Cleaning pros have a lot of secrets they don’t share with others. They have a lot of tools of the trade, so to speak. Take the eye level test. It is something cleaning pros are intimately familiar with. Have you ever heard of it? Most non-professionals haven’t.
The eye level test is a test of how clean a surface is. It is also a visual inspection. It is rooted in the concept of perspective, which is to say that the human eye picks up on different things based on relation to the object being viewed. So just by changing how you look at a surface, you might be able to spot dirt that was unnoticeable from another angle.
Getting Down to Eye Level
You can apply the eye level test to any surface. Just adjust how you are standing or sitting so that your eye is completely level with the flattest part of the surface in question. You will be able to see things from that level that you would not see standing or sitting higher up.
Professional cleaners make use of the test in a number of ways. There aren’t any hard and fast rules for employing it, so we cannot give you a step-by-step process. But here are the basics:
- Walking Through – A cleaner will walk through a space concentrating on all surfaces that are at eye level for most people. Those take priority because of the angle at which they present. Surfaces are cleaned to remove all dust, dirt, and debris.
- Major Surfaces – A pro cleaner will also look at other major services, usually defined as such by size or lighting. Maybe there is a glass conference table in a meeting room. The sheer size of the table makes it a major surface. The cleaner squats down or sits in order to see the table surface at eye level.
- Portable Lighting – In some environments it is helpful to carry portable lighting. Viewing surfaces from eye level is enhanced by shining light directly on the surface to illuminate the smallest particles of dust and dirt. Portable lighting can also reveal smudges and fingerprints that were otherwise invisible.
- Touching Surfaces – The eye level test might also include actually touching surfaces. A cleaner might run a hand across a surface if it looks clean but is suspected of being sticky or subject to a thin residue or film.
Applying the eye level test addresses things that are not consciously seen but still noticed subconsciously. It makes the difference between a room looking clean and it looking extremely clean. Though we cannot explain the difference to you in concrete terms, everybody knows it when they see it. There is just something about an extremely clean room that looks different. It looks better to most people.
It Encourages Thoroughness
So why would a pro cleaning crew rely heavily on the eye level test? Some do just because they take great pride in their work. But there are two particular things cleaning crews focus on with this test. The first is thoroughness. The more thorough a cleaning crew is, the better job they ultimately do.
The second thing the test focuses on is maintaining the highest level of cleanliness in sensitive environments. For example, a tech company’s clean room needs to be absolutely spotless so that sensitive equipment is not damaged. A clean room is the perfect environment for the eye level test.
If you have never heard of the test, you are not alone. Just know that the best cleaning companies make use of it in appropriate environments.
