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. Providers that follow professional cleaning principles consistently deliver safer, higher-quality results. When you’re searching for the best…
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, it helps to understand how their work connects to broader professional cleaning practices. Here are five things to look for. Prompt Service…
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—one of the…
Why Your Commercial Cleaning Should Be Green
As we move ahead into 2019 and plan the year ahead, take a close look at your building’s commercial cleaning services. Are they green? Environmentally friendly? Do they benefit your employees? Commercial cleaning should be green. Green commercial cleaning provides your building with huge benefits- but it also provides benefits beyond just your building. Environmental Considerations At this point in the year, we’ve heard it all. The latest headlines make terrifying claims: “World’s Worst Climate Change Disasters Cost 50bn in 2018” “’Please Don’t Kill Us’, Maldives beg ‘failing’ climate conference” “UN Chief Warns Failure to tackle Global Warming ‘suicidal.’” Climate…
A Year of Cleaning in Review: The Biggest Lessons We’ve Learned from 2018
2018 has been a big year at The Wilburn Company. We’ve continued to provide premier commercial and secure cleaning services to a growing number of clients. We’ve pushed further into green cleaning, implementing more GS-42 services across our portfolio and championing the importance of cleaning for health. And we’ve focused on building up our people, with training designed to empower our employees for success and improve our level of service. It’s been a good year, and we’re grateful for all of the people who have impacted our company along the way – our employees, our clients, and our communities. Yet…
Top Three Commercial Cleaning Trends in 2019
As we move through December and look ahead to what 2019 will bring us, the cleaning industry continues to change and evolve as the years go on, continuing to move forward, grow, and evolve. In 2018, we predicted the year would bring an increase in green cleaning, cost control, and employee training programs. This year, our predictions are a little broader with up and coming smart devices entering into the market, the growth of specialty cleaning services and the continued growth of the industry overall. It’s ironic that last year our blog post started off with a Geico commercial featuring…
How Commercial Cleaning Quality Assurance Should Work
When you’re paying for a commercial cleaning service, you want a quality product. After all, the cleanliness of your buildings can either improve or harm tenant happiness and health. If you receive a poor quality clean, you’ll also get more complaints from tenants, decreased employee health, and your building could even require more maintenance. But how do you know when you’re receiving a truly high quality clean? Sure, you can talk to previous customers and take a walk around your building after the cleaners have come through, but there’s more to a high quality clean than just a cursory…
How Commercial Cleaning Prevents Winter Colds
According to Villanova University, over one year Americans will suffer a collective 1 billion colds. That means 1 billion stuffy noses, sore throats, coughs, and sick days from work. Keeping your employees healthy doesn’t just benefit them, it also benefits your company with increased productivity, more uptime and fewer sick days taken. Green commercial cleaning, among other commercial cleaning services, can help keep your company running by reducing the spread of illness and preventing those nasty winter colds. Bacteria-Caused Illness Colds are spread by touching infected surfaces and then touching your eyes, ears, nose, or mouth. Colds can also be…
What to Expect from a Commercial Cleaning Company
Knowing what to expect from a commercial cleaning company can be tricky. Especially if your cleaning service comes at odd hours, you may never see them, and you’re probably unsure how to tell if you’re getting what you paid for. Sure, you can check to see if the trash cans are emptied and at what time they come and go, but without context you may not know exactly what you can expect from a commercial cleaning company. More goes into a quality commercial cleaning company than just a spotless clean. Your provider should also give you great customer service,…