The professional cleaning crews here at All Pro Cleaning Systems have seen it all. They have cleaned out some pretty interesting spaces covering everything from industrial environments to abandoned properties. But few things are as interesting as the office fridge. Equally interesting are the monthly fridge clean-out emails frequently sent by business owners and managers.
Are those monthly emails really necessary? Only business owners and managers can answer that question. Meanwhile, the fact remains that the typical office refrigerator has a tendency to become a science experiment if someone doesn’t stay on top of things.
Every day, while our commercial cleaning teams get to work cleaning individual offices, restrooms, workspaces, etc., there are strange things going on in company refrigerators across the country. Who really knows what lurks behind the often dirty doors of the office fridge?
Clean-Out Has To Be Done
We can laugh somewhat at the dirty office fridge, but the truth is that regular clean-outs need to be done. There is no way around it. Otherwise, you end up with a community fridge blossoming with all sorts of furry blue stuff and its gooey green counterpart. A fridge with lots of unidentifiable leftovers eventually becomes a safety hazard in the sense that it breeds germs. That says nothing of the smell.
We have seen office fridges so full of leftover nasties that employees will not even dare open the doors. Someone eventually calls the cleaning service and asks them to put the refrigerator on the cleaning list for the next shift.
Given the state of some of the office fridges we’ve seen, we would say that monthly clean-out emails are definitely appropriate in some cases. A monthly email is more or less a reminder that employees need to take ownership of their refrigerated items and consume them, trash them, or take them home.
An Email Doesn’t Have To Be Nasty
Should a business owner or manager decide to begin sending monthly emails, one of the keys to success is framing the message correctly. For starters, the email doesn’t have to be rude or nasty. A clean-out email certainly shouldn’t be passive-aggressive.
Remember that the clean-out email is a reminder. It should be clear, concise, and as simple as possible. If you like, you can even make it witty. Injecting a little humor can go a long way toward reducing the possibility of people getting angry or upset.
If You Leave It to the Cleaners
Cleaning out company refrigerators is not something professional office cleaners normally do. Office fridges are considered private space. However, some customers prefer that their cleaning services handle the refrigerator. That’s fine. But the only way to complete the task effectively is to set up and stick with some sort of routine.
Leaving the fridge to professional cleaners means running the risk of things being inadvertently tossed. It is risky business, to say the least. But if that’s the way it must be, so be it. Sometimes, leaving the fridge to the cleaning crew is the only way to guarantee what should be a common appliance doesn’t take on a life of its own.
Cleaning Out Is Common Courtesy
Let us leave you with one more thought about company fridge clean-outs: cleaning out the fridge is just common courtesy. Employees don’t want to go to retrieve their lunches from the fridge only to be met with unsightly messes and foul odors. It is just not a good experience. If you need to send a monthly clean-out email to remind employees about the fridge, go ahead and do it. It will be better for everyone.
