eliminate their footprint is before you move your furniture through the door. Spend at least a day cleaning the nooks and crannies of your new home. Moving.com recommends starting high with the ceiling fan, shelving, and other overhead fixtures that don’t often get a good wipe-down. Alternatively, consider hiring a local cleaning company!

Add a Few Personal Touches

Once things are neat and tidy, you may bring in your large pieces of furniture. These should be followed by important items, such as family photographs and your favorite throw pillows and blankets. Avoid the temptation to immediately fill your home with the entirety of your belongings. You’ll want to take a day or two to get comfortable with the layout of your new home so that you can find the best place for your stuff. Before hanging pictures, make sure to clean the frames thoroughly. Check out Today for ammonia-free cleaning instructions for frames and glass.

Help the Kids Get Comfortable

Your children may be nervous or frightful when entering your new home for the very first time. Help them ease into their new life by giving them a tour and allowing them to run through the home flipping switches and checking out all of the little hiding spots where they will soon play. Property Reporter further encourages giving your children a say throughout the decorating process. You might, for instance, let them choose the color scheme of their new bedroom or assist in choosing a light fixture for the kitchen — within reason, of course.

Tackle Easy Projects Before the Place Gets Cluttered

Even if the property is in good condition, there are a few minor home maintenance tasks that will eliminate worry further down the road — and many are best done in an empty home. If you plan to paint, do this prior to moving your furniture. Likewise, swapping out to kitchen hardware, fixing toilet or faucet leaks, and changing the air filter in your home’s heating and cooling system will prevent nagging little issues from keeping you up at night. Money Crashers offers more information on easy home maintenance projects to keep your investment in tip-top shape.

Introduce the Dog to His New Digs

If your family is one of the 26 percent of UK households with a dog, you’ve likely already anticipated moving your pet with you. But you won’t truly be settled until he’s had an opportunity to inspect each room and sniff every inch of the lawn. Upon his arrival, make sure there is a safe space where he can transition. This area should include his favorite toys and bedding. Rover recommends letting your dog visit before you move. A word of caution: If the previous tenants had pets, your dog may be encouraged to mark the territory, so make sure you deodorize the home thoroughly prior to his first time on site.

No matter how much work you put into prepping your house, it takes time for it to feel like a home. No worries. Soon, you will be making new memories, and this unfamiliar environment will become your home in body and heart.

 

Image via Pixabay