How Often Should School Carpets Be Cleaned?

Cleaning school carpets is an important step in keeping the environment sanitised. Ofsted require regular cleaning in schools, if it's not being done then you can incur

fines and (worst case) closure until the cleaning requirements have been completed.

These requirements have become even more stringent since Covid-19 hit the country with schools being shut down for deep cleaning on a regular basis.

One example can be found here of a school in Manchester being shut down at short notice for a deep clean.

How often should school carpets be cleaned has a pretty standard answer across the board. Preferably once every 3-6 months is the ideal period of time carpets should be cleaned between in schools.

This takes into consideration term times when deep cleaning can be carried out uninterrupted.

Can I keep carpeted areas clean for longer?

You can certainly take steps to keep the carpets in your school cleaner for longer, especially in primary schools (high school is a bit more tricky!).

The reasonable steps you can take to keep carpets clean would be making sure that the children and teachers shoes are clean before entering, including during breaks and lunch time. Having floor mats is a great way to get rid of a lot of the dirt which would otherwise find it's way inside the building.

Regular classroom and hallway vacuuming and spot cleaning is essential if you want to keep the carpets clean. You might want to invest in a spot cleaner for the classroom to keep on top of the dirt, not letting it build up too fast.

General cleaning will also help keep your carpets clean. If you clean desk

s, chairs and other parts of the school regularly, that dirt won't find it's way onto the carpets.

Quick overview of how to keep school carpet clean:

1. Regular Vacuuming (1-2 times daily)

2. Spot cleaning as and when required

3. General daily cleaning of the classrooms, hallways and offices

4. Making sure your pupils and teachers footwear are clean before entering (This should be done with constant reminders creating a habit of making sure feet are clean)

5. Hallway and classroom monitoring

Should We Remove Carpet & Just Use Other Flooring?

Well, you could certainly try that but there are a lot of factors to consider before doing so. First of all, any surface that you use will get dirty no matter what you do and will need a deep clean.

Carpets are one of the only materials that can be restored with a good cleaning routine. For example, if you decide to go for laminate, this will need replacing far more often than carpets because regular cleaning can damage it.

This will cost more in the long run. With carpets, you can clean it regularly with little to no damage over the years.

Finally, carpets provide a comfortable, non slippery surface for students and teachers alike. Accidents are lessened and less severe since carpets are softer than wood! If a pupil falls on carpet, they will more than likely be fine, on a wooden floor however, they could easily hurt themselves.