Every Area of Your Centre
This is childcare cleaning by room: how we handle each area of a centre, kinder or OSHC space, from the nappy change bench to the sandpit, and why each one gets a different level of attention. Directors use it to check a scope, and new cleaners use it to learn one. For the service as a whole, start with our childcare cleaning in Melbourne overview.
- WWCC checkedIn every room we enter
- Police checkedWhole team, no exceptions
- $20M insuredPublic liability
- Signed logsSplit by room
Which childcare items need cleaning, and how carefully?
Every childcare item a child touches needs cleaning, but not to the same degree. Anything linked to toileting, eating or mouthing is high risk and is cleaned then disinfected each visit; shared play surfaces are medium; offices and corridors are low and get detergent and water.
These levels follow the approach in the NHMRC's Staying Healthy guidelines: routine cleaning with detergent and water for most surfaces, and disinfection kept for places where body fluids or food are involved. Using the strongest product everywhere would not make a centre cleaner; it would just leave more chemical residue where children play.
The plan on this page is a simplified centre. Tap any area to jump to how it is cleaned, and the table below sums up the risk level and frequency for each one.
HighMediumLow
Schematic only. Tap an area to jump to how it is cleaned.
- Red: toilets and potties
- Yellow: basins and nappy change
- Green: kitchen and eating areas
- Blue: playrooms and general areas
A cloth never moves to a lower-risk colour, so nothing from a toilet ever reaches a meal table.
| Area | Risk | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Nappy change and bathrooms | High | Every visit, clean then disinfect |
| Mouthed toys | High | Every visit, wash and air-dry |
| Kitchen and bottle prep | High | Every visit, food-safe products |
| Playrooms and sleep rooms | Medium | Every visit, plus a weekly rotation |
| Outdoor areas and sandpits | Medium | Weekly, more in warm months |
| Entry, office, staff room | Low | Every visit, detergent and water |
How are sleep rooms and cots cleaned?
Cot frames, rails and mattress covers are wiped with detergent and dried at every visit, and the floor under every cot is cleaned, because that is where crumbs and dust gather out of sight.
Once a week the cots are moved so the floor can be done properly. Linen is changed on your laundry roster, not ours, unless you add it. If a child has been unwell in a cot, the mattress cover and frame are disinfected as well, and the linen is bagged for a hot wash. Toddler sleep mats are stacked apart after cleaning so they dry right through instead of trapping moisture between layers.
What happens to outdoor play areas and sandpits?
Outdoor tables, drink taps and the handholds on climbing frames are washed. Sandpits get a rake-through and a hand check for anything that should not be there, from broken glass to cat mess, and the cover goes back on.
Anything we cannot make safe on the night, such as broken glass buried deep or droppings across a wide area, is written up for the director before morning. The method for turning, topping up and replacing sand is covered in our sandpit cleaning guide. In summer, when outdoor play runs longer, the weekly outdoor clean usually moves to twice a week.
What is the cleaning procedure for floors in childcare?
Hard floors are swept, then mopped with a pH-neutral cleaner that dries without a tacky layer, working from the back of each room towards the door. Carpet and rugs get a vacuum with a fine dust filter every visit.
Babies crawl and toddlers sit on floors for much of the day, so we treat nursery floors closer to a table than a corridor. Mop heads are colour-coded by area, so a bathroom mop never touches a playroom, and carpets are hot-water extracted during the term break. Wet-area floors in bathrooms and the kitchen are cleaned last with their own mop, then disinfected.
Four areas have their own detailed pages, because each carries enough risk and enough detail to deserve one. Each summary below links through to the full method.
How are nappy change areas and bathrooms cleaned?
Change benches, mats, toilets, potties, basins and taps are washed with detergent, rinsed, dried and then disinfected at every visit, with cloths kept only for that area. Nappy bins leave the building each night, and dispensers are topped up before the team moves on.
Nappy change and bathroom cleaning
How are toys sanitised?
Anything a child has chewed goes into the tub your educators keep for it, and each night those toys are soaked and scrubbed in detergent, rinsed under clean water and stood on racks to dry. Other toys used that day are washed too, stored toys rotate through the week, and soft toys are bagged for a hot machine wash.
Toy sanitisation in detail
How is a childcare kitchen cleaned?
Benches, sinks, splashbacks, fridge handles, the microwave and high chair trays are cleaned with food-safe products only, in line with your food safety program. Nothing used in a bathroom comes into the kitchen.
Childcare kitchen cleaning
How are playrooms and activity areas cleaned?
Meal and craft tables, chairs, low shelves, window sills at child height and every handle and switch are cleaned each visit, then floors last. Shelves are put back exactly as educators set them up.
Playroom and activity area cleaningCan we quote your centre room by room?
Yes. Tell us which rooms you have and roughly what each is used for, and the written quote lists every area with its method and frequency, so every dollar is tied to a named room and task. It comes back within 24 hours with a fixed price.
A room-by-room quote is also the easiest way to compare cleaners fairly, because each line can be checked against another offer. Areas you would rather keep with your own staff, such as linen or the outdoor shed, are simply left off. If you add a room later, only that line changes.
- 1List your roomsPlayrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, sleep and outdoor.
- 2We set the risk levelsMethod and frequency for each area.
- 3Fixed price in writingLine by line, within 24 hours.
Which question comes up most about rooms?
When directors look at a room list, this is nearly always the first thing they want settled before anything else.
01Which areas are highest risk?
Every room priced, every room logged.
A line-by-line quote for your centre within 24 hours.