Think back to the last time you visited a health care provider’s office. When you sat down in the waiting room, did you take a quick glance at the seat first to make sure it was clean? Most people do – yet a surprisingly high percentage of doctors, dentists, and other health care providers receive negative marks on patient satisfaction scores due to stained and unsightly waiting room furniture.
Choosing Furniture for Waiting Rooms
Waiting room furniture needs to be attractive, comfortable, durable, stain resistant, and affordable. Finding furniture that has it all can be quite a trick. The furniture in your facility may be all or none of these qualities, but you can get the best from your upholstered office furniture by having it cleaned regularly.
Why Is It Important to Clean Upholstery
While we all like to think the best of everyone, the things patients do to waiting room furniture can gross you out. Food, beverages, cosmetics, baby wipes, and different types of human waste all wind up on the furniture your patients need to sit on. Cleaning and removing this material is obviously essential and part of the normal janitorial service. However, after repeated exposure to all of these different materials, the upholstered furniture will develop stains and odors.
Upholstery cleaning provides the deeper level of cleaning required to remove stains and odors from your furniture. The upholstery’s appearance is refreshed – colors appear brighter and more inviting – while lingering bad odors and scents are replaced by the always welcome scent of clean.
How Often Should Upholstered Furniture Be Cleaned?
Typically, upholstered furniture should be cleaned at least quarterly. However, for busier facilities with high patient volume, monthly upholstery cleaning is more appropriate.