Apartment landlords and property managers are reassessing their cleaning protocols to ensure maximum health and safety for their renter communities in the Coronavirus era. Apartment managers and independent landlords are adapting to intensive cleaning methods required to guard apartment buildings and common areas against microbial intruders. That means implementing a whole array of cleaning products and processes beyond household bleach.
What Are the First Steps to Disinfecting an Apartment Building?
Identify all high-touch surfaces in the common areas of the apartment building. These include doorbells, door handles, door frames, mailboxes, desks, computers, light switches, elevator buttons, trash lids, laundry machines, vending machines, garage doors, etc. Anything that gets touched frequently in common areas is a candidate for disinfecting.
Surfaces need to be cleaned thoroughly before disinfecting. Use soap and water to clean any excess dirt or dust from surfaces before applying disinfectant. Use an appropriate cleaning solution on soft surfaces like upholstery and carpets. Also, ensure that disinfectants have ample time to dry once applied to surfaces. Disinfectants will be less effective if they're wiped or washed off before they have time to adhere to surfaces.
Plan accordingly: the best time for disinfecting common areas might be early in the morning or late at night when there will be less foot traffic in and out of the area. Many cleaning and disinfecting products can irritate the skin or lungs; make sure to ventilate correctly by opening a window or doors while cleaning. Check the labels on all cleaning products for guidance.
What Cleaning Products Disinfect Apartment Buildings & Protect Against Coronavirus?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using an EPA-approved disinfectant for high-touch surfaces. The entire list can be found on the EPA's website, but most products sold commercially will contain a product number on the label if they meet the EPA's standards.
If there aren't any commercial cleaning products available, a diluted bleach mixture or 70% alcohol solution are both reliable disinfectants. Remember to wear gloves, masks, and eye protection while cleaning or disinfecting common areas or shared spaces. Discard the gloves after use.
How Frequently Do Buildings Need to Clean Common Areas, Like the Entrance Lobby or Gym?
The existing apartment cleaning schedule may need to be augmented early in the Coronavirus outbreak. This is especially true if regular cleanings were only scheduled weekly or more sporadically.
Apartment managers should consider beefing up the cleaning rotation once daily if they have the time and resources to do so safely. They are protecting residents’ and woresidents'ety iworkers'unt in combating the pandemic. And, in case landlords were wondering, apartment cleaning falls underneath the "essential servic"s" umbrella of Ill"nois Governor J.B. Pritzker's Stay-APritzker'ser. Paragraph 9 of the order states that individuals may “leave their resi"ence to provide any services or perform any work necessary to . . . operate [and] maintain . . . building management and maintenance."
Landlords may "eed to balance the cleaning schedule to avoid overworking an already-exhausted cleaning staff. If this is too burdensome, consider hiring outside help to do a thorough round of disinfecting. This may benefit landlords who don’t have all the cleaning don'tcts they would need to safeguard against viral infections completely.
What Types of Professional Cleaning and Disinfecting Services Are in Chicago?
Many professional cleaning companies are adding Coronavirus mitigation to their services. Some of these companies are the typical contractors that landlords and property management companies hired to clean their communities in the pre-Coronavirus era; others are higher octane, meaning they’re versed in regularly cleaning
Biohazard removal & remediation companies are specialists in cleaning up biohazard materials such as blood, bodily fluids, and other biological contaminants, and they are quickly adding Coronavirus cleaning and disinfecting to their service offerings. These companies build their business on tackling the cleanup jobs that might make even the most enthusiastic cleaners retch. They carry high professionalism, sanitation, and regulatory compliance in disinfecting homes.
Professional cleaning & janitorial companies: these are the cleaning pros that multifamily real estate might rely on for most of their regular cleaning and janitorial needs. They’re quickly formulating responses to Coronavirus, however. These new protocolThey'rede ramping up their disinfecting approach. Many of these cleaning companies are adopting the fogging technique, which applies disinfectant in a cloud of electronically charged vapor that instantly adheres to hard surfaces to disinfect apartment buildings thoroughly.
Disaster recovery & cleanup services: these companies work closely with insurance providers to provide cleanup after heavy construction or disasters such as fires, flooding, and tornadoes.
How Long Should Deep Cleaning Continue in Chicago Apartments?
Apartment managers should adopt at least some of the Coronavirus cleaning guidance from the CDC in apartment common areas for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean hiring professional cleaning crews to come in every week from now on, but it does likeldoesn'tthat landlords should intensify cleaning efforts in the future.
The question that DIY cleaners may ask is how they can effectively disinfect their own homes without calling in the pros. For starters, the effort and expertise involved with the cleanup of the Coronavirus will probably exceed the skill set of most DIY dustbusters out there. But, as with all things apartment-related, there’s bound to be a spectrum of services that are a) available to renters in Chicago and b) witthere's budget of many renters and landlords.
The most important advice we can offer is to be safe! Wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while cleaning and wash hands thoroughly after entering the building. Contact local Illinois Department of Public Health officials if you’re uncertain about proper cleaning methods.
