Tips to Keep High-Traffic Areas in Your Facility Clean

By Jared Sarbit

tips for keeping high traffic areas clean

Keeping a commercial facility clean can be difficult; every business has unique cleaning needs. One thing that most facilities have in common is that some areas will get dirtier faster than others. These high-traffic areas in your facility that see a lot of foot traffic will need extra attention beyond your regular cleaning schedule. We will look at common high-traffic areas and tips to keep your facility sparkling!

1. Entryways

Everyone, from employees to consumers, must pass through your doorway to enter your facility. Not only does this area see a lot of foot traffic, but it’s also the first thing a customer sees when entering your business. Installing a mat or rug at all entryways to your space will prevent dirt and other grime from spreading onto your floors. Ensure mats are laid down securely and flat, and encourage your employees to wipe their feet before entering. These mats can be cleaned or replaced as needed.

2. Floors

Even with entryway mats, floors can get dirty very quickly. Ensure that your floors are regularly swept, vacuumed, and mopped. This should be done daily or more often as needed depending on the type of facility.

3. Bathrooms

Nobody enjoys using a dirty public washroom. In addition to daily maintenance, bathrooms should be checked regularly for cleanliness. Ensure regular checkups for clogged toilets, spills, or overflowing garbage cans. Keep essentials such as soap and paper towels well stocked. Consider installing air fresheners if the smell is an issue in your restrooms.

4. High Touch Surfaces

Foot traffic is one of many ways for dirt to spread. High-touch areas in your building, like doorknobs, light switches, coffee pots, phones, elevator buttons, or any other places people frequently touch with their hands, also need special attention. Not only can built-up streaks or grime in these areas be unsightly, but cleaning high-touch surfaces regularly is important to prevent the spread of germs in your facility. High-touch areas should be wiped down and disinfected periodically throughout the day. Encourage proper hand hygiene and cleanliness among your employees.

5. Meeting Rooms, Break Rooms, Waiting Rooms

Meeting rooms or break rooms can see a lot of activity. Waiting rooms are often one of the first places a customer or client will visit before entering your business. You’ll want to ensure these rooms are kept spotless to impress potential customers and maintain professionalism within your workplace. Regular vacuuming, dusting, and decluttering of these areas are essential.

6. Keep a Cleaning Schedule

No matter the area, sticking to a cleaning schedule will ensure that all high-traffic areas in your facility are attended to. Consider adding weekly and daily tasks and areas that must be cleaned multiple times daily. Clearly defining expectations and who is responsible for each chore should keep any oversights to a minimum.

Many consumers consider cleanliness to be of utmost importance. Keeping your facility clean can require a lot of time and organization, and lapses in cleanliness can negatively affect your business. However, you can keep high-traffic areas clean by sticking to a cleaning schedule and with a little vigilance.

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Estimates are based on average commercial cleaning rates across Alberta and typical management and coverage costs. Your actual quote depends on square footage, service frequency, facility type, and scope of work. Request a custom quote above for an exact number.

The Hidden Cost of In-House Cleaning

A wage comparison only tells part of the story. Here’s what usually gets left out:

Wages and Benefits

Payroll is usually the first number people look at when they think about cleaning costs, but it rarely tells the whole story. Supplies, equipment, manager oversight, scheduling headaches, and the inevitable sick days all add up over time. By the time you account for everything, the true cost of keeping cleaning in-house can look very different from what’s on the payroll report. That’s exactly what our cost comparison tool is designed to help you see, along with what outsourcing might save.

Supplies and Equipment

Cleaning products, paper goods, vacuums, floor machines, and the replacement parts that keep them running all add up over the course of a year. Businesses that clean in-house often buy retail-grade supplies at retail prices because they don’t have access to the commercial pricing that a cleaning company gets from its suppliers. Equipment also breaks down, and replacing a vacuum or floor buffer every few years is a cost that rarely gets planned for in advance.

Management Time

Somebody has to schedule shifts, check the quality of the work, order more supplies when they run low, and step in when something gets missed. That’s real time pulled from a manager’s actual job, and it rarely gets assigned a dollar value, even though it should. If a facilities manager or office lead spends even a few hours a week on cleaning oversight, that’s time not spent on the parts of their role that actually move the business forward.

Absenteeism and Coverage Gaps

Sick days and missed shifts are part of running any team. When they happen, the work still has to get done, which usually means paying someone else to cover the shift or accepting that some tasks will have to wait. Over the course of a year, those extra costs can become surprisingly significant. There’s another effect that’s harder to measure, too. When cleaning is inconsistent, people notice. Employees notice it, clients notice it, and visitors notice it, even if they couldn’t tell you exactly why the space feels different.

Cost Category	What It Covers
Wages & Benefits	Annual pay for in-house cleaning staff
Supplies & Equipment	Products, tools, and machine upkeep
Management Time	Hours spent scheduling and supervising
Absenteeism	Missed shifts and last-minute coverage

Why Outsourcing Often Comes Out Ahead

Once you’ve seen your own numbers, the reasons behind the gap start to make sense.

Predictable Pricing

A cleaning company quote covers labor, supplies, and equipment on a single line. You know what you’re paying before the work starts, and that number doesn’t shift because someone called in sick or a vacuum broke down. Budgeting gets easier when the cost of cleaning is a single line item rather than four separate ones scattered across payroll, supplies, and management time.

No Coverage Gaps

When a member of an in-house cleaning team calls in sick, someone on your staff has to figure out what happens next. With a professional cleaning service, that responsibility shifts to the provider. If a cleaner is unavailable, arranging a replacement is part of the service, so your team isn’t left scrambling to fill the gap.

Accountability Built In

Picture Perfect Cleaning holds COR certification and provides regular service reporting, so you can see what’s being done and when, without spending your own hours checking on it. That’s the management time most in-house teams never get back. Our team also uses EcoLogo- and Green Seal-certified products, so you’re not trading cost savings for a lower cleaning standard.

Get Your Custom Quote

Wages are only one line in what in-house cleaning actually costs. Once you add in supplies, the hours a manager spends overseeing the crew, and the gaps left by sick days, the real number is usually higher than what shows up on a payroll report and often higher than what a professional service would charge for the same work. That’s the gap the tool above is built to show you, along with what outsourcing could put back in your budget.

Our cost comparison tool gives you a reasonable estimate of what you could save by switching to a professional cleaning service, not a final number. Every building is different, and factors like your cleaning schedule, the size of your facility, and the services you need will affect the actual cost. If you’d like a more accurate quote based on your space, contact Picture Perfect Cleaning, and we’ll walk you through the options.