Four Cleaning Tips to Reduce Dust Allergies in Your Office
No matter how often you dust, it seems like it’s always back a few days later. And unfortunately, many people are allergic to the tiny bugs called dust mites that live in both house dust and office dust.
Dust mites thrive in warm environments, making upholstered chairs and carpeting the ideal homes for them. If you or your employees are allergic to dust, you may have reactions such as:
- Sneezing, nasal congestion, and a runny nose
- Itchy and watery eyes
- Postnasal drip
- Coughing
- Facial pressure and pain
None of these symptoms are enjoyable, and they certainly don’t create an environment for getting work done.
Fortunately, there are ways to help reduce dust allergies in your office with commercial cleaning. You can take the following steps to help significantly reduce the amount of dust in your office:
- Have your floors vacuumed frequently
- Have your furniture dusted frequently
- Have your curtains and blinds cleaned often
- Have a “no outdoor shoes” policy
Vacuum Your Floors Frequently
One of the best ways to decrease issues with dust allergies in your office is to make sure that you have it vacuumed regularly, at least once or twice a week. The more often you have your office cleaned, the less dust there is lying around to stir up allergies.
Ensure that your cleaning staff has vacuums equipped with HEPA filters. HEPA is short for High-Efficiency Particulate Air. A HEPA filter means that the dust mites get vacuumed up and trapped in the filter instead of merely recirculating back into the air.
If the dust particles don’t get trapped by a HEPA filter, it’s worse than if you don’t vacuum at all because the dust particles go back into circulation in the office air, causing everyone’s dust allergies to act up!
Have Your Furniture Dusted Frequently
Another way to help dust allergy sufferers in your office is to make sure that your office is dusted often. The best tool for this is a microfiber cloth.
Traditional dusters tend to stir up dust and spread it around — similar to vacuums without a HEPA filter. That means that when dusting, you’re just moving the dust around instead of removing it.
Microfiber cloths are designed to trap dust particles instead of just stirring them up. Have your cleaning staff use them to ensure that dust is removed correctly.
Have Your Curtains and Blinds Cleaned Often
You can also help cut down on the dust in your office by having your window treatments — whether they are blinds or curtains — cleaned frequently. While window treatments can help cut down on glare, they are also, unfortunately, dust collectors.
If you have blinds, your cleaning staff should clean them frequently with a microfiber cloth. There are now also specially-designed microfiber blind cleaners, which can help your cleaning staff clean blinds more efficiently.
If you have curtains, arrange for your cleaning staff to vacuum them at least once a month. Another option is for you to have the curtains taken down and washed, but that is more time-consuming and labour intensive than simply vacuuming them.
Have a No Outdoor Shoes Policy
Encourage your employees to have a pair of shoes they keep at work, to change into when they arrive. That will help cut down on the amount of outside dust and dirt tracked in and around your office.
It will also be beneficial to your employees beyond cutting down on dust. They don’t have to worry about good-quality shoes getting ruined by outside dirt and snow. Instead, they can commute in comfortable footwear and change when they get to work.
What can RBC Clean do for me?
Regular dusting and vacuuming will help cut down on the amount of dust and dust mites in your office. However, it’s essential to deep clean your office a few times a year to ensure that dust is removed from corners and before its ground into the carpet. That’s where commercial cleaning for your office can help you out.
Commercial cleaning in your Markham or GTA office comes with many benefits, including a higher opinion from employees, clients, and visitors. People who walk into an office immediately assess how it looks. Does it look fresh and clean? Or dirty and run-down?
Not only will a clean office ensure your employees remain healthier, it will also encourage them to take more pride in their work and their workplace.
The Takeaway
Now you know there are so many great ways you can cut down on dust allergies in your office:
- Have your carpets vacuumed regularly
- Have your surfaces frequently dusted
- Have your curtains and blinds cleaned as well
- Adopt a “no outdoor shoes” policy for your office
At RBC Clean, we can help reduce dust allergies in your Markham or GTA office with top-notch commercial cleaning. We are located in Aurora and service all of Southern Ontario and the GTA.
For more tips and tricks to help you reduce dust allergies, call RBC Clean at 289-800-7694 or contact us here.