As long-time cleaning industry experts, we’ve seen the office cleaning pendulum swing back and forth when it comes to the great daytime vs. night-time debate. Many organisations are now considering switching their cleaning to daylight hours. But is this the right move for your office?
In our 35+ years working with leading facilities managers and procurement teams, we’ve found there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The ideal cleaning schedule depends on your goals, budget, office layout, and employees’ preferences.
Why We Choose to Provide Daytime Office Cleaning
With over 35 years as a leading global commercial cleaning company, we’ve seen preferences shift when it comes to daytime vs. night-time cleaning. Many of our clients have specifically requested a switch to daytime cleaning services in recent years.
At Samsic, we’ve made daytime cleaning our standard practice for most office environments. We’ve discovered first-hand the benefits of providing cleaning services during regular business hours:
- Our operatives receive more direct supervision, ensuring quality work.
- Our teams can coordinate seamlessly with client employees.
- Clients can monitor results and provide real-time feedback.
- Standard day schedules avoid overtime pay premiums.
- Operatives feel safer during busier office hours.
By focusing our efforts during the day, our service quality has improved dramatically, exceeding client expectations. We also optimise our budgets and operations without expensive off-hour overheads.
However, we recognise daytime cleaning isn’t the best fit for every office environment. Next we’ll explore some of the potential downsides we’ve experienced.
The Challenges We’ve Faced with Daytime Cleaning
While we feel the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for daytime office cleaning in most cases, we have faced some challenges during business hours:
- Noise from vacuuming, waste disposal, carpet extractors, and floor buffers can disrupt phone calls and concentration for our client’s employees.
- Staff may find cleaners working around their desks distracting, especially in open office environments.
- Intensive cleaning tasks like restroom scrubbing can temporarily make facilities unusable for workers.
- Urgent or unexpected messes cannot be addressed immediately without disrupting the primary cleaning schedule.
- Moving cleaning carts and equipment through occupied offices can obstruct pathways and lead to logistical issues.
We mitigate these challenges through careful planning and communication. Our teams focus intensive cleaning on lower traffic times and reroute if needed. But the reality is, day cleaning can occasionally interfere with business activities.
Next, we’ll examine reasons some organisations still prefer night-time cleaning. This highlights that there’s no one right choice – assessing your priorities is key.
Why Some Prefer Night Cleaning for Facilities
While we lean towards recommending daytime cleaning for most office environments, we understand why some organisations still prefer to have facilities like warehouses, distribution centres, and manufacturing plants, cleaned at night:
- There is no risk of cleaners disrupting core business activities involving heavy machinery, conveyors, shipping bays, etc.
- Noise and odours from intensive industrial cleaning have no impact on worker productivity or safety.
- Access to all areas is simpler without staff present, allowing more thorough cleaning.
- Hazards like slippery floors or wet areas aren’t issues without workers present.
- With no management oversight needed at night, clients aren’t distracted from business operations.
Additionally, facilities like warehouses often require flexible emergency cleaning of spills or messes after hours. Having crews on-site or on-call is easier with night schedules.
While we promote daytime cleaning for offices, we recognise that for certain facilities, third shift cleaning makes the most sense. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach that works ideally for every client site and situation.
Finding the Right Office Cleaning Schedule
With over three decades as a leading commercial cleaning company, we’ve found most office environments benefit from daytime cleaning. The increased visibility, seamless coordination with clients, and budget efficiency makes business hours cleaning ideal for many professional offices.
However, we know daytime isn’t necessarily right for every facility. Warehouses, manufacturing plants, and other industrial sites often prefer overnight cleaning without staff present. Additionally, some office layouts and workplace cultures fit better with night cleaning to avoid excessive disruptions.
Ultimately, there is no universally superior cleaning schedule. Assessing each client’s priorities and logistics is crucial to determine if day or night cleaning aligns better. We recommend starting with a trial period to test results before fully transitioning cleaning hours.
No matter when cleaning takes place, our highly trained staff consistently deliver impeccable, non-disruptive results. Contact us today to discuss implementing a cleaning program tailored to your unique needs and preferences.
