Why Wipes Should Be in Your Cleaning Arsenal

Elevating cleaning standards with targeted tools and thoughtful prep

One of the first solutions that I work with operations to deploy is a lean concept borrowed from manufacturing, known as kitting. Kitting is the practice of organizing all the tools, products, and supplies a cleaning professional needs into a single, standardized setup, ready to go at the start of the shift. Think of it like meal prep, but for cleaning. Instead of wasting time hunting down chemicals, cleaning cloths, or replacement liners during the day, everything is pre-staged, labeled, and loaded into a cart or caddy in the exact order, for a precise cleaning function. Why bring this up in a blog about wipes? Wipes, at their core, are very effective solutions — particularly for cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces throughout the day and should be part of your kits for day cleaning.

Cleaning and disinfecting wipes are the ticket for quality day portering

Most of the time, day porters are charged with restocking paper supplies, touching up restrooms as needed, and taking care of spills — or what I like to call customer service cleaning. However, since reopening from the pandemic, day porters are also commonly assigned to disinfect high-touch points throughout the day shift. There are several reasons why wipes are the perfect solution for many of the tasks day porters do:

1. Wipes are very simple to use — there is no need to measure, mix or find a water source. They are point-of-use tools that eliminate a lot of back and forth from closet spaces.
2. Disinfecting wipes make it easier for day porters to tackle high-touch areas where pathogens are most likely to spread during the day. Sprays can be a challenge to use on vertical or curved surfaces, such as handrails, light switches and phones. Disinfecting wipes make it easy to tackle these surfaces with minimal equipment.
3. Building occupants don’t like it when cleaning products are sprayed in the rooms they are in — wipes allow day porters to do their cleaning tasks while respecting the comfort of the building occupants.
4. Wipes enable porters to have their own tool set without having to use the night crew's equipment, a relatively consistent source of friction between shifts.
5. Wipe canisters are highly portable, allowing day porters to carry them easily from space to space without needing a cart or additional equipment. This makes them ideal for quick, on-the-go cleaning throughout large or multi-floor buildings.

Help keep surfaces safe from illness-causing germs with disinfecting wipes

In a lean operation, where every motion matters, disinfecting wipes are one of the simplest, most effective tools to keep day porters impactful. They allow day porters to address high-touch surfaces quickly with minimal disruption of building traffic.

Disinfecting wipes are especially valuable in:

• High-touch zones like elevator buttons, door handles and handrails
• Shared-use spaces such as conference tables, counters or breakrooms
• Restrooms during peak usage times for quick spot disinfection of faucets, dispensers and flush valves

A single wipe can address a soiled surface in seconds. More importantly, that simple action carries visible and psychological weight: It signals that someone is protecting the space. Beyond the visible signals, using disinfecting wipes can help manage pathogen populations throughout the day. Studies show that bacteria and viruses can repopulate high-touch areas within two to four hours of routine cleaning.¹ In a 2014 conference presentation, Gerba et al. reported that germs spread from a single contaminated door handle to 40–60% of office surfaces within just a few hours.²

When used intentionally, wipes can be part of a standardized, repeatable system that supports both cleaning outcomes and customer perception. Training porters to use wipes systematically, paired with clearly defined hot spots and a consistent schedule for policing surfaces, is a proactive solution. Day porters can also play a key role in restocking disinfecting wipes for building occupants. This simple act of restocking is a value-added service that supports both hygiene and the overall experience of the space.

Cleaning operations can elevate their purpose from "quick fix" to "quality assurance” by implementing wipes. To learn more, check out these standardized procedures for deploying wipes in office and K–12 settings. In the right hands, a wipe isn't just about cleaning and disinfecting. It's about consistency and control.