Mark National Cleaning Week with a Review of Your Cleanliness Standards
When you enter a space, what do you notice?
A clean space impacts all your senses and gives a first impression that communicates safety, care, professionalism, and even trust.
You may feel it before you notice it: a polished floor, a clean scent, a smooth countertop, a quiet calm where everything is in its place.
On the other hand, odors from unattended trash can, fingerprint-cluttered windowpanes, sticky handrails, and marks on the wall can communicate a completely different experience.
Your sensory experience is emotional and immediate. And that reaction has an impact on the health and wellbeing of tenants and visitors to your facility.
That’s why cleaning—from daily cleaning to deep cleaning—is the foundation of facility management.
This year, we’re celebrating National Cleaning Week by making sure we’re all aligned on what clean is supposed to feel like and why it matters.
The week, which starts annually on the fourth Sunday in March, is an opportunity to revisit what it means for spaces to be “clean.” While every cleaning checklist should be tailored to your specific processes, facility, and compliance requirements, you can use this checklist as a starting point.
Sight: Does this space look clean?
Alignment check: Is everyone prioritizing key areas that impact first impressions? Does each space reflect its purpose, whether clinical, academic, corporate, or residential?
- Prioritize high-visibility areas, such as entryways, lobbies, restrooms, and breakrooms.
- Give high-touch surfaces—floors, glass, fixtures—consistent attention.
- Pay attention to blind spots, like corners, baseboards, behind doors, and under furniture.
- Keep supplies and equipment stored neatly and discreetly.
Smell: Does this space have a neutral, fresh scent?
Alignment check: When entering the space, do you feel comfortable taking a deep breath?
- Proactively clean lingering-odor-prone areas, including restrooms, kitchens, and other areas with trash, food, or chemicals.
- Check ventilation areas as part of routine cleaning.
- Keep scents subtle and appropriate to the environment.
Touch: Do I feel comfortable in this space?
Alignment check: Do the surfaces in this space—floors, counters, doorknobs—feel clean, comfortable, and safe?
- Match your cleaning products with the needs of the space.
- Eliminate residue from restroom fixtures, tables, railings, and handles.
- Remove and clean any sticky, dusty, or slick substances from floors.
- Disinfect high-touch surfaces at a frequency that matches the use of the space.
Sound & Movement: Is cleaning interrupting or enabling the experience?
Alignment check: Does the cleaning schedule support the people using the space rather than compete with them?
- Complement cleaning schedules with peak use times
- Minimize disruption—including cleaning and equipment noise—during business hours
- Review quick-response processes for both emergencies and high-traffic events
- Determine when visibility is helpful and when discretion is important
People & Processes: Are we setting up our teams to succeed?
Alignment check: if a new team member joins tomorrow, would they be able to understand our systems and jump right in? Or would our processes confuse them?
- Provide clear, accessible documentation of expectations and cleaning schedules
- Implement a system that makes work orders easy to submit and easy to track
- Review systems to ensure consistency between shifts, sites, and teams
- Provide ongoing training opportunities for team members
- Schedule recurring time to review data and refine processes
“Clean” is the end result. But it’s also a relationship between people, the spaces we occupy, and the systems that keep spaces looking pristine.
Your checklist may need to include additional items. For example, our UG2 teams working in life science follow very precise, industry-specific sanitation procedures. But when everyone is on the same page about what “clean” means, it elevates the experience for everyone that walks in the door.
Each day, and especially this week, share your gratitude with the people who uphold the highest standards that keep our spaces not just pristine clean but healthy and safe.