How to Clean Department Stores

Find out what it takes to keep your favorite department store clean.

Department stores are large retail establishments that specialize in providing a wide array of items to consumers, such as groceries, home goods, electronics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, gardening supplies, tools, clothing and children's toys. Department stores employ a large group of people for each section of the store, and most also employ a special cleaning team to cover the entire store. Cleaning department stores is much like cleaning any other business, though the process may take longer due to the size of the stores. Commercial cleaning tools help to make this process easier and less time-consuming.

Things You'll Need

• Commercial broom
• Mop
• Mop bucket
• Wet floor caution signs
• Antibacterial cleaning solutions
• Toilet brushes
• Cleaning sponges or rags

Instructions

1. Follow or create a cleaning schedule for the store. An established department store should already have a cleaning schedule guiding employees on when and what to clean. If you take over cleaning services at a department store or own a department store, create your own cleaning schedule but also bear in mind the daily cleaning duties.

2. Sweep the entire store daily or more frequently. Use an industrial or commercial-sized broom, with a wide sweeping path. The large broom quickens the process of cleaning the large department store because of its size as well as the fact that you do not have to produce a sweeping motion, but can effectively move dirt, dust and debris from a floor simply by pushing the large broom.

3. Mop the store at least once per day to remove dirt, mud and dinginess from the floor. Oil from vehicles seeps onto blacktop and customers track this oil into the department store, where it deposits on the floor to create a film. Mopping will remove this film. Mopping takes longer than sweeping, and requires the use of wet floor caution signs, mopping buckets and the mops.

4. Clean the restroom facilities in the department store. You must thoroughly clean bathroom fixtures to ensure sanitary conditions and keep the stores looking tidy. Wipe toilet seats and handles as well as urinals and sinks with antibacterial cleaning products. Use a toilet scrubbing brush and toilet cleaning solutions to brush clean each toilet bowl. Clean the restroom once or twice daily.

5. Conduct rounds through the store to look for any areas in the floor that need spot cleaning. As you perform these rounds watch, for misplaced items or trash items customers have carelessly placed on store shelves; watch for items like empty pop cans, partially eaten food items and candy and gum wrappers.

6. Remove trash from the store when receptacles fill or contain smelly items. Tie the bag and place in an outside trash container and then place a new bag in the trashcan.

Tips & Warnings

• Have a team or an individual on hand to take care of emergency cleaning services. You will need emergency cleaning services outside of your cleaning schedule for dry and wet spills or when a customer has any other accidents requiring immediate clean up for sanitary or safety reasons.

Resources

• Entrepreneur: How to Start a Cleaning Service