Whether you clean the office yourself or supply consumables to a contractor, here’s what’s genuinely needed, and what gets bought and never used.
Consumables (ongoing)
Bathroom
- Toilet paper, commercial rolls, not domestic
- Hand soap refills
- Paper hand towels, or cloth roll if you have a dispenser
- Toilet seat sanitiser (optional; nice in client-facing bathrooms)
- Air freshener, sparingly
Kitchen
- Dishwashing liquid
- Dishwasher tablets
- Dish cloths and scourers (replace weekly, not when they look bad)
- Tea towels
- Rubbish bags to fit your bins
- Paper towels
General
- Bin liners in every size you use
- Microfibre cloths, colour-coded
Chemicals
Fewer than most offices buy. Five products cover almost everything:
| Product | Use |
|---|---|
| Neutral floor cleaner | All hard floors |
| Bathroom cleaner / descaler | Toilets, basins, tiles |
| Glass cleaner | Mirrors, glass, screens |
| Multi-surface sanitiser | Desks, benches, high-touch |
| Degreaser | Kitchen, stovetops |
Add if relevant: stainless steel polish, carpet spot remover, disinfectant meeting your sector’s requirement.
Buy concentrate, not ready-to-use. Concentrate with a dilution system is dramatically cheaper per litre and generates far less plastic.
Equipment
Essential
- Commercial vacuum with a hose and crevice tool (domestic vacuums die fast under commercial use)
- Mop system, flat mop with washable pads beats a string mop for offices
- Two buckets, or a divided one
- Colour-coded microfibre cloths
- Spray bottles, labelled
- Squeegee for glass and shower screens
- Extendable duster
- Two-step ladder
- Caddy to carry it all
Worth having
- Carpet spotting kit
- Grout brush
- Window scrubber and squeegee for larger glass
- Wet floor signs (a legal requirement in a workplace, in practice)
Usually a waste
- Steam cleaners for general office use
- Robot vacuums in commercial settings
- Specialist product for every surface, the five above cover it
- Anything scented strongly enough to notice
Colour coding
The single most useful practice, and free:
| Colour | Use |
|---|---|
| Red | Toilets and urinals |
| Yellow | Basins and bathroom surfaces |
| Blue | General surfaces and glass |
| Green | Kitchen and food areas |
Cross-contamination from shared cloths is the most common hygiene failure in commercial cleaning. Colour coding eliminates it for the price of buying cloths in four colours.
Budget
Rough consumables budget, per staff member per year:
| Item | Per person per year |
|---|---|
| Toilet paper | $18 – $30 |
| Hand soap | $8 – $14 |
| Paper hand towels | $20 – $40 |
| Bin liners | $6 – $12 |
| Kitchen consumables | $10 – $20 |
| Chemicals | $8 – $15 |
| Total | $70 – $130 |
Multiply by headcount for an annual figure. For a 20-person office that’s $1,400 – $2,600 a year, which is why "consumables at cost plus handling" with an undisclosed margin is worth asking about.
Storage
- A lockable cupboard for chemicals, a legal requirement if you have any hazardous substances
- Safety data sheets accessible for every chemical on site
- Cloths stored dry, not in a damp bucket
- Vacuum bags and filters stocked before you need them