Working in an office can be great, but cleaning it while also working can put you in a big time crunch. Many companies hire someone to clean their office, who will usually charge by the hour. So, how can you estimate the time and cost of cleaning your office?
It can take one to several hours to clean an office, depending on the size of the office, the number of cleaners, and how dirty the office already is. Moreover, offices with lots of furniture tend to take longer to clean. And special cases such as tough stains on the floor can add to the time.
In this article, I will go over how long it takes to clean different size offices, how the office should be cleaned, and how to calculate cleaning hours.
How Long Does It Take To Clean an Office?
Cleaning an office can take anywhere from one hour to 10 hours. Several factors contribute to how long it takes to clean an office. The first is the office’s area.
One person can take several hours if the office is 10,000 square feet (929 square meters). However, if the office is tiny, it can take about an hour for one person to clean.
Another factor is the number of items in the office. How many desks, rugs, windowsills, nooks, and crannies are in the office? The more items in an office, the more things to dust under and wipe down.
The last contributing factor is how dirty the office is. If the office has a lot of employees, there will be more dirt and trash than if the office only has two people. It also depends on how well the employees pick up after themselves. Some may keep things very tidy, while others may not.
For an office, you can expect to have it cleaned 2-3 days a week, depending on the factors listed above. Expect a few hours for each cleaning day to calculate how many hours you’ll have to pay for each week.
After the first couple of weeks, you’ll know what to expect for your office.
How Do Professionals Clean an Office?
Professional cleaners usually go through a routine because they’re being paid to complete a job. They also use correct cleaning sprays and cloths, such as specific sprays for the toilet, compared to sprays meant for wood.
Here’s a list of things your professional cleaners should be doing unless you’ve agreed otherwise:
- Cleaning the bathrooms, including toilets, sinks, mirrors, sweeping, and mopping the floor.
- Cleaning the kitchen/break area, including the counters, sinks, table, underneath kitchen appliances, sweeping and mopping the floors.
- Wiping down all desks and computer screens and cleaning under anything that can be moved.
- Cleaning windows and windowsills.
- Vacuuming any area rugs or carpet.
- Wiping down baseboards.
- Dusting in the corners of walls.
- Wiping down door knobs and lightswitches.
Depending on the contract, professional cleaners may take your trash out, or the employees might have to do it. Some will also clean the inside of your microwave and fridge. This all depends on their agreement and those asking to clean the office.
How Long Does It Take To Clean a 1000 Square Feet Office?
A single person should be able to clean 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) in an hour to an hour and a half. This also depends on whether the person is deep cleaning and how dirty the office is.
Cleaning areas between 1,000 and 5,000 square feet (93 to 465 square meters) should take one to two hours, and so forth.
The smaller the office, the fewer things there are to clean. However, this is just a general estimate, and cleaning times can vary depending on whether you’re deep cleaning.
Even though the office is only 1,000 square feet (93 square meters), it will still take some time to clean correctly. So, if someone is cleaning the office within 20 minutes, they’re skipping cleaning some things.
If several people are cleaning a small office, it will take no time at all to get done.
How Often Should a Small Office Be Cleaned?
A small office should be cleaned at least once a week, but it can depend on the number of employees and how much dirt and dust collect over the span of a week.
If you find a small office becoming very dirty during one week, clean it twice a week instead. This could be if you notice a thick layer of dust by the end of the week or see dirt clearly on the floors and carpets.
How Do You Calculate Cleaning Hours?
You can estimate the hours it takes to clean an office in multiple ways. If you want to get highly technical and calculate the cleaning times, you can do so for each task and add it up.
According to ISSA, you can take the square footage of the office and divide it by the production rate per hour and then multiply that by 60 to get the number of minutes as your answer.
You can do this for sweeping, dusting, etc., and then add up all the totals to calculate the total amount of time.
According to Commercial Cleaning Corp, the standard rate is $0.07 – $0.19 per square foot if you need to calculate how much to charge for cleaning. So for 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) at $.07 per square foot, the cost would be $70.
Some cleaners charge by the hour according to the square footage of the place. For instance, 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) can cost anywhere from $200 to $400.
Final Thoughts
It can take anywhere from one to several hours to clean an office. This all depends on if the office is small or large.
Another factor is how many people are cleaning the office. A large office can take an extremely long time for one person to clean, but if there are several cleaners, it will take less time.
Depending on the conditions, a small office can get away with being cleaned once or twice weekly.
