Due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, most offices and workplaces are wondering how they can sanitize their office equipment. 

As an example, most employees might frequently use the copier, whilst overlooking it when it comes to proper sanitization. But here comes the interesting fact – did you know than the average desk has 400x more germs than a toilet seat? With this in mind, you can already see how not disinfecting your office supplies could lead to many illnesses, whilst even carrying these germs back home to your family members which could affect their health. 

What should you disinfect every day 

You should disinfect your office equipment every single day, and it is particularly important to do so for office buildings where certain supplies (such as staplers or buttons on the copy machines) are getting touched by multiple people throughout the day. 

The main office supplies items that must be cleaned and sanitized daily are: 

  • Staplers 
  • Phones and Headsets 
  • Tape dispensers
  • Copy machine and printer buttons 
  • Keyboards and computer mouses 
  • Chairs (especially the armchairs where people tend to pull the chair out)
  • Doorknobs 
  • Stress balls 

How to disinfect correctly 

When it comes to disinfecting your workspace and office supplies, you should start cleaning each item with the best cleaning products and disinfectant that you could find. 

Disinfectant products

First of all, you could use disinfectant wipes and a hand sanitiser spray, as this is one of the best ways to kill a large number of germs and bacterias from large surfaces. Grab a disinfectant wipe and clean all your staplers, tape dispensers, copy machine buttons, and everything in between. But to keep in mind is that it’s very important to wipe all the surfaces thoroughly, not only the ones that are the most often touched. 

Now when it comes to writing supplies, you should wipe down each individual pen or pencil (more than once), as these tools are usually used multiple times a day by several employees. Another item that must not be overlooked is all the office chairs, which must be cleaned at least once per day as well, every single day. Make sure all the chair surfaces are wiped (headrest, arms, seat, back of the chair, etc.). There is a wide variety of cleaning products that you can use on chairs, however, the chair’s material is very important, as some sprays and wipes can seriously damage the look of the chairs (especially if they are made out of leather). 

Another important area to sanitize and disinfect are all the common areas in the workplace such as break rooms, kitchens, and all the items that are inside. In general, the items with the highest amount of germs and bacterias are the coffee pots, fridge handles, countertops, and hobs, and they can be easily cleaned with sanitizing wipes and various sprays. 

Compressed air 

To note is that computer keyboards need a lot more care if you want to keep them in good condition, so try to avoid cleaning them with disinfectant wipes. These products can easily damage the keyboard and cause their painted letters to fade. 

Instead, you can use compressed air on the keyboards to remove all the dust, dirt, food crumbs, liquids and any other elements that should not be there, and that could cause illness or disease. 

Soap and Water 

Another great sanitizing solution for any office or workspace is soap and water. Whilst keyboards can be easily cleaned with compressed air, you can also grab a damp piece of material with a small amount of soap on it to clean the supplies. 

This is a great method to use when cleaning phone keys and headsets too. 

Cleaning solutions to avoid 

There are many household chemicals that could damage your devices, and which will therefore need replacement. That will be much more costly than buying the right cleaning and sanitizing products straight from the beginning, right? 

Try to avoid: 

  • All cleaners that contain bleach, ammonia, acetone, peroxides, methylene, chloride, or any petroleum-based materials 

In terms of anti-bacterial wipes and sprays, most types are acceptable to clean your devices and office supplies with. But just to make sure, check the ingredients for each cleaning product to make sure that they don’t contain any of the potentially harmful ingredients that we spoke about earlier on. 

In the meantime, try to take precautionary measures every time you’ve finished using your office supplies by hand-washing properly, and having proper hygiene overall. 

Tip? Prevent the spread of viruses and bacterias by placing a bottle of hand sanitisers with alcohol (or spray) near each office supply or equipment for everyone to use before and after touching them. For more information, we have an article on how to prepare your office following the COVID-19 Safty Guidelines and 5 questions to ask before hiring a professional cleaning service that we think you will like. 

At Ace Cleaning, we work with clients and businesses of all sizes to maintain a clean and safe office during these challenging times. If you require office cleaning services in Leicester or across the Midlands, contact us today for a FREE evaluation.