Commercial Cleaning Services

By Sylvia Rosen

Putting dishes, cups, and silverware through the dishwasher is up to you and your kitchen staff -- but many restaurants leave much of the other cleaning to the experts. Restaurant cleaning services are an affordable way to make sure your restaurant is as clean as you demand, whether you're running a diner or a five-star bistro. In addition, when done right, cleaning can both ensure you've got a safe environment for staff and customers alike, as well as helping prolong the live of your equipment and furnishings.

Cleaning Companies offer a wide range of services to accomplish these goals:

• Cleaning tables
• Sweeping, mopping, waxing, and/or vacuuming floors as appropriate
• Washing kitchen hoods
• Cleaning exhaust fans, ducts and filters
• Emptying grease traps and properly disposing of grease
• Sanitizing, disinfecting and polishing sinks, mirrors, toilets, and urinals
• Washing floors and kitchen mats
• Refilling consumables including paper products and soap
• Pressure washing floors and building exterior
• Washing internal/external windows
• Dusting windows, mini-blinds, air conditioner vents, wall hangings
• Removing wayward food and grime from dumpster area

There are a few important highlights on this list. First, one of the primary duties of a restaurant cleaning service is to tend to your exhaust fans. When clean, an exhaust system is an effective way to remove odors, smoke, and excess heat from your kitchen - but it can quickly become a fire hazard if you don't properly care for it. Properly trained businesses can bring your exhaust system up to the strict guidelines of the NFPA and FDA.

A professional restaurant cleaning service can also help you prepare for state-mandated fire and insurance inspections. After every comprehensive cleaning, most companies will provide a certificate or hood sticker detailing when the cleaning took place and what offerings were rendered. And to ease customer concerns about the cleanliness of your lavatories, a cleaning service can also supply a chart detailing your daily cleaning regimen.

One service that may seem a little out of place on this list is pressure washing, but many restaurant cleaning companies offer this service for a reason. By using a powerful stream of water and approved chemicals to blast away dirt and grime, pressure washing can remove grease stains from just about anywhere and help make sure that even the outside of your restaurant looks clean and inviting.

Finally, businesses that specialize in restaurant work are prepared to work the hours you need: often in the middle of the night into the wee hours. It's important to get that cleaning done every day, but if you regularly have patrons lingering until midnight, you'll need a service that's prepared to start in at 1 am each day. Make sure you raise your timing requirements early in any discussion with a cleaning company.