Educational Institute of AH&LA Deep-Cleaning Details The bright light of springtime is a welcome sight to most people, but it also reveals the dinginess hidden by winter‘s darkness. Just as homeowners engage in the ritual of spring cleaning, your property‘s housekeeping staff may find spring to be the perfect time to undertake deep cleaning throughout the property. Of course, deep cleaning is not just a "spring thing." It should be scheduled throughout the year to keep your property looking its best. Why is deep cleaning important? Typical Deep-Cleaning Activities
As room attendants perform each of these tasks, they should inspect items for wear and tear, stains, breakage, or marks that cannot be removed. These should be reported to a supervisor and taken care of before putting the room back in service. In addition to guest rooms, other areas to include in a deep-cleaning program are: balconies and patios, stairwells, elevators, ice and vending machine areas, and laundry rooms/supply rooms. Scheduling Deep Cleaning Some hotels perform deep-cleaning tasks, such as dry cleaning draperies, washing windows, and shampooing carpets, annually. Turning mattresses is usually done quarterly, at the change of seasons. Monthly tasks may include changing bedspreads and blankets, dusting high places, washing walls and doors, cleaning light fixtures, and scrubbing tile. Frequency schedules should be created to indicate when and how often a particular deep cleaning task should be performed in each room. Getting It All Done If your occupancy patterns don‘t include a "slow season" for closing off room blocks for deep cleaning, other options include scheduling every room attendant with one room per day as a "deep clean" room as part of his or her routine room cleanings, or setting up a deep cleaning team that tackles a short schedule of check-out rooms each day. Be creative. One property in Minneapolis, Minn., hires a group of workers with disabilities as their deep-cleaning team. They are assigned five or six rooms per day to clean and are paid by the room. Monthly cleaning tasks can also be assigned as "daily specials," announced during the morning‘s pre-shift meeting. Tuesday might be "wash the door frame" day so that each room attendant will wash the door frame in every assigned room. Daily specials can be assigned by task (washing baseboards, cleaning closet tracks) or by room accessory (cleaning light fixtures, cleaning luggage racks). Record and Review Finally, no matter which methods you use to handle deep cleaning, be sure to regularly evaluate schedules, maintenance and housekeeping reports, and guest comment cards to determine if any changes are needed to meet and exceed guest expectations for a clean room and a pleasant stay. |
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