At NIW this is a time of year for thanks, and we have many blessings

Thank you!

Another Thanksgiving is upon us and, with it, another opportunity to reflect on our reasons for gratitude. Here at Northern Illinois Windows, we have a lot to be thankful for. First and foremost, we’re grateful for our customers – those who have invited us out and trusted us to clean their windows, clean their gutters, install window film on their windows or install their holiday lights.

Our customers are the reason Northern Illinois Windows exist. They’re the purpose of our business. They’re the lifeblood of our business. And, each time you invite us to provide our services, you offer us an opportunity to shine. We thank you for that opportunity and strive to make the most of it.

We are thankful for all the testimonials we receive. These are more valuable than all the marketing and advertising in the world. We like to remind ourselves that our work gives our customers a clear perspective on their world. When they look through clean windows and are pleased with the difference, we have lived up to our goals and their expectations.

We’re also grateful for the window-cleaning technicians who make up our crews that go out, usually, six days a week, to clean those windows and gutters, and install that 3M window film or install those holiday lights. Our crews go out in the rain. They go out in the burning sun. They go out in the cold (yes, we clean windows in temperatures below zero).

We believe we have the best crews at Northern Illinois Windows. We demand the best and our goal is to reward excellence. We try to create an atmosphere where our crew members are inspired to do their best to ensure the full satisfaction of our customers. But, we have wonderful crews at Northern Illinois Windows because we’ve had the good fortune to hire some of the best workers in the industry.

We’re grateful for family and friends. And, we’re grateful to live in the best country in the world where the entrepreneurial spirit is rewarded with the opportunity for those who are willing to work for success. We’re in our 26th year of cleaning windows and gutters, installing window film and holiday lights. Surely, that proves just how blessed we are.

And so, at this special time of year, we would like to say Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving. We hope the joy of this holiday carries on to a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, as well.

Could Cpt. Kirk have used shields to keep the leaves out of his gutters?

Aboard the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, you might hear Cpt. Kirk giving the order, “Full power to the shields, Mister Scott.” With any luck, the hypothetical spaceship’s shields would repel the proton torpedoes that a Romulan Starship had fired. Well, if they can create a force field to protect a spaceship, how hard would it be to create a force field to keep leaves out of your gutters and downspouts?

Imagine you’re looking out the window in mid-October and you notice that the leaves are starting to fall. You turn to your husband and say, “I think it’s time to deploy the gutter shields.”

“What power do you want?” he asks.

And you tell him, “Full power to the shields. We’ll keep those leafy invaders out of our gutters.”

Of course, force fields are currently a product of imagination. The leaves falling from trees around your home, however, are very real. And, while less explosive than a Romulan proton torpedo, they can cause damage to your mothership – your home.

It’s not the leaves themselves that do the damage, it’s the water. Any time of the year, if your gutters are clogged, water can back up and sneak under your home’s shingles. Diabolically, some might say, the leaves come down to clog gutters just before winter sets in. It’s as though a Klingon High Council plotted to arrange a perfect storm that would leave your roof and roof structure in tatters.

How does this fiendish plot play out? With cruel simplicity. In the Spring, buds appear on trees. Over the summer, those buds turn to bushy bunches of leaves. Then, in the Autumn, the leaves fall from the trees. They fall in such abundance that, though many land on the ground, where you have to rake them, there is enough left over to fill your gutters and clog your downspouts.

Then, with your gutters clogged, Winter brings snow and ice. The snow builds up on your roof, which radiates heat that melts the lower layers of snow and ice. Unable to wash down the gutters and downspouts, because of the leaves, the water backs up the roof. That’s not the direction water is expected to go on a roof.

Roofing is designed to shed water as it flows down. But, when the water rolls up, it can roll right up under the shingles where it invades your home while rotting the plywood under the shingles. It can cause substantial damage.

The solution, since force fields haven’t actually been invented yet, is to clean your gutters. You could send your husband up on a ladder where, hopefully, he won’t fall and break his neck. Or, you could send out a desperate message to the Federation Starship Enterprise to swing by and use its lasers to destroy the leaves. Of course, that’s only an imaginary option (sorry, Trekkies). The other option is to hire some professionals who know how to safely climb ladders and have proper insurance in case the unexpected happens.

Is there a difference between cleaning windows with wood or vinyl frames?

Is there a difference between cleaning windows with
wooden window frames and windows with vinyl
window frames?

Glass is glass. So, when it comes to cleaning a window with a wood frame, or a window with a vinyl frame, the glass really won’t care. Is that to say there isn’t any difference? Not exactly.

In both cases, you’ll want to wipe the frames clean and dry. Who wants a clean window in a dirty frame? But, it’s also a matter of removing moisture from the frame. In the case, of the vinyl framed window, the biggest concern is spotting. If you don’t wipe that moisture away it will dry and leave spots.

Water can have a more damaging effect on a wood window frame. Moisture softens wood. It invades wood. It inspires mold and rot in wood. This is why it’s essential to paint and/or seal the wood frames of your windows. After all, they won’t just experience moisture when you wash your windows; they’ll also experience moisture from rain, snow, dew and that dew can also appear on the inside of your windows.

On the inside of your windows, that dew is called condensation. Of course, the moisture doesn’t care what it’s called. It will insidiously rob your wood window frames of their integrity if you’re not careful. Careful means sealing and/or painting your wood window frames with sufficient regularity. It also means wiping off moisture that collects on your windows, whether that moisture appears from the skies, from the atmosphere or from a squeegee wiping soapy water from the windows during the cleaning process.

Sometimes, wood frames are more of a hassle to clean. This is the case when the glass is divided by what are called ‘true divides.’ True divides are what you find in windows that are made up of smaller pieces of glass with frames built into the overall frame of a window. While you might find this with vinyl windows it’s rather rare. Instead, with vinyl windows, the appearance of ‘true divides’ is achieved by putting dividers in between the sheets of glass in a thermal-pane window. You have two full sheets of glass sandwiched over directive dividers.

With wood true divides, each piece of glass has to be cleaned individually. Then you have more frames to wipe and dry, and that can be a real pain.

How could something so beautiful be such a pane – those leaves will clog your gutters

Some folks will pile in the car and drive up to Door County, and other heavily wooded areas, to see the splendor of the varied shades of autumn leaves this time of year. Reds, yellows, oranges, purples, browns, greens, magentas: these are some of the colors that replace the almost universal green of summer leaves. They’re beautiful but the changing colors signify the changing of seasons and the falling of those leaves.

As the leaves come down they must land somewhere. They may land on the ground. This causes a rash of rakes to fly into the hands of homeowners who are coerced to join an army of yard-raking laborers. As inconvenient as that is, it’s not as bad as the leaves that get caught by gutters before the leaves can hit the ground.

You might tell yourself, ‘Well, if they don’t hit the ground, I don’t have to rake them.’ If that was the entire story, it would be a wonderful tale of increased leisure. But that’s not what it is. It’s not a good thing that your gutters catch a bunch of leaves before they hit the ground.

Autumn leaves that fill up gutters can cause substantial damage to your home. The gutters play a vital role in protecting your home. They channel the water that comes off your roof through downspouts and away from your foundation. Without gutters and downspouts, water comes straight off the roof and can find its way into your basement.

When your gutters are full of leaves, however, they conspire with elements of the next season – winter. In the wintertime, the water comes down as snow. As the snow piles up on your roof, the heat coming through your roof from your home can melt some of the snow or ice. Not a problem – your gutters will carry the water away. But your gutters are full of leaves.

With leaves clogging your gutters, the water builds up on your roof. ‘Building up’ is a contrary condition for the way your shingles were designed. Your roof shingles are designed to shed water as it comes down from clouds in the sky. But, water building up from a clogged gutter can work its way under the shingles. Instead of protecting the house from the water, water building up from clogged gutters gets in.

As the water comes in, it can rot the plywood sheets under the shingles. Then, it can move down into the insulation. When the insulation gets wet it loses most of its effectiveness. Now, more heat is coming up through the roof, more snow, or ice, is melting, and more water is coming in. Your gutters have started a vicious cycle. And all because those beautiful leaves clogged your gutters.

The solution is simple – clean the leaves out of your gutter. But, better than climbing a ladder yourself, or sending someone you love up that ladder, you might want to call in professionals to clean your gutters.

Why worry? Have the pros put up your Christmas lights this year

You’ve got plenty of time before you have to start worrying about putting up the Christmas lights and decorations. But, why wait when you can start worrying now?

Of course, it’s worth all the effort, isn’t it? The lights are so beautiful, if your husband takes his time and does a good job. Even if he rushes through it, you can always squint your eyes when you look at the house and the haphazard way he threw the lights at the house.

How much time he spends – how much attention he gives to detail – when putting up the lights and decorations usually depends on the weather. If it’s a nice late-autumn day, he’ll take his time. He’ll make sure every Christmas light is in its place and every light is lighted. But, if he’s out there on a bitterly cold and window day, possibly in freezing rain or snow, consider yourself lucky if the lights go up at all.

The truth is, you don’t have to worry about it now. You can put off worrying – worrying about the hassle of digging the lights out of the attic, checking the light strings to make sure they work, and hoping they’ll still work after your husband puts them up on the house. You can wait to worry when the holiday draws nearer.  But, there is another choice – don’t worry at all.

Not worrying at all may sound ridiculous. Why, it’s almost a Christmas tradition to worry, isn’t it?
And, how will the lights get up if you don’t worry. So far, we haven’t even mentioned about how you’ll worry that your husband will fall off the ladder while putting up the Christmas lights.

If he falls from the ladder, hopefully, all that happens is he gets hurt a big – breaks a leg or arm – anything but his neck. Still, he hasn’t fallen off a ladder while putting up the lights in the last 20-or-so holiday seasons; why would he fall now? And yet, he is getting older. Can he climb the ladder, and work on top of the ladder, as safely as he has in the past?

So, how does that fit into not worrying? Imagine putting up the lights without sending your husband up a ladder. It’s possible. You can actually have someone else put up the Christmas lights. It’s a present for your husband – he doesn’t have to brave the weather and the ladder. And it’s a present for you – you don’t have to worry if he’s not going up the ladder where professionals are.

Little finger prints on the windows – the kids are back in school – time to put the house back in order

Time to clean those fingerprints off the windows

 Summer was wonderful, wasn’t it? So, why are you so happy that the little ones are going back to school? Could it be that you actually welcome a little peace and quiet while they’re away for seven hours or so five days each week? Maybe you can start by doing something about the fingerprints they’ve left all over the house, including the fingerprints on the windows.

Yes, you probably did enjoy the time you had with your children this past summer. It doesn’t make you a bad parent that you appreciate they’re going back to school. It makes you normal. As much as you love them, they’re a handful. They’re full of energy and they put their hands all over everything.

Grab a cup of coffee and have a seat by the window looking out on the yard. This is your time. It’s the part of the day when you kick back, take a deep breath and relax. But, as you look out the window, you can’t help but notice the view is distorted by your youngest’s fingerprints. In fact, there’s a set of handprints on the window – a right and a left. In between the handprints it looks as though … no, that is her nose and mouth print on the window.

What was she looking at? Maybe there was a cardinal or a squirrel out in the yard. Maybe it was a rainy summer day and she was looking outside, longingly, wishing she could go out and play. Whatever brought her over to the window, it’s time for these tell-tale signs to go.

It’s not spring cleaning but you’ll still give the house a good once over; you’ll make sure things are clean and in their place. But don’t forget the windows. Your phone is full of photos and videos to help you remember the summer of 2017; you don’t need smears on your windows as reminders.  It’s time to wipe those fingerprints off the windows so you can have your quiet place back unencumbered.

How does the Yin and the Yang apply to window cleaning?

A wise man once said, “There are two sides to the universe. One side has dirty windows and the other side clean. This is the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning.”

Actually, I don’t know how wise he was. I was in a coffee shop and the two guys at the next table were playing chess. I just happened to overhear their conversation. My first thought was that he was joking. But, as I thought about it, it occurred to me, maybe he wasn’t too far off.

The Yin and the Yang are concepts of Taoism. The idea, as described in the Website www.personaltao.com, is that the Yin and the Yang have “Two halves that together complete wholeness.” We’re all familiar with the symbols of the Yin and the Yang. But, if the chess player in the coffee shop was serious, how could he think that the Yin and the Yang could apply to window cleaning. That’s just crazy, right?

Aha, not so fast.

Reading further in the Personal Tao Website, you learn that Yin means shady side and Yang means sunny side. Yin means night and Yang means day. These concepts, or definitions, are easily applied to window cleaning. Ok, maybe we need to stretch them a little to get there but, to humor our chess-playing friend, let’s go there anyhow.

Presumably and clearly, if you’ll pardon the pun, according to ‘the wiseman’s definition,’ Yin represents dirty windows and Yang represents clean windows. Now, to achieve equilibrium in the universe, you may want to have only half of your windows cleaned. Maybe, if you have vertical double-hung windows, you can clean the bottom halves for your Yang and the leave the tops dirty, for your Yin. If they’re side-by-side double-hung windows, where possible, you could clean the southern side – the Yang – because that side is closer to the sun. If you have casement windows, you could measure to a halfway point and clean to that line.

Then again, you might achieve the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning by only cleaning the outside of your windows and leaving the inside dirty, unless you’d prefer to have the Yang closer at hand, in which case you’ll want to clean the insides.

There’s also the possibility that the Yin and the Yang of window cleaning is a temporal matter – the windows are clean sometimes – the Yang – and dirty others – the Yin. This works out well if you clean your windows once or twice each year. Since winter is the Yin of the seasons, and summer the Yang, you can clean your windows in the summer and leave them dirty in the winter.

The drawback to dirty windows in the winter is that, with cabin fever, it’s rather nice to look out, through clean windows, on a pristine blanket of snow while sipping a cup of coffee, with or without playing chess. Then again, maybe you should seek equilibrium elsewhere in the universe and allow the Yang to dominate your clean windows year round.

Don’t get caught up in a Griswold Christmas Vacation – have the pros put up your Christmas lights

“Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny … Kaye.”

― Clark W Griswold

Does the 1989 movie, “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” cut a little-too close to home? You love the holidays. And the decorations are beautiful, once they’re up. Well, they’re bright and colorful, anyhow, even if your husband, who, around the beginning of December, seems as though he’s possessed by the Ghost of Griswold past, tends to put up too many lights in random and disassociated … can you call them ‘patterns?’

Putting up the holiday decorations is an annual ritual, though more an act of insanity, isn’t it? How long will it take to untangle that massive ball of last-year’s lights? And how many times will your husband cuss before the strings are untangled? Once the Christmas lights are untangled, how many of those strings will work? How many strings of lights will work just long enough for your husband to dangle precariously from the ladder and install them before they go out like the punch line to Christmas comedy?

Of course, you don’t watch him putting up the lights. The experience, watching and waiting for him to fall, always leaves you breathless with terror. Besides, there’s the deterioration of his language. Well, who needs to hear that and, hopefully, the neighbors won’t. It’s better just to stay inside and hope for the best until he’s done, though you do keep an ear pealed for any loud thuds that might indicate a need to call an ambulance.

Then there’s the tree. Putting up, and decorating, the tree would probably be more fun if it didn’t somehow always occur as an extension of the frustration caused by putting the decorations up outside. If you could just relax enjoy it as a family activity. Instead, you almost expect a squirrel to jump out of the tree even though it’s an artificial tree you keep up in the attic the rest of the year.

Take a deep breath. Make some hot chocolate, have a seat and think about it. Isn’t it true that the Jones’s across the street have lights beautifully strung on their home each Christmas? Their Christmas lights are installed with purpose. The Christmas lights even seem to favorably accent their home. And have you ever seen Mr. Jones out on a ladder installing their Christmas lights? It’s as though a little Christmas magic carefully strings the lights along the gutters, eves and windows.

Come to think of it, haven’t you seen a work van in their driveway every year around Christmas time? Men with ladders get out of the van and go to work. But you’ve never really paid attention to what they’re doing. Could it be their putting up the Christmas lights?

Just think of the possibilities; professionals will come to your home, people who know how to work safely from ladders, who use good, quality, ‘working’ Christmas lights, and who know how to install the lights with the care and detail of professionals. The only Clark W Griswold you’ll see in your house is the one of the TV screen when you pop the DVD in while casually decorating the Christmas tree.

It’s time to say thank you for all those window cleaning referrals

Companies use an array of tools to attract business. They advertise in newspapers, radio, television, and magazines. They build Websites and establish social networking accounts to get the word out about their companies. They put up billboards, signs, and paint their logos and message on the side of their vehicles. But, there is nothing better for a business than word-of-mouth marketing.

As much as we rely on word-of-mouth to spread the news about Northern Illinois Windows, it is only fitting and proper that we should take a moment to thank our customers, networking-group partners and friends for all they do recommending us to those who need their windows cleaned, as well as other services.

We take pride that the quality of the service we provide is sufficient that customers and friends feel at ease about the idea of referring us to others who can use our window cleaning and other services. But, providing quality service does not obligate customers to tell others about how we did an exceptional job cleaning their windows; we were compensated when we finished cleaning someone’s windows, or installing 3M window film or cleaning their gutters. 

When you share a good word about NIW with someone, we realize that, doing so, isn’t part of the agreement we made when you contracted us to clean your windows.

So, when someone passes our name along as a referral to another potential customer, while we thank you, we also take that as a compliment and, importantly, as a responsibility.

You’ve spoken highly of us and we have a responsibility to ensure that we live up to the quality expected, based on that referral; we have a responsibility to live up to your good word.

So, with no small measure of gratitude, I say Thank You,

Bill Thomas, Owner
Northern Illinois Windows

Window tinting not just for the car – your home and office will love window tinting, too

Have you ever climbed into a hot car in summer? The temperature can be stifling. On a 70-degree day, within an hour, a parked car can reach temperatures approaching 113 degrees. On an 80-degree day, if left in the sun, the temperature inside a car can reach anywhere from 130 to 172 degrees.

An egg white will cook at 149 degrees. The egg yolk at 158 degrees.

One way to keep the temperature from reaching these highs is to lower the windows a little. Another way is to have the windows tinted. Window tinting can block 99.9 percent of the sun’s UV rays and makes a big, big difference in keeping the car cool. Window tinting also keeps things cool in your home or office.

Window tinting is great for the home and office, too

Most people have heard of window tinting for cars. Fewer are aware that window tinting is also readily available for their homes and office. And the benefits go beyond keeping your home or office cooler. In fact, there are five significant benefits to adding window film (tinted or otherwise) to your home or office.

• Save money on energy costs: By cutting down the heat coming in through your windows, you’ll reduce the energy required for your air conditioning to cool your home or office.
• Preserve furnishings and floorings: Over time, your furniture and flooring is dramatically faded by the sun’s UV rays. But, it happens slowly so you probably haven’t noticed. One way to see the difference is to move a dresser that sits in the sun a lot and compare the floor around it and the floor that was under it before you moved it. You’ll probably be shocked at how effective the sun is at bleaching the color out of wood and fabrics.
• Maintain your privacy: While clear window film can also block 99.9 percent of the sun’s UV rays, tinted window film can eliminate the fishbowl perspective that you may have around the windows in your home or office. Tinted window film can enhance your privacy dramatically.
• Increase your security: A window covered with window film is extremely difficult to break through, even with a hammer. If it won’t stop a burglar, or worse, from getting into your home or office, it will slow them down and require that they make extended noise thy won’t appreciate. And, with tint, they’ll find it harder to look in and see if the coast is clear to break in.
• It’s a cost-effective improvement: Tinted window film can dramatically change the appearance of your home or office. It’s a quick and easy makeover.

A great Mother’s Day present? Hire someone to clean the house and clean the windows

How many of us struggle to find that exceptionally wonderful gift for mom each year at Mother’s Day? Flowers, a box of chocolates, and dinner at a nicer restaurant, are the staples of Mother’s Day gifts. And, they’re appreciated. Mom would probably tell you that you don’t need to get her anything else. But, you know in your heart that, if you could take that Mother’s Day gift to the next level, Mom would just love it. So, how about hiring someone to do some of chores around the house, such as hiring someone to clean or wash the windows?

Those staples of Mother’s Day giving are so expected that they’re kind of boring. There’s no surprise. It’s kind of like buying a tie for Dad every Father’s Day. You watch him feign excitement but everyone knows he’s only appreciative that you took the time to acknowledge him on this day, as mom reacts when you acknowledge her with flowers, chocolate and dinner.

It’s not that you shouldn’t take her out for dinner. And the flowers and chocolates are still nice. But, imagine her surprise when she finds out that a crew of professionals will arrive at the house to clean – and clean the windows. She can sit back, smell the flowers and enjoy the chocolates while a cleaning service does a professional job of giving the house a professional cleaning. And, she can enjoy the flowers and chocolate while gazing out windows that clean and streak free after the professionals cleaned the windows for Mother’s Day.

Taking Mother’s Day giving to another level is not difficult. On Mother’s Day, you can give mom a certificate so she can schedule to have the windows cleaned when she’s ready. Or, and there’s still time with Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 15, you can schedule the cleaning to occur a few days before or after the holiday. That way, she’ll have nothing to do but enjoy the flowers and chocolates.

Water-fed poles keep window cleaners off ladders and safely on the ground

You’re the kind of business owner who thinks ahead and considers threats and opportunities and how they could affect your business. You understand the importance of making a positive first impression on potential clients (see our recent blog about businesses making positive first impressions). As part of making a good first impression, you wisely insist on keeping the windows clean. Unfortunately, with a multi-story business, this involves window cleaners climbing on ladders to get to the upper windows.

Of course, you insist that the company cleaning your windows is insured and bonded. Still, it’s a little nerve wracking watching those workers up on the ladders knowing that, with one little misstep, they could fall and hurt themselves. Besides, you don’t want your customers walking under ladders while the windows are washed. If only they didn’t have to climb on ladders to clean your windows.

It turns out there is an alternative to using ladders to clean windows. Qualified window cleaning companies have the right equipment to allow access to upper windows without climbing on ladders. The equipment is called a ‘water-fed pole.’

A hose is connected to the bottom of the water-fed pole. Most water-fed poles can reach up five-stories high. And, five-stories high, they do a great job in the hands of a qualified window cleaning technician. And the job is generally done much quicker; the window cleaners don’t have to climb up and down the ladders – they don’t have to move the ladders.

The point is that, with a water-fed pole, you’ll have clean windows without the worry of someone climbing around on a ladder to get them that way.

Keep your business and windows clean to maintain a good first impression

BUDDYZ Pizza in McHenry knows the importance of the first impression and takes pains to present their restaurant in a positive light, including with clean windows.

As a business owner, you’ve probably read books about the importance of making a good impression. No doubt, you realize this is a concept that extends to the physical presence of your store or office. That’s why you take the time to clean and organize. This is why you spend time designing your signage and decorating the front window to give potential customers the right impression. Of course, while creating a storefront-window display, you also make a point of cleaning the windows.

An Sept. 5, 2014, article, in Forbes magazine, refers to one ‘expert’ who suggests that first impressions are often “highly accurate.” Though another expert refers to first impressions as “frustratingly arbitrary,” the question is really a matter of how people react to their first impressions.

If you own and operate a restaurant, cleanliness is more than ‘next to Godliness;’ it’s one of the business commandments for a place that serves food. Someone who is considering your restaurant as a place to dine wants to know that their food is properly prepared and, in fact, safe. One sign they’ll automatically look for is the general cleanliness of your establishment. But, this also applies to other businesses.

Ask yourself, why would a hiring official reject a resume with a few grammatical errors from someone seeking a position as a welder? The answer is that the quality of the resume is a demonstration of the prospective employee’s commitment to doing a thorough job. It doesn’t matter that the welder will, probably, never have to consider grammar while welding.

Still, if someone thought about it, they might say, ‘I don’t care that things are unorganized in this store or office; why does it matter to me that the windows aren’t clean?’ They might figure that, once they bring the products they buy home, or contract for your services, they may never return to your office. But, they might also say, how good are can their products or services be if this is how little they worry about creating a good impression.

Worse yet, many people don’t consciously think about first impressions at all. The first impression is made silently, without conscious thought, while coloring their decision-making processes. This is why it’s essential to maintain a clean and organized store, restaurant or office. You can save yourself from that bad first impression. Oh, and don’t forget the clean windows.

Office cleaning checklist – don’t forget the windows

Do you have someone come in to clean your office? Or, have you assigned that duty to one or more members of your office staff, in addition to their other duties? Maybe you do the office cleaning yourself.

When your office is cleaned, is it done right? How do you know if the office is cleaned properly? This is not as much of a subjective question – depending on your personal definition of ‘clean’ – as you might think. There are two primary factors to consider when you determine if your office is cleaned properly: thoroughness and effectiveness.

Thoroughness refers to whether the office was cleaned in its entirety. Effectiveness refers to whether the office is truly clean. The latter refers to how clean and includes whether your office is adequately sterilized. This is an important question when you look at your office as a potential incubator where germs, and other nasties, can grow, thrive and infect you and your workers resulting in sick days that cut into productivity.

Sterilization is achieved through the proper application of effective cleaning products (be wary of those that might leave foul chemicals in their wake – there are effective cleaning materials that are based on natural products that don’t leave chemical landmines on the surfaces, and in the air, of your office.

In terms of what you should clean, and this depends on whether you’re doing a deep cleaning or a maintenance cleaning, you should …

• Remove waste, dump wastebaskets and clear clutter
• Wipe surfaces with proper cleaning products (test in an obscure area first to make sure the cleaning solvent won’t damage the surface where you’re using it)
• Sweep and mop the floor
• Wipe around doorways and handrails and other areas where people frequently place their hands
• Wipe and sanitize keyboards, computer mouses, printer keypads and other equipment that is used in the office
• Do extra sanitary cleaning in bathrooms and eating areas
• Clean vents, often found in the ceiling, as well as light fixtures
• Clean the windows and other glass surfaces

This latter step, is an area where it often takes a trained expert to do a good job. Frequently, when someone is less familiar with proper cleaning methods, it is very difficult to do a good job of cleaning the windows. It may look good at first but, as the window dries completely, spots and streaks will appear. And, to make matters worse, for the amateur, cleaning windows poorly takes much more time than it takes a professional to clean the windows properly.

A clean office will give your employees a better feeling about their environment, even if it is subconscious. Clean windows to look through are a big part of this. And, if you have customers coming to your office, clean windows will give them a better impression of your business, too.

Windows contribute to workplace productivity, but keep ‘em clean

Put an employee at a desk in a cubicle without any sunlight and, over time, you can almost watch them shrivel and wilt from the seclusion. To some degree, their motivation with atrophy. Like flowers, they need a sufficient quantity of the nourishing rays of sunlight. And, for sunlight, you need windows – clean windows that enhance productivity.

Once you let the sunlight in, keep in mind that it will shine on your employees, as well as their surroundings. Cluttered and dirty, their surroundings may do better in the dark. But, relatively neat, organized and with just the right sense of comfort (comfort that makes them feel at ease without putting them to sleep) the sunlight coming through the windows can produce an environment that is conducive to greater productivity. It can even help increase employee retention.

If the workplace is somewhere people enjoy coming to work, they’re more likely to want to keep coming. And, they’re also more likely to be productive.

This is not an abstract idea. A study in Psychology Today “links light exposure in the workplace to improved sleep and vitality.” The article also refers to a Northwestern University study that reported on “the detrimental impact of working in a windowless environment.”

Once you’ve accepted the idea that sunlight can improve the demeanor and productivity of your employees and, therefore, have also accepted the value of windows to let the sun shine in, it’s not much of a stretch to equally recognize the value of keeping those windows clean.

Dirt on the windows is not an appropriate filter for sunlight. The positive effects of windows on productivity are not enhanced when employees glance though dirty windows.