All Source Blog Posts

Take Advantage of Commercial Cleaning to Reduce Allergens and Germs

| | Commercial Cleaning

Your business may appear to be clean, but there may be a silent set of parties with malintent lying below the level of what your eyes can see, allergens and germs. With spring come allergies, with germs come sickness—
both of which can bring absentees to your business. If you do not want to do the cleaning yourself or have it done by members of your staff, consider commercial cleaning with All Source!

In 2012, Kimberly-Clark Professional, manufacturer of brands like Kleenex, Scott, Huggies among others, conducted “one of the most detailed and comprehensive studies conducted on identifying workplace hotspots where germs can lurk.” Some 5,000 swabs were accumulated from several buildings that contained more than 3,000 employees.

Allowing these to serve as a national example, areas with the highest levels of contamination were:
•        Break room sink faucet handles
•        Microwave door handles
•        Keyboards
•        Refrigerator door handles
•        Water fountain buttons
•        Vending machine buttons

Other areas of common high contamination included computer mice, desk phones, office furniture, reception areas, ATMs, stair railings, copy stations, door handles, elevator buttons and conference tables.
What can be done to decrease germs in your office?

Take the following steps to address these problem areas:

•        Identify, understand why problem areas for germs are problem areas—Identify surfaces that endure the largest amounts of human amount. This will allow you and your employees to use higher standards of hygienic excellence to ensure sickness does not spread throughout the business.
•        Wash, wipe, sanitize—One would hope that the era we find ourselves in alone would add up to employees using obvious and uniform sanitation standards. This, as evidence has shown, is not always the case.  Wash your hands before leaving the bathroom, coughing and/or sneezing, handling doorknobs that many people use—any situation that would enhance the chances of germ travel. Wipe clean all surfaces after you have finished using them. Keep a steady supply of hand sanitizer on hand, at your desk as well as other public areas to eliminate germ transmission.
•        Educate and communicate—Inform your employees of the obvious. Educate workers on the power of allergens and germs, how they get passed around. Stress just how serious an issue it is, communicating that the reduction of allergens and germs creates a healthier working environment.
•        Hire a professional—There is the very real possibility that the type of company you own or manage does not allow for the time for individual workers to adopt very high levels of allergen and germ prevention. Should this be the case, consider hiring a professional commercial cleaning company like All Source Building Services & Supply Co. Let us get rid of the allergens and germs while you worry about getting the job done.

If your St Paul business needs commercial cleaning, give us a call at 952-473-3228 or contact us.

Reduce the Amount of Dust at Your Commercial Property

| | Commercial Cleaning, Office Cleaning

Winter is dust accumulation season at your Roseville business. It is unlikely that your brick and mortar is set up to allow you to harness the power of the wind, to open the windows and allow for some level of dust clearance naturally. Thus, it is important that you create a rigorous schedule of dust prevention and removal to keep your air fresh and pure, your showroom or office clean and ready for display. Should you not want to undertake the daunting task of a regular cleaning schedule to add to your mountain of revenue generating tasks, your Roseville business may be an ideal candidate to hire a business cleaning service.

There are several things you can do to reduce dust in your Roseville business (or home, for that matter). Tiny particles of cloth fibers, dirt, paper, spent skin cells and other bits of matter accumulate over time to create a film of filth that can cover everything, lead to allergies and other health problems if not managed properly.

The following tips can greatly reduce the accumulation of dust and fine particulates:

  • Air Purification System-A purifier traps dust particles only in the room it occupies. A multi-room air purifier approach will require one for each room. This can be semi-costly, but should allergies be a concern, a worthy investment.
  • Clean and Upgrade Air Filters-If your building operates under a central air system for cooling and heating, frequently change the filters (one to three times a year) to control dust. Filters focus on larger particles, to capture smaller ones in addition to, opt for a paper or pleated fabric filter.
  • Dusting-the old stand-by, simply remove the dust yourself, or with the outside help of a business cleaning service at your Roseville office, on a regular schedule.
  • Vacuum-it is recommended to vacuum at least twice a week to reduce dust in your home or business. Make sure it is equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air filter to ensure its focus is on dust and not paper clips, thumb tacks, etc. Change the filter frequently—not doing so ensures that dust goes right back into the air.
  • Sweep-break out the broom and dustpan every few days at minimum (on those floors then do not get the vacuum treatment). Focus on areas of heavy traffic such as doorways, halls, kitchens and bathrooms.
  • Mop-After sweeping, mopping will help get any dust missed in the effort as well as loose accumulated particulate grime.
  • Microfiber cloths-these items are designed with dust trapping in mind. Use on virtually all surfaces within business or home. Once done, these items may be washed and reused—do not use a dryer sheet or fabric softener at any point in this process—they tend to remove dust-trapping capability from the microfiber cloth.
  • Beat Rugs, Cushions-do this once monthly. Be sure to do this outside. Use a broom or similar until you no longer see particles leaving the item.
  • Clear Clutter-loose your office of unnecessary accumulations of knick-knacks, magazines and books. These items acquire and hang on to dust.

If your Roseville office is need of business cleaning services, give us a call at 952-473-3228 or contact us.

How to Reduce the Amount of Consumable Office Supplies You Use

| | Office Supplies

In this day and age, it’s more important than ever for your business to be as green and environmentally friendly as possible. You want to help reduce your carbon footprint and be a responsible member of your community. Not only that, but some of these tips might help your office save some money on supplies! One of the best ways to help the environment is by reducing the amount of consumable office supplies your St Louis Park business uses. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to go about doing this.

  • If your office doesn’t already have one in place, start a recycling program. Most areas offer recycling pick-up services for an extra monthly fee. Go out and buy a new trash can and mark it for recyclables only. Encourage your staff to recycle cans, cardboard, plastic, newspaper and other items like that.
  • When purchasing paper for your office, buy recycled paper whenever you can and whenever it is practical.
  • Have a spot for people to place used pieces of paper that they don’t need anymore. Encourage your employees to go to that stash any time they need scratch paper instead of using a new piece of blank paper.
  • If you are having a big office lunch, try to get metal utensils to use. These utensils can be washed and used again. While metal utensils might not be practical for everyday use, you can help cut down on the number of disposable utensils you use when you use metal utensils whenever you can.
  • Encourage your employees to bring reusable cups, thermoses, water bottles and similar items to use at the office on a daily basis. Along the same lines, ask your employees to use reusable bags for their lunches and to carry other items in and out of the office.
  • When your office receives any delivery boxes, save them so you can reuse them to ship items back out.
  • Whenever possible, print using black ink, not color.
  • If you have any office-wide memos to distribute, do so via email. Print out a copy or two, if need be, and hang them in the kitchen or break room.

Are you interested in learning more about consumable office supplies in St Louis Park? Call All Source at 952-473-3228 or contact us to get a Free Estimate.

The Many Advantages of Professional Commercial Cleaning

| | Commercial Cleaning

As a company that offers professional commercial cleaning in Roseville and the surrounding areas, we can think of plenty of reasons to hire us for all of your office and commercial property cleaning needs. After all, you’re a busy person, and if you hire experts like us, you can cross daily and weekly cleaning tasks off of your To-Do List. Here are a few other reasons you should hire us for commercial cleaning.

Reason 1: First impressions

First impressions are incredibly important, especially when you have new customers or clients coming to your office. If your office or commercial property is clean, that is an excellent reflection on your business and what potential customers can expect from you. A clean facility means you and your employees take pride in their work, and hiring us for commercial cleaning means your office will always look its best.

Reason 2: Happier and healthier employees

Regular commercial cleaning includes disinfecting surfaces, which is invaluable during cold and flu season (and throughout the rest of the year as well). Not only that, dust can cause breathing problems, especially for those who already have respiratory issues. Regular commercial cleaning by us means you and your employees will be healthier, which could also make them happier in the long run.

Reason 3: Efficient without cutting corners

Commercial cleaning is our job. That means we have all of the right tools, equipment and know-how to do the work quickly but without sacrificing any of the high quality work we are known for. We can probably do the work much faster than anyone else, but the end results will still look great and, chances are, will exceed your expectations. We make sure every member of our commercial cleaning team is fully trained so they know the best and most effective methods of cleaning your office and commercial property.

Reason 4: Fully customizable

The best part about hiring us for commercial cleaning is that our services are all fully customizable. We can come to your office on a daily, weekly or as-needed basis, and we can even come out to clean it if you are hosting a big event at your office, like before a big meeting or conference.

Are you interested in learning more about commercial cleaning in Roseville or the surrounding areas? Call All Source Building Services and Supply Co. at 952-473-3228, or you can contact us to get a Free Estimate.

Keeping Your Office Clean this Winter

| | Tips and Tricks

Winter can be a lovely time of year with the white snow and austere beauty of the bare trees and landscape. But sometimes the winter can also wreak havoc on commercial properties and businesses, so it is important to stay on top of office cleaning at your Bloomington business. Here are a few of our favorite tips and suggestions on which office cleaning chores you or your office cleaning service should stay on top of this winter and throughout the rest of the year.

  • If you don’t have them already, use floor mats for any doors that lead to the outside. Floor mats will capture a lot of dirt, salt and other debris off of people’s feet before they track all of it farther into your office and onto the carpets and hard surface flooring. This makes office cleaning just a bit easier on you if you handle these tasks yourself. If you have a professional office cleaning service, it will make their jobs easier as well.
  • Make sure any gutters or draining systems on your building’s roof is working properly and not clogged with leaves and other debris. It might be cold outside, but make sure you do not neglect the exterior of your commercial property. If your gutters back up, it could cause other problems like a leaky roof.
  • An office cleaning service like ours can come to your office on a daily basis (if you want), and one of the many cleaning services we can provide is making sure everything is fully disinfected. This is especially important this time of year during flu season. It could help keep you, your employees and your clients healthy.
  • Do not neglect your building’s windows! This is one of the many office cleaning services we provide. Clean windows allow more sunlight to come into your office, and natural light can help increase your employees’ productivity. Not only that, sunlight is also a great way to help dry up any damp floors or carpeting, which means your carpets and floor could be in better shape come spring time. Clean windows also make your office more attractive to current and potential clients.

Are you interested in learning more about office cleaning in Bloomington and the surrounding areas? Call All Source Building Services and Supply Co. at 952-473-3228, or you can contact us to get a Free Estimate.