Daycare and school cleaning in Columbus, Ohio.Small hands touch everything. We clean for that.

What is daycare and school cleaning in Columbus?

Scheduled after-hours cleaning of classrooms, toys, restrooms, and entry touchpoints with EPA-registered products at full label dwell time, then ATP readings and photos after every visit. Under 100 RLU is the general industry line for clean. Our standard is 25 RLU.

Why do daycares need more than a standard janitorial visit?

Because children touch the same cubby handle, toy bin, and table, then touch their faces. A room-by-room janitorial checklist says "wipe down the entryway." It does not name the cubby handle, and it does not say how long a surface stays wet.

The illnesses that move through childcare move through surfaces. CDC lists objects and surfaces that carry virus particles as one way hand, foot, and mouth disease spreads, and advises cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and shared items, including toys and doorknobs. CDC also notes RSV can survive for many hours on hard surfaces such as tables and crib rails. For norovirus, CDC lists touching contaminated surfaces and then putting unwashed fingers in your mouth as a route of infection.

We wrote about what a swab finds on the surfaces nobody puts on the checklist in ATP testing in day cares. This page is how we clean to close that gap.

What do Ohio's childcare rules and CDC guidance say about cleaning?

Ohio requires childcare items like diaper stations and food tables to be cleaned and sanitized before reuse, and bars cleaning and sanitizing while children occupy the room. Caring for Our Children tells programs to follow a written routine schedule.

The Ohio rule allows general cleanup during the day, like sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and wiping tables. Caring for Our Children, the national health and safety standards for childcare, also separates the three jobs. Sanitize surfaces that touch food and objects a child might put in the mouth, like toys. Disinfect surfaces used for toileting, diapering, and cleaning up body fluids. Clean everything else with soap and water.

Those rules set the floor, and your licensing specialist decides what passes. We are not an accrediting body and we do not certify a center. What we do is carry out your cleaning schedule after close, the way the product label says, and leave you a record. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.

How do you clean and disinfect around children?

After close, never around children. We clean first, apply an EPA-registered product, hold the full label dwell time, then verify and document.

The sequence is Clean. Disinfect. Verify. Document. Cleaning removes soil and residue. A surface wiped dry in five seconds was wiped, not disinfected. Our explainer on disinfectant contact time covers why the label number matters.

Food-contact and mouthed items follow the label's rinse directions. If your center keeps an approved product list, we work from it and tell you before anything changes. We do not make fragrance a stand-in for a result, and we do not mix products.

Which programs do you serve?

Childcare centers, preschools, Montessori schools, before and after-school programs, and private K-12 classrooms.

The rooms differ, the pattern does not: shared materials, small hands, and a short window between close and open. Licensing rules differ by program type, so your licensing specialist or school administrator is the one who knows which apply to you.

Why hire a local daycare cleaning company?

Same crew every visit, background-checked, each with a minimum of fifteen years of professional cleaning experience. Owner-led and Columbus-based, so when something is wrong you call Erik.

You are handing someone the keys to a room full of children's belongings. The crew learns which room takes paint, where the nap mats live, and which cubby row gets hit hardest at drop-off.

National janitorial firms rotate crews, which is the mechanism behind the 90-day quality fade.

Which Columbus neighborhoods do you serve?

We serve daycares and schools across Downtown Columbus, Short North, New Albany, Bexley, Upper Arlington, Dublin, Hilliard, Grandview, Clintonville, Worthington, and greater Franklin County.

Where does the mission fit in?

A portion of every contract is set aside for Franklin County organizations serving kids facing homelessness and poverty.

Columbus has long-standing youth organizations doing this work, Huckleberry House and Star House among them. We name them as examples of the kind of work, not as a statement about where any contract dollar goes. More on our mission.

Daycare & School Cleaning FAQs

Do you clean while children are in the building?

No. Ohio's child care center rule says cleaning and sanitizing should not take place while rooms are occupied by children, apart from general cleanup like sweeping and wiping tables. We clean after close, so nothing wet or chemical is on a surface a child can reach.

Do you sanitize toys and mouthed items?

We clean and sanitize the toys and shared materials in scope on a set rotation. Items children put in their mouths between uses, and diapering stations between changes, stay with your staff, because those steps happen during the day. Our visit resets everything else and records it.

What products do you use around children?

EPA-registered products, used the way the label directs: surface prep, application, full wet dwell time, and a rinse where the label calls for one on food-contact and mouthed items. If your center has an approved product list, we work from it and tell you before anything changes.

What is the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting in a classroom?

Cleaning removes soil and residue. Sanitizing lowers germs on surfaces that touch food or go in mouths, like toys and eating tables. Disinfecting uses a stronger EPA-registered product on toileting, diapering, and body-fluid surfaces. Caring for Our Children assigns each task to different surfaces, and we follow that split.

What does ATP testing show in a daycare?

ATP swabs read organic residue on a surface in RLU, a number you can compare visit to visit. Under 100 RLU is the general industry line for clean. Our own standard is 25 RLU, and any surface that reads over 100 is recleaned until it reads under 25.

Can you handle a norovirus or stomach bug outbreak?

Your staff handles vomit and diarrhea cleanup during the day under your own protocol. For the after-hours reset, we follow the product label and CDC norovirus guidance, which names chlorine bleach solutions of 1,000 to 5,000 ppm or EPA List G products, with the contact time on the label.

Do you serve Montessori schools, before and after-school programs, and private school classrooms?

Yes. Childcare centers, preschools, Montessori schools, before and after-school programs, and private K-12 classrooms all share the same problem: small hands, shared materials, and a short window between close and open. Licensing rules differ by program type, so your licensing specialist or administrator decides what applies to you.

Who will be in my building?

The same crew every visit, background-checked, each with a minimum of 15 years of professional cleaning experience. You will know the faces, and they will know your rooms.

What does a walkthrough cost?

Nothing. The complimentary ATP walkthrough takes about 30 minutes. We walk your rooms with you, swab the surfaces your children touch most, and hand you the readings. You keep them whether you hire us or not.

Sources

• Ohio Administrative Code Rule 5180:2-12-13, Sanitary equipment and environment for a licensed child care center.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education, Caring for Our Children, Standard 3.3.0: Routine Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting (see also Appendix K, routine schedule).
• CDC, About Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.
• CDC, How RSV Spreads.
• CDC, About Norovirus and Preventing Norovirus.