The best commercial cleaning services

Cleaning and sanitizing a business require much more work than just tidying up a house. Whether you run a small retail store or a company with hundreds of employees, you need a professional cleaning service that has the staff, resources, and equipment necessary to handle a big job.

In summary: Call a commercial cleaner.

Although most of them operate on a national scale, it is common for them to franchise. Just like the fast-food chains in your neighborhood, which look like all the other establishments in the country, they are owned by a local person who adheres to the company's rules and regulations.

How to find a good commercial cleaning service? Fortunately, there is a wide choice. Even better, most of them have been in operation for decades. These large national cleaners can take care of everything, from vacuuming your company's carpets to disinfecting surfaces after a viral outbreak.

The top 10 commercial cleaning services

Good commercial cleaners take care of all the cleaning tasks you need to do. Most reputable companies can even provide medical-grade cleaning services, which require specific protocols and products to eliminate pathogens and bloodborne microorganisms.

1. Anago Cleaning Systems

- Custom pricing

Anago Cleaning Systems offers its services to almost all sectors of activity. They have experience in cleaning schools, daycares, commercial offices, gyms and fitness centers, restaurants, places of worship, healthcare facilities, car dealerships, hotels, etc.

If you have a space to clean, they will clean it. They also offer 24/7 cleaning services, which is ideal if you don't want your customers or employees to avoid the cleaners during the day.

Every client receives a total satisfaction guarantee. This means that an Anago cleaning team will visit your site within two hours if you call for a problem after their first visit. This guarantee is perfect for cases where you notice that the cleaners have forgotten a stain on the carpet or neglected to take care of an overflowing trash can.

Based in Florida, Anago has over 1,700 sites. Most of the sites are located in the United States, but the company also has some franchises in Canada.

2. Construction care bonus

- Custom pricing

Bonus Building Care is a small national cleaner compared to others on the list, but it has a good online reputation. It also has an impressive pedigree, having been founded in 1997 by Arleen Cavanaugh, half of the husband and wife team that launched the commercial cleaning giant Jani-King. With her experience and background in the commercial cleaning industry, Arleen launched Bonus Building Care after the couple's divorce.

Based in Oklahoma, the majority of Bonus franchisees are located in the south. Bonus also offers completely eco-friendly cleaning through its BoGreen program, which uses plant-based cleaners instead of harsh chemicals.

3. Buildingstars

- Custom pricing

Buildingstars was founded in 1994 and distributes its commercial cleaning services in five sectors: healthcare, offices, finance, industry, and education. The company has four main headquarters in Arizona, Missouri, Florida, and Illinois. It has around 800 franchisees spread across the United States.

As part of its routine office cleaning program, Buildingstars disinfects "common" areas such as door handles, elevator buttons, vending machines, and water coolers. It also provides hand sanitizing stations to reduce viral transmissions (as Buildingstars' website points out, 15% of men and 7% of women do not wash their hands).

Buildingstars' comprehensive cleaning service includes night cleaning, floor maintenance, window washing, and carpet cleaning.

4. CleanNet USA

- Custom pricing

According to CleanNet USA, the company cleans over 160 million square feet of commercial space every day. The company was founded in 1987 and currently operates around 1,700 franchises nationwide.

CleanNet USA also monitors its franchisees using proprietary quality control software that allows businesses to track maintenance standards. If necessary, the company can intervene and provide corrective training if a particular franchise does not meet CleanNet's standards.

Companies that use CleanNet can also track their cleaning services through the company's mobile application. The company, headquartered in Virginia, also partners with local licensed contractors to offer pest control, painting, and maintenance services.

5. Coverall

- Personalized pricing

Founded in 1985, Coverall has over 8,000 franchises in the United States. The company focuses on cleaning medical facilities, and it provides services to over 14,000 healthcare providers. This makes it a great choice for medical offices, hospitals, dental clinics, dialysis centers, and veterinary clinics.

However, Coverall is also present in a wide variety of other sectors, including office buildings, schools, industry, retail, and fitness centers. The company uses hospital-grade disinfectants, no-dip flat mops, HEPA vacuums, and microfiber cleaning cloths.

Unlike many commercial cleaning services, Coverall provides cost estimates on its website. Although you should always get a quote to determine the exact amount you will pay, Coverall states that the basic service for a small office a few times a week ranges from $170 to $250 per month, with service for larger facilities ranging from $800 to several thousand dollars per month.

6. JAN-PRO

- Personalized pricing

JAN-PRO started in Rhode Island in 1991. Today, it has over 8,000 franchises in the United States. Its main service offering is its EnviroShield® disinfection process, which meets the same cleaning requirements as those used to sanitize hospital operating rooms. JAN-PRO cleaners also use color-coded microfiber cloths to prevent cross-contamination from one cleaning area to another.

Founded by a military veteran, the company also offers a special program designed to facilitate the opening of a franchise by veterans. JAN-PRO also provides all its franchisees with five weeks of rigorous training on the company's procedures and protocols.

JAN-PRO also offers a satisfaction guarantee. If a client is not satisfied with a cleaning, the next standard cleaning service is free.

7. Jani-King

- Personalized pricing

Jani-King presents itself as "the world's largest commercial cleaning franchise company" and they have the numbers to prove it. The company has 120 support offices in 10 countries and maintains a global network of 9,000 franchisees.

Jani-King handles almost all sectors of activity, including office buildings, retail, sports facilities, hotels, healthcare, restaurants, university campuses, and manufacturing plants.

The company is also one of the oldest commercial cleaning services on the list, as it was founded in 1968. Jani-King offers on its website a number of video reviews from renowned clients. Among the reviews are those from the House of Blues, Methodist Hospital Surgery, Marriott Hotels, and Coca-Cola.

8. ServiceMaster Clean

- Personalized Pricing

ServiceMaster Clean has been in operation since 1929, when it started as a moth-proofing business. It transitioned to commercial cleaning in 1952 and has become one of the largest commercial cleaning services in the country, with over 8,000 company-owned and franchise locations.

ServiceMaster Clean also has several well-known brands under its corporate umbrella, including Merry Maids and Terminix. One of the company's mottos is "any building, any industry, we can clean it". In fact, ServiceMaster Clean has clients in all industries, from banks and hospitals to schools and retail stores.

9. Steamatic

- Personalized pricing

Steamatic is a bit different from other commercial cleaning services on the list in that it offers disaster recovery services in addition to commercial cleaning. The company handles restoration and recovery cleaning after a fire, damages caused by mold, floods, and wind damage from hurricanes and tornadoes.

The company also offers its customers the option to have a Steamatic team come on-site or to ship damaged items to a Steamatic facility for cleaning.

If a customer chooses the "packaging" option, Steamatic can take care of inventory, packaging, transportation, and storage of goods. This can be useful for document recovery, dehumidification, and restoration of artwork, all of which are services offered by Steamatic.

Steamatic was founded in Texas in 1948 and began franchising under the name Steamatic, Inc. in 1967.

10. Vanguard Cleaning Systems

- Personalized Pricing

Vanguard Cleaning Systems was founded in 1984. Today, it has over 3,000 franchisees in the United States and Canada. It also offers janitorial services, which can be convenient for a company looking to hire a single company to take care of both commercial cleaning and janitorial tasks.

According to Vanguard, it manages over 18,000 commercial cleaning accounts. Although Vanguard has won several awards for its franchising opportunities, its website does not list any cleaning or eco-friendly cleaning certifications.

How to choose the best commercial cleaning service for you

Commercial cleaning can be a costly addition to your company's budget, so you want to make sure you are getting the best value for your investment.

And that's exactly how you should consider commercial cleaning services: as an investment. Ideally, you want to find a cleaner that you can work with in the long term. This way, you won't constantly have to deal with quotes and you won't have to deal with a revolving door of cleaning teams.

What should you look for in a commercial cleaning service? What criteria should you use to measure different companies side by side? Here are five tips for choosing a cleaning service that will keep your business clean and healthy for your employees and customers.

1. Experience

Look for a commercial cleaner that is both reliable and familiar with your business. This means you should look for a company that has been around for at least several years. Fortunately, the majority of national cleaning companies have decades of experience, which should not be a problem.

However, also make sure that the cleaning service has experience in your type of business. Some commercial cleaners are known for their excellent work in a medical setting. If they are perfectly capable of cleaning your 10-person office, do you really need such a high level of cleaning? Additionally, are you willing to pay for it?

In this case, you are probably well suited to a cleaning service that focuses on retail stores or office buildings.

2. Availability and Flexibility

What kind of hours is the cleaning service willing to work? Is the price higher if you request a night cleaning?

The reality is that most businesses do not want a cleaning team to come in the middle of the workday. Not only does this disrupt employees, but it can also lead to a major interruption and inconvenience for clients.

A good commercial cleaning service will adapt to your schedule rather than trying to force you to work around theirs.

The majority of national commercial cleaners explicitly state that they offer night cleaning as a standard service.

3. Scope of services

When you hire a commercial cleaner, you often save money by combining two or more services. For example, many commercial cleaning companies offer concierge services in addition to cleaning. It is also common to see cleaners perform regular maintenance cleaning as well as a more thorough cleaning on a quarterly or semi-annual basis.

Think about the cleaning tasks that your office needs and what makes your facility unique. Do you have industrial work areas that accumulate a lot of dust or debris? Or maybe your office building has dozens of windows that require regular cleaning. These are all considerations that you must take into account when looking for a commercial cleaner.

4. Supplies and equipment

If you have ever hired a residential cleaner, you may have encountered a service that asked you to provide cleaning products and equipment. This is not something you want in a commercial setting. On one hand, the cleaning products needed for deep cleaning or hospital-grade sanitation typically need to be stored at specific temperatures and conditions.

In addition, most business owners do not have the time to source a large volume of cleaning supplies and equipment, evaluate them, and manage the inventory needed for an entire office building or a business with multiple sites.

A good commercial cleaning service will have its own cleaning products and equipment, and its employees will be trained in their proper use.

In addition, many commercial cleaning services offer eco-friendly or environmentally friendly cleaning services that use plant-based cleaning solutions. If this is important to you and your business, ask a commercial cleaner what type of products they use, if they have environmental certifications, and if they are willing to provide you with a list of ingredients in their products.

5. Reliability

Most commercial cleaning services do their work at night. This means they have to work inside your building when employees are gone and the office is closed to the public. You want to make sure you contract with a commercial cleaner who employs reliable and trustworthy professionals.

If your business deals with sensitive files, such as patient information or financial account data from clients, you need to ensure that you are working with cleaners who will take appropriate measures to protect the files and documents.

You must also ensure that the commercial cleaning service is insured. This way, you are not responsible for any injuries sustained by a cleaner while working on your property.

Conclusion

Life can get messy, whether you're at work or at home. In a professional setting, foot traffic and product production can create industrial-sized messes. Thankfully, commercial cleaning services have the manpower and resources to tackle the biggest jobs. By doing your homework and taking the time to get a few quotes, you can find a commercial cleaning service that will relieve you of the burden of keeping your business in top shape.