What’s the Difference Between Janitorial and Commercial Cleaning?

Every business wants a clean office to make a good impression. But it’s hard to know whether to get basic janitorial services or deeper commercial cleaning. This blog explains the difference so you can pick what’s best.

Janitorial cleaning occurs more often – on a daily or weekly basis. Workers vacuum, mop, take out trash, clean bathrooms, and more. This maintains a neat workplace day-to-day.

Commercial cleaning, on the other hand, tackles bigger projects but less often. Responsibilities may include scrubbing carpets, power washing buildings, polishing floors, or washing windows. This makes a deep clean for a fresh feeling.

Below, we’ll look closer at what each type of cleaning service offers. This way you can match your business’s needs. For example, offices, schools, and health centers might need different schedules or tasks. Both cleaning types do important work to keep an environment healthy and looking its best.

 

Maintaining Day-to-Day Cleanliness with Janitorial Services

Janitorial services focus on consistent and thorough cleaning to preserve functionality, safety, and aesthetics on a daily basis. That means cleaning technicians handle tasks like:

Daily Surface Dusting and Wiping Down

Janitorial crews thoroughly dust and wipe surfaces throughout your facility to remove gathered dirt, dust, and fingerprints that degrade visible presentation. They target accessible areas including:

  • Desks, cabinets, bookshelves, and other furniture
  • Countertops, appliances, and kitchenettes
  • Partitions, window sills, and edges/corners that attract dust
  • Doorknobs, switches, handrails, and high-touch points
  • Office equipment like copiers, printers, technology, supplies

Using microfiber cloths and authorized cleaning products suitable for each furniture and surface material, they restore clean sightlines and tidy staging to create a polished, orderly aesthetic.

Floor Care Through Sweeping, Mopping, and Vacuuming

Floors undergo considerable wear with daily foot traffic and spills. Janitorial crews provide consistent floor care to prolong lifespan and safety. Services include:

  • Thoroughly sweeping and mopping tile, wood, laminate, and vinyl using specialized cleaners formulated for each flooring
  • Lifting dirt from grout lines and removing stuck-on spills that dull appearances over time
  • Vacuuming carpeted areas and entryways, moving furniture to access edges and hard-to-reach spots
  • Using proper signage and allowing floors to fully dry to prevent slips

This routine care lifts embedded dirt and abrasive grit that accelerates floor degradation. It also eliminates tripping hazards from debris while restoring brightness and luster dimmed by grime accumulation.

Trash Removal and Bin Liner Replacements

Overflowing waste receptacles create unsanitary conditions and unpleasant odors if neglected over an office day. Janitorial personnel stay ahead by:

  • Emptying trash bins from all areas into designated dumpsters, complying with any recycling policies
  • Replacing used liners with fresh liners to keep bins hygienic and odor-free
  • Ensuring ample liners stocked per trash volume to get through each day without overflow

By continually addressing trash removal, facilities remain free of messes that compromise air quality or reception areas.

 

Refreshing Environments with Commercial Cleaning Services

Commercial cle­aning services offer thorough cle­aning on a regular basis. While janitorial crews handle­ daily maintenance, these­ services focus on dee­p cleaning for a refreshing e­nvironment. They use spe­cialized equipment and cle­aning products to clean hard-to-reach areas that accumulate­ grime over time.

Inste­ad of daily service, commercial cle­aning is scheduled at longer inte­rvals, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. This allows for focuse­d attention on larger-scale proje­cts, which would be difficult to achieve during daily janitorial route­s that work around occupants. Normal daily activities can resume be­fore, after, and often e­ven during these compre­hensive cleaning se­ssions.

Carpet Cleaning Services

Heavy foot traffic inevitably embeds dirt, dust, and stains into carpet fibers despite regular vacuuming. Commercial cleaning crews perform restorative deep cleaning using powerful truck-mounted units, including:

  • Hot water extraction to lift ground-in soil from carpet backing and foundations near sub-floors
  • Rinsing with cleaning agents suited for fiber content, ensuring full soil suspension without attraction back to carpet strands
  • pH-balanced detergents to break hydrocarbon bonds that lock particulates to fibers
  • Thorough rinse-and-extraction removal paired with high-powered fans accelerates drying time

This equipment flushes away dulling grit and materials that accelerate carpet wear. It revives vibrancy and comfort underfoot while protecting sizable facility investments.

Difficult-Access Disinfection

Microbes accumulate rapidly on overlooked surfaces like HVAC vents, ceiling fixtures, and upper storage areas. Commercial cleaning teams strategically access these areas for contamination reduction, including:

  • Utilizing commercial lift equipment to access ceiling assemblies, pipes, and building infrastructure requiring periodic inspection
  • Disinfecting ventilation outputs to protect indoor air quality and comfort
  • Dust removal and cobweb elimination within structural beams and hard-to-reach areas that influence space aesthetics over time

Facility managers can elect electrostatic application, fogging, or alternate methods ensuring full-space infusion for critical contamination control.

 

Choosing the Right Cleaning Service for Your Needs

When determining appropriate cleaning assistance, facility managers should consider environmental usage plus budget factors. Examining key differences helps select suitable service types.

Consider Janitorial Services When Needing:

  • Consistent basic cleaning even daily for heavy traffic floors and surfaces
  • Ongoing restroom availability with continual resupply and sanitization
  • Proactive removal of routine trash that employees generate
  • Tidy communal kitchens so workers can conveniently prepare meals
  • Quick responses if small spills or messes require immediate attention

Janitorial services suit most working environments needing reliable day-to-day care suitable for maintaining daily operations.

Consider Commercial Cleaning Services When Requiring:

  • Occasional comprehensive cleanings for customer-facing storefronts
  • Regular deep carpet cleaning extracted soil and revitalized fibers
  • Tough cleaning of ADA grip tape, parking garages, and pathways with embedded dirt
  • Complete exterior power washing reviving building facade curb appeal
  • Accessing tall warehouses or retail spaces for ceiling and fixture cleaning

Commercial cleaning works well for facilities prioritizing periodic intensive refreshments after heavy use intervals.

 

Budgeting for Commercial Cleaning Services

Fortunately, commercial cleaning services scaffold to accommodate constraints big or small. Whether an individual office or multistory headquarters, customizing visit intervals/tasks fits budgets through scalability. Streamlining janitorial roles to immediate necessities while utilizing commercial cleaning a few times annually can realize substantial savings while keeping interiors fresh.

 

Commercial Cleaning and Janitorial Services with iNX

Both daily and commercial cleaning services play crucial roles in maintaining the cleanliness and functionality of a building or space. While daily cleanings focus on keeping up with regular traffic and activities, commercial cleanings take a more intensive approach to prevent long-term wear and tear. Both are essential for creating a safe, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing environment for the community they serve. 

By understanding the differences between these services, individuals and organizations can better determine their cleaning needs and plan accordingly for optimal results. So whether it is a daily touch-up or an annual deep cleaning, investing in professional cleaning services is crucial for maintaining the overall condition of any space.

If you are interested in exploring how an iNX can improve your business operations, we invite you to get in touch. With over 20 years of experience, we have established systems to drive operational excellence. Fill out the form below to start a conversation around the possibilities!