4 COVID-19 Updates as We Keep Cleaning for Health
As we move deeper into summer, we’re seeing progress in the fight against COVID-19. At The Wilburn Company, we’re doing all we can to continue serving our clients well throughout the different stages of this pandemic – and we’re grateful to see many of our buildings reopening to occupants. One component of serving our clients is providing up-to-date information; unsurprisingly, most of the cleaning questions we get these days are COVID-related. To that end, here are four updates for this month on the COVID-19 situation. As always, consult CDC guidelines for additional information – and if you have questions on…
What Are Green Cleaning Procedures?
Green cleaning is more than a buzzword. It’s a fundamental approach that’s reshaping the commercial cleaning industry around a new set of standards. It’s a focus that puts people’s safety first. And, increasingly, it’s an essential aspect of any successful cleaning company. At The Wilburn Company, we’ve spent decades cleaning millions of square feet in D.C., Baltimore, and throughout the Maryland region. Over that time, it’s safe to say we’ve seen a few cleaning trends come and go. Green cleaning is not a passing trend. It’s here to stay. Yet, while green cleaning is increasingly recognized as an integral focus…
Are Commercial Janitorial Services Different from Commercial Cleaning?
Who doesn’t love a good Matt Damon movie? One of his most famous is Goodwill Hunting. The movie focuses on a janitor who works at a college for a living. One day after classes are let out, he cracks a mathematical equation that was considered unsolvable. From that point on the movie shifts. Someone who was once viewed as a “lowly janitor” now has a world of opportunities opened in front of him. It’s a great movie, winning several Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice awards. But it’s also a good example of how the public views a commercial…
How Much Does Commercial Cleaning Cost?
Commercial cleaning services cost from $.05 to $.25 per square foot. Premium services (deep cleaning, add-ons like floor waxing, or specialty services for healthcare or highly secure facilities) may cost $0.50 per square foot. Obviously, these square-footage costs vary widely depending on the size of the facility and the scope of services delivered. Here’s how they translate as cumulative costs at commercial buildings of various sizes and service levels: Sq. Footage Minimum Service High Service Premium Service ($0.05 per square foot) ($0.25 per square foot) ($0.50 per square foot) 8,000 $400 $2,000…
How We Approach Hiring
We believe that the excellence of our employees gives us an advantage in the cleaning services market. Our people are friendly, expert, and helpful. Thanks to them, we can provide premiere services that are more than commodities and play a major role in maintaining buildings and keeping the occupants healthy and safe. We’re grateful for our employees. Accordingly, as we’ve written before, we focus on equipping them to succeed through comprehensive training (both in onboarding and over time). And we intentionally honor our employees with special recognition for jobs done well. These two approaches (training and recognition) are critical in…
The Benefits of Commercial Vacuuming
Commercial vacuuming is an essential part of every office cleaning routine. Along with deep sanitization of bathrooms, mopping, and more, your office needs commercial vacuuming as part of a successful office cleaning checklist. So, what is commercial vacuuming? And how can it be done effectively? It’s a bit different from vacuuming your home or apartment. Commercial vacuuming uses industrial equipment designed for prolonged and consistent use. They also come with commercial power cords to keep your office safe and prevent sparking. Better for the Environment Commercial vacuuming is better for the environment than the office cleaning staple of wet mopping…
The Most Important Areas to Clean in Your Office and Why
There’s nothing better than having a freshly cleaned office. It smells nice, looks great, and even better, it fosters productivity and contentment among employees. And while every area of your office should be cleaned well, some areas are more important to deep clean than others in terms of the spread of disease and employee/customer satisfaction. The most commonly used spaces foster a greater spread of germs, due to more community interaction. Other areas of your office are important to sanitize due to the presence of consumables or fecal matter. Here are the areas of your office that you need to…
The Power of Transparency in Cleaning
The cleaning industry has traditionally been viewed as a utility in that the outcomes of service have been binary. In the same way that electricity is either on or off, cleaning is either effective or it isn’t; things are either clean or they’re dirty. A lack of transparency has accompanied that perspective, because when the most important factor is whether or not something’s working, there’s no need to see behind the scenes. People complain when the power goes out. Very few people are vocal about optimizing and understanding the power grid. But things are changing. Leaders in today’s cleaning industry…
How Technology is Transforming Cleaning Services
Cleaning services are different today than they were a decade ago. In ten years, cleaning services will be vastly different from their current form. In other words, this isn’t a static industry. The skills that cleaners need are changing. Techniques that cleaners use are changing. The products and tools that enable cleaning service are constantly being innovated. The cleaning industry is dynamic. And it’s being transformed by technology. At The Wilburn Company, we pride ourselves in staying on the cutting edge of cleaning service. Continued growth is part of our commitment to our clients, and it helps us to deliver…
What Makes a Company “Green?”
As the climate crisis continues to loom over all of us, you may start to think about what your company can do to help. When the Wilburn Company “went green” in 2018, we did so because of a need to be environmentally-responsible and give back to the world around us. If you’re feeling pressured to make the same commitment, you may be wondering how you can go green. What procedures need to change? How do you increase your energy efficiency? How can you get your employees involved? As a green cleaning company, we’ve been there and done that. Here are…
The State of Recycling, the Role of Cleaners & Why It All Matters
Recycling in the United States has been a fact of life for over 50 years – but in the past year the status quo has shifted. By raising the standards for acceptable materials to less than 0.5% of contamination in 2018, China (which had previously processed around a quarter of the world’s plastic) effectively threw a wrench in the processes of programs worldwide and stateside. The result has been a proliferation of high-profile coverage proclaiming “chaos” in the recycling industry. But perhaps even more harmful than the shift in logistics has been the accompanying shift in public perception. “A crisis…
The Impact of Commercial Cleaning on the Environment
Everything that we, as human beings, do has an impact on the environment. Whether for better or worse, even the length of our showers and the makeup of our day-to-day diets can change the future of the Earth. Naturally, commercial cleaning also has an impact on the environment. When you’re cleaning several thousand square feet on a frequent schedule, you’re using up a lot of paper material, harsh chemicals, and energy. Green cleaning solutions can mitigate many of the negative impacts of commercial cleaning and can help your company achieve its mission of becoming more environmentally friendly. Releases Volatile Organic…
The Importance of Employee Recognition
At The Wilburn Company, we believe that our people are our greatest strength. We have a great team, and we’re proud of the good work that our employees do every day to keep buildings safe and healthy through effective cleaning. Sometimes, though, our employees go above and beyond our already-high expectations. To honor this, we’re intentional in recognizing our employees, with the hope that, in turn, they’re empowered to continue going above and beyond. Let’s take a look at a recent noteworthy event worth to illustrate how employee recognition plays out at our company. Action Worth Recognizing On the evening…
Why We Hire Veterans
At The Wilburn Company, we’re honored to employ the men and women who serve our country’s military. Our pride in veterans has always been a core piece of who we are. In fact, our founder, Jim Wilburn, was an Air Force veteran. Jim joined the Air Force in 1962, serving in Turkey, Okinawa, Fort Meade, and the Pentagon over a 20-year career before retiring in 1982. During his military career, he took a second job mopping floors on a night shift, and after retiring he went into janitorial work full time before founding The Wilburn Company in 1998. We know…
What You Need in Building Cleaning Services
When you own a commercial building, maintaining a clean environment is a necessity to keep your tenants happy. Without consistent and high-quality cleanings, you could wind up dealing with costly issues like mold, bacteria growth, and an unhealthy environment. High-quality building cleaning services has other benefits besides just a clean environment. A well-trained staff can keep you updated on small maintenance issues created by general wear and tear before they become serious issues. Not every company that provides building cleaning services is equal. When you’re searching for the best in building cleaning services, look for these five qualities. Reliability The…
5 Facility Cleaning Solutions You Need
Every facility is unique, from the layout, to the building materials, to the tenants. No matter what, you deserve facility cleaning solutions tailored to your building. For example, if there’s a lot of glass walls and windows in your building, skipping out on glass cleaning would be a bad idea. But if you’re a government facility, you can’t let just any old cleaning team through your doors. Differences make the world unique, but it can also make it challenging to find the right facility cleaning solutions for you. If you’re having a hard time deciding what cleaning services you need,…
What to Expect from an Emergency Cleaning Company
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Vandals. Burst Pipes. Emergencies take all forms and can run the gamut from a burst pipe to a graffitied office. Unfortunately, what every emergency has in common is the toll it takes on your space and your employees morale. In the event a significant emergency occurs in your office, sometimes the first step to getting everyone back on track is to get your workspace back to normal. When you have to use an emergency cleaning company, here are five things you should look for. Prompt Service Emergencies typically don’t occur at a snail’s pace. Instead, an emergency can…
What It Means for a Cleaning Company to Be Employee-Focused
On the night of January 8th, two Wilburn Company employees were performing their usual cleaning jobs when they noticed that a tenant was standing outside in the cold with her two small children. Realizing that it was late and that the building was closed, the two employees went out to check on her. As it turned out, her car had been broken into. The windows were smashed and there was glass everywhere. The tenant had nowhere to turn, and to make matters worse, when she’d gone outside to check on the situation, she’d inadvertently gotten locked out of the building.…
5 Tips to Keep Your Office Clean Through the Winter
With all of the extra snow, salt, ice, and general slush outside, wintertime is a messy time of year. It can be even harder to keep the mess outside when you have employees and clients walking in and out of your office all day every day. When it comes to wintertime, facility cleaning companies know a trick or two to keep your office clean. Your cleaning company can’t be there every moment of the day. These 5 tips will help you keep the mess from building up when your cleaning service isn’t there. Keep the Ice Salt Outside Ice salt…
6 Types of Commercial Cleaning Services
Every business deserves a unique cleaning experience. Each building has a unique layout with different building materials that require a different approach. Does your commercial cleaning service provide you with all the services you need for a clean building? Or do you just receive the same exact service every time? Here at the Wilburn Company we offer a wide variety of commercial cleaning services to meet all of your needs- no matter what. Green Cleaning If you follow our blog, you’ve heard about this particular commercial cleaning service before. Wilburn decided to offer a green commercial cleaning service to provide…