Don’t want to hire a staffing agency to clean your warehouse? Or do you just want to make sure the company you hire is doing its job? Learn about every aspect of warehouse cleaning in this brief article. We make it easy to create your own warehouse cleaning routine.
Why Is Maintaining Your Warehouse So Important?
Effective maintenance can eliminate workplace hazards and help get work done safely. Your warehouse can become accident-prone causing injuries.
Good warehouse management includes keeping areas orderly, keeping halls and floors free of slip and fall hazards. Good maintenance is also a basic part of fire prevention.
Surfaces To Think About
Let’s break down the list of things that need to be done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis for the upkeep of your warehouse.
Daily
❒ Sweep floors.
❒ Empty trash.
❒ Straighten workspaces.
❒ Confirm safety of pallets and shelves.
❒ Check Equipment.
❒ Vacuum, mop and sweep floors.
❒ Empty garbage.
❒ Sanitize touch points.
❒ Wipe down counters.
❒ Sanitize grab bars, counters, toilets and sinks.
❒ Refill, paper towels, soap dispensers and toilet paper.
❒ Sweep walkways, landings and steps.
❒ Clear doorways.
❒ Clear loading docks.
Weekly
❒ Reorganize pallets.
❒ Confirm operating equipment is working.
❒ Straighten storage rooms.
❒ Dust light fixtures, overhead fans and lights.
❒ Polish windows, hardware and door frames.
❒ Wipe down window blinds, baseboards and wall partitions.
❒ Sanitize and clean hard-to-reach areas.
❒ Restock cabinets with supplies.
❒ Check for burned out lights.
❒ Polish light fixtures.
❒ Confirm operation of security lights.
❒ Polish entryway door and window hardware and glass.
Monthly
❒ Deep clean and inspect floor coatings.
❒ Pull pallets and stored materials from shelves.
❒ Clean on and under units.
❒ Steam-clean carpets.
❒ Clean furniture upholstery.
❒ Examine fabrics for stains and wear.
❒ Clean break room refrigerator and cabinets.
❒ Test fire alarm and sprinkler.
❒ Check sink and floor drains for clogs as well as leaks, mildew and mold.
❒ Power-wash walks, landing, loading docks and steps.
❒ Check entryway mats for wear.
❒ Inspect weather-stripping around doors.
What Specific Cleaning Supplies Do I Need?
Daily Cleaning
Sanitizers: In-Cide Ready-To-Use Disinfectant
For daily surface cleaning, you want a product that is multi-purpose and kills a multitude of germs that can live on tables, door handles, counters, common heavy traffic touch areas.
In-cide acts as a “ready to use, disinfectant, cleaner, mildewstat, fungicide, virucide*, deodorizer, and kills 99.9% of bacteria.”
Floor cleaner that gets rid of warehouse specific stain: Animal Low Odor
For concrete flooring with no wax, you want to use something strong enough to get out grease stains that can imbed themself deep in the concrete without using strong chemicals like bleach which can disturb workers if exposed for long periods of time.
Animal Low Odor is a strong floor stripper that extracts grease and other chemicals fast, giving your floors extra grip, minimizing accidents caused by slips.
Soap that cleans skin from oil & grease: Soft N Clean Hand & Body Wash
When choosing a hand soap, you want to use a product that has a neutral pH level so that it can be used often. It should be able to break down oil, grease, and dirt without drying out your hands.
Soft N Clean Hand works as a fast-acting, non-toxic foam hand soap that is strong on dirt and grease.
Weekly Cleaning
Window Cleaner: Clearview Glass Cleaner
There are a plethora of glass cleaners available but it is important to get the right one for warehouses where heavy dust builds upon the glass.
Clearview Glass Cleaner is a ready-to-use ammoniated formula that breaks down dirt from the glass while giving it a high polish.
Surface disinfectant: Nutra-Max
For weekly cleaning, you want to use a strong cleaner for hard to reach places that aren’t cleaned often
Nutra-max is a one-step disinfectant, cleaner, fungicide, and virucide that is commonly used in hospitals, industrial sites, and institutional kitchens.
Monthly/Yearly Cleaning
Cleaners for fridge and other kitchen utilities: Freezer Cleaner
If you have large freezers that can’t be turned off, you want to use a cleaner that can work in cold conditions without freezing
Theochem Freezer Cleaner works at -20 degrees Fahrenheit helping you deep clean freezers, fridges, and coolers.
Keep drain cleaners on hand: Buster (See our drain guide to get the drain cleaner best for you)
Pipes can easily get clogged in warehouses, whether from pipe buildup or bathroom clogs. There are many drain cleaners that help you get back to work faster by using strong sulfuric acid that breaks things down immediately.
Buster Drain Opener is a sulfuric acid that is miles ahead of other drain openers. It starts breaking down clogs immediately after use.
Mold & mildew remover: Instant Mildew Stain Remover
You should always have something on hand to help fight mold in your warehouse. If there isn’t constant airflow mold becomes inevitable.
Instant mildew stain remover is ready-to-use for when you find the mold and need to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Power wash cleaner: Clean All
For the walls and pavements on your facilities, you want to use a strong all-purpose cleaner that’s concentrated. This helps keep your property looking polished for longer.
Clean All is an all-purpose pressure washing cleaner that’s used to cut grease and dirt.
Automobile Cleaner: Wax-O-Wash
After a muddy day in the field, quickly clean off your work vehicles with a pressure washer and soap.
Wax-O-Wash is a one-step wash and wax for vehicles, leaving a coat of protective wax that helps protect the value of your vehicles.
Clean mats: Active-Ate
Cleaners that are strong enough to get the dirt out of mats with high foot traffic areas is vital if you want to have truly clean mats.
Active-Ate was created for cleaning and maintaining your floors and mats. It breaks down organic soils that build up over time. It can also be used as a drain maintainer.
Contact the chemical experts at Theochem to learn about how you can create a complete warehouse maintenance program for your company.
