Ask Mrs. Clean: House Cleaning, Stain Removal and Organizing Tips

[MaintenanceOne]

Bacteria growth is a big concern in every office and working environment. Because of the amount of people that share the space, special cleaning is necessary to ensure the employees, clients, and visitors are protected against harmful bacteria.

The first step towards protecting yourself and the people you work with is to understand bacteria and how it spreads. In this way, you can make informed choices and identify the office areas that may be at higher risk of growing bacteria.

Following are some facts about bacteria that will interest you, but most importantly, will freak you out. You will also read about some of the most common ways in which bacteria jump from one surface to another:

- Bacteria can’t spread by themselves.

- We leave bacteria on the things we touch; thus, they can be virtually everywhere. Pay special attention to doorknobs, telephones, desktops, bathrooms, kitchens, or any other surface that is regularly touched by human hands.

- Bacteria can also travel through air, in the moment someone sneezes, for example.

- Animals and insects are carriers of bacteria too.

- Bacteria reproduce by dividing. When the cell gets to its maximum size, it begins to join in the middle until it breaks in two.

- The breaking of one cell takes between 15 and 30 minutes.

- In five hours, one bacterium can develop into more than a million bacteria!

- It is very rare to see a case where only one bacterium would start contaminating a surface; it normally starts with a bunch of bacteria. So, you can imagine why it is so easy for them to grow into millions and billions of bacteria so quickly.

Yes, we agree, the thought is scary, but there are very effective ways of killing bacteria:

- With cold
Cold will not truly kill the bacteria, but it will hold back their growth.

- Direct sunlight
You can also use ultraviolet light.

- Heat
You can use sterilization, this is, steam under pressure; or moist heat, this is, autoclaves; or boiling; or dry heat, this is, hot air sterilization.

- Chemical agents
Here we find disinfectants or germicides.

Any office cleaning service you hire to take care of your workplace should understand bacteria and how they grow and move; this is an important way of showing they are professionals, and that they cares for your space and the people in it.

Troy Royster
Troy Royster is the owner of Maintenance One, a cleaning services company that offers janitorial services, commercial cleaning, and office cleaning services.

[mathew]

We have been working as the commercial cleaners for so many years and we have experienced that most of the people use home disinfectants, such as chlorine bleach, which is an oxidizing agent. Chlorine bleach is a 5% solution of the sodium hydrochloride, and is quite effective and it kills pathogens and parasites. In addition to this, there are different groups of disinfectants, such as alcohol, aldehyde,oxidizing agents, phenols, etc. So, one gets a large variety of disinfectants these days, buy any of them for cleaning purposes.