Day Cleaning Versus After Hours Cleaning [pros & cons]

In the 17th century, undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge were expected to write exercises on topics that were considered impossible to improve. These exercises were called prolusions.

The most popular prolusion the students would have to argue was “day is more excellent than night.” When they finished, they would then be assigned the opposite perspective “night is more excellent than day.”

“Paul what are you getting at? How does this have anything to do with cleaning?”

Well, a similar debate has been underway in the commercial cleaning industry for many years.

When is the more excellent time to have your workplace cleaned – day or night?

This question is as old as offices themselves. And yet there is still no definitive answer.

At In-Tec, we understand that making this type of decision can be difficult. We are always being asked by potential and existing clients whether day cleaning or after-hours cleaning is better. And of course, there are pros and cons to each solution, which is exactly what we’re going to unpack in this article for you.

By the end, we hope that you have a clearer idea of which option suits you best.

But remember, the answer will depend on the circumstances in your particular office.

What are the pros and cons of day cleaning?

As day always comes before night, it’s only reasonable to start with the pros and cons of day cleaning first.

Let’s just get straight into it.

Pros

Saves energy and protects the environment

We’re all conscious of doing whatever we can to keep our environment and planet safe.

Day cleaning can save up to 35% in energy costs because the building doesn’t need to keep the HVAC system, lights, and other systems running after-hours for cleaners.

For those of you that wish to be as eco-friendly as possible, day cleaning may be your best option = reduced energy consumption.

Can possibly lower your labour costs

There’s no doubt that night cleaners earn a higher hourly rate than those that work during the day. I mean, this is a frequent occurrence in many industries!

So, if you are looking at keeping your budget as low as possible, then you could opt for day cleaning as it does eliminate additional labour costs.

However, I do want to say that your budget shouldn’t be the deciding factor in whether you have day or night cleaning scheduled for your site. There are many, and I mean many, other factors that are much more important to consider.       

You can see the cleaners do their job

For some, being able to see your cleaners do their job right in front of your eyes gives a sense of relief that the job is being done properly and to the standard you expect.

If this is you, then day cleaning may be the right choice as you’ll have the ability to see what the cleaner does and doesn’t do and be able to report back to the relevant person within the organisation.

Again, it’s all about personal preference.

Cons

With every pro there comes a con.

Although many businesses opt for day cleaning, there certainly are a few dangers that come with having your office cleaned during hours. While some may seem obvious, others do not.

Let’s go through the 3 cons of day cleaning so you have a better idea of what to expect.

Health and safety

If you’ve ever accidentally tripped on a charging cord or vacuum cord you’d know the pain and frustration that comes with it.

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that no one likes when this happens. And if this is the case, do you think your employees would like it if this happened to them? (definitely no).

Where am I going with this?

Well, by having your cleaners work during office hours, you’re potentially exposing your team to the possibility of tripping on cords and slipping on wet floors. You don’t want your employees tiptoeing on wet floors to get from one room to another and you certainly don’t want them catching their foot on a taught cord.

Plus, one important thing to remember is that as a business owner, you have a legal responsibility to manage the health and safety of every member in your workplace.

Possibility of exposing your team to VOCs and SOAs

You could argue that this con fits under the ‘health and safety’ category, and there’s no doubt that it does. However, I’ve decided to include it as a separate con because it is very very crucial.

To give you a bit of background info, VOCs are volatile organic compounds while SOAs are secondary organic aerosols - neither are good. VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids such as paint strippers and cleaning supplies. What many people don’t know is that chemicals like bleach and ammonia contain these harmful compounds which can lead to:

• The burning of the throat, nose, and respiratory tract
• Irritations to the skin when exposed

Whereas SOAs are types of aerosols that are known to irritate and inflame the lungs when inhaled.

You know when you spray a cleaning chemical, and it smells nice like lemons or flowers? Well, although we may believe this is a good thing, it’s actually doing more harm than good.

Still not convinced?

A team of academic researchers found that “people using commercial cleaners with certain chemicals in them may be exposed to as much particle pollutants as if they were sitting beside a public road.”

Wow, wow, and wow.

🔍 If you want to know more about SOAs and VOCs in a little more detail, I’d highly recommend reading our article What is the Definition of Clean? [Clean Shouldn’t Smell].

After reading all that, let me ask you a question.

Would you want to expose your team to the possibility of VOCs and SOAs?

“No way! Cleaning chemicals aren’t good for my staff but not even for my cleaner!”

And that’s the truth.

If you know your cleaning company uses chemicals that contain harmful SOAs and VOCs, then your workplace cleaning should be carried out when workers are away to keep them safe – after hours.

Cleaners can get in the way of your staff and vice versa

Don’t we all dislike it when we constantly get distracted by something…

Day cleaning can do exactly this to your employees.

Cleaning equipment like a vacuum can be loud and noisy which doesn’t make for an ideal situation – you want your employees to concentrate on their work only.

But it’s not just the cleaners that can get in the way, your employees can get in the way of the cleaners too. For instance, a cleaner may not be able to wipe down a surface properly in the office or lunchroom as they’re constantly being occupied by your staff members. What this results in is an inefficient clean, an unhappy cleaner, and an unhappy client.

And nobody wants this.

What are the pros and cons of after-hours cleaning?

Now that we’ve unpacked day cleaning, it’s time to dive deep into night cleaning and take a look at its advantages and disadvantages.

Will it be the best option for you?

Let’s find out.

Pros

Employees can’t get in the way of the cleaners

It’s reasonable to say that no one likes getting in the way of someone else.

And it’s also reasonable to say that cleaners find it more difficult to clean surfaces around staff and office visitors than it is to clean an unoccupied space.

In fact, some studies show that after-hours cleaning is generally 40% better than office cleaning during business hours.

How can this be?

Well, the cleaners have an empty space with no distractions which means they’re able to turn up and do their job properly, no questions asked. After all, that’s what you hired them to do in the first place!

Reduced disturbance

To put it simply, during hours office cleaning can present a lot of disruption that can interfere with normal operations and the productivity of your employees.

For instance, cleaning equipment like vacuums which are loud when in use can raise complaints from employees during office hours. There are also other situations where your employees could be focused on a particular task and a cleaner enters the office and starts wiping things down and moving items while creating noise in the process.

But with after-hours cleaning, all these situations are completely eliminated! Your employees will be able to fully concentrate on their work = no distractions under any circumstances.

While we’re on the topic of productivity, if you want to find out more about how cleaning and productivity work hand in hand, read our article 5 Ways a Commercial Cleaning Company Improves Workplace Productivity. You won’t be disappointed!

Time saving

Disruptions also go the other way.

While walking through the hallway of your building, you may have come across a cleaner mopping the floor. There is no other way for you to get to your destination, so you unfortunately must walk over the newly mopped floor leaving footsteps behind and in some cases, making the cleaner mop the floor again.

This is a massive disruption for the cleaner as it takes time away from doing other tasks in your office. By constantly having to go back and forth to re-clean surfaces, the cleaner gets distracted and ultimately may have to miss other tasks as they simply don’t have time.

With after-hours cleaning, cleaners have the ability to work more efficiently. They know that they’ll be able to complete all the tasks set out to them with no disruptions.

Ultimately, it leaves you the client happy with the standard, and the cleaner happy that they’ve done the best job they can. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Cons

You aren’t able to see the cleaners do their job

With after-hours cleaning, you’re relying on the cleaner to do their job without anyone around to keep an eye on them. And for some people, this may pose as a problem and that’s okay.

However, this sort of worry can be easily resolved with a good, professional cleaning company who have monitoring and tracking systems like freshOps. A system like freshOps offers clients their own portal which shows them a run-down of all the completed tasks done on their site, the next scheduled clean, and also a list of past services.

By having this form of access, you’ll have ease of mind that your cleaner is doing the tasks set out for them every single clean.

When day cleaning and night cleaning work together successfully

I know that I’ve just given you the pros and cons of day cleaning and after-hours cleaning, and you’re probably expected to choose one or the other.

However, I want to show you a way where day cleaning and night cleaning work together.

How am I going to do this?

Well, I’m going to tell you about one of In-Tec’s actual clients we service!

In Brisbane’s northeast, we service a large corporate head office for an electronic company. The day cleaner is there Monday to Friday (8am-4pm) while the night cleaner attends after-hours from 5pm-8.30pm.

Now in terms of what tasks they actually do on-site are as follows:

• The day cleaner is responsible for high traffic areas such as kitchens, lunchrooms, amenities, high touchpoints, and outside areas (smoker area).
• The night cleaner is responsible for all the office areas and meeting rooms located on-site, and the vacuuming of floors.

Now, if you remember what we spoke about in terms of disruption to your employees, this type of scenario addresses that problem. The night cleaner is assigned the office areas and vacuuming so it doesn’t disturb the staff from doing their job while the day cleaner focuses on frequently used areas.

Having your cleaning scheduled this way is the best option for those businesses who have a large premises with a lot of staff on site.

So there you have it. It certainly is possible to have both day and night cleaning occur at your site under the right circumstances.

When is the best time to have your office cleaned?

When it comes to choosing between day and after-hours cleaning, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Like anything with options, there are pros and cons to each.

It’s up to what you think will work best for your site and employees. However, we hope that we’ve been able to make your decision a little easier. Before you go ahead and choose, here are some things to weigh up:

Day cleaning pros

• Saves energy = better protects the environment
• Possibly lowers labour costs
• You are able to see your cleaner on site

Day cleaning cons

• Health and safety
• Possibility of exposure to VOCs and SOAs
• Cleaners can get in the way of your staff and vice versa

After-hours pros

• Reduced disturbance
• Time savings
• Site employees can’t get in the way of cleaners

After-hours cons

• You aren’t able to see the cleaners do their job
  
  

If you’re interested in figuring out the best time to have your workplace cleaned, just schedule a call with the team at In-Tec. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have, after all, we are the experts!