Your church is many things. It is a place of worship, a sanctuary, and a meeting place for your community. And if your church is like most, it relies on volunteers for cleaning. Yet new evidence suggests that this seemingly benevolent practice is potentially harmful. Advances in the understanding of microbiology have given us a better picture of how bacteria and viruses grow, spread, and react to cleaning agents, and the experts say that large, public places should always be cleaned by trained professionals.

Traditional Cleaning Methods Leave Germs Unchecked

The bad news is that germs are everywhere and in larger numbers than we ever thought before. It also appears that traditional cleaning methods are often ineffective in killing microorganisms. But the good news is that scientific studies have demonstrated which cleaning methods work, and which ones do not. It turns out that office cleaning services have been steadily adapting their techniques and equipment to new discoveries, and that few infections ever occur in properly cleaned places.
Volunteers might pour their hearts and souls into church cleaning, but unless they are trained professionals using commercial cleaning tools, it is likely your church’s carpets are still dirty—even if they look clean. The coming and goings of so many people will, over time, grind dirt deep into the carpets. Non-professional vacuums simply are not up to the job of sucking the grit from deep within the carpet weave.

Using Cleaning Volunteers Puts the Volunteers and Churchgoers at Risk

Even if the volunteers make your church’s interiors look clean and shiny, it is possible that dangerous bacteria and viruses are still lurking on surfaces such as railings and door handles. Even worse, the volunteers who so lovingly spend their time cleaning the church might even get sick from over-exposure to the organisms that accumulate in high-traffic areas. In short, evidence shows that the best way to keep a safe and clean church is to hire commercial cleaning services.