Honoring the Cleaning Industry: How Innovation is Shaping the Future

Unger Enterprises Marketing | March 27, 2025

Commercial cleaning is the backbone of businesses, ensuring workplaces, hospitals, schools, and other facilities stay clean, safe, and operational. Whether it’s minimizing the spread of germs in office spaces and school buildings, ensuring high-traffic areas are safe for all building patrons, or maintaining a building’s positive first impression, cleaning professionals play a critical role in health and safety every day.

That’s why International Cleaning Week is an important time to recognize and appreciate the professionals who work diligently behind the scenes. International Cleaning Week is celebrated during the fourth week of March (Sunday, March 23 to Saturday, March 29, 2025) to honor cleaning professionals and promote the importance of cleanliness. Supported by organizations like ISSA, this week not only raises awareness about hygiene and encourages community cleanups, but it’s also an opportunity to spotlight how the industry is evolving.

Smarter, Faster Cleaning Solutions

When we talk about innovation in commercial cleaning, we’re referring to working smarter, not harder. Advanced tools and equipment can make cleaning faster and more effective while also reducing physical strain and/or safety risks to workers.

For example, using ergonomic telescopic poles with interchangeable attachments—like dusters or bulb changers—allows staff to clean elevated or hard-to-reach areas quickly and safely, without the hassle of moving furniture or setting up ladders. While positioning a tall ladder can take several minutes per location, adjusting a telescopic pole takes just seconds. In a 20-foot-high room with four corners cleaned weekly, this time-saving approach can add up to more than 16 hours saved annually—boosting both productivity and safety.

Eco-Friendlier Cleaning

Sustainable cleaning goes beyond choosing eco-friendly products—it’s about embracing smarter tools and practices that conserve resources, reduce waste, and create healthier indoor environments.

Since we spend about 90% of our time indoors, the quality of the air we breathe inside plays a crucial role in our overall health and well-being. Poor indoor air quality affects everyone, but especially impacts vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, and individuals with asthma, heart disease, or other health conditions. It can also lead to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and long-term health risks. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air—and in extreme cases, up to 100 times worse.

Innovations in cleaning technology are helping to address this challenge. Microfiber cleaning tools, for example, effectively trap and remove dirt and bacteria from surfaces, preventing contaminants from becoming airborne. They also require significantly fewer chemical cleaners (if any at all), which can contribute to poor indoor air quality—making microfiber a smart, sustainable choice for healthier spaces.

Protecting Workers & Building Occupants

Safety is a top priority in commercial cleaning—not only for the professionals performing the work but also for the people who occupy the spaces being cleaned. Ergonomic advancements in cleaning tools help reduce strain, prevent repetitive motion injuries, and make tasks more efficient for cleaning staff. In studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), ergonomic interventions reduced reported discomfort by up to 60% among cleaning staff. When workers are safer and more comfortable, they’re able to clean more thoroughly and consistently, which helps maintain higher hygiene standards throughout the building.

Tools like lightweight telescopic poles reduce the need for ladders when cleaning high surfaces, significantly lowering the risk of ladder related falls and accidents—one of the leading causes of workplace injuries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls, slips, and trips account for over 30% of nonfatal injuries in the building cleaning and maintenance sector. By eliminating the need for ladders, telescopic tools not only protect cleaning professionals from potentially serious injuries but also reduce hazards in shared spaces like hallways, lobbies, and restrooms, where ladders can obstruct walkways or pose trip risks to building patrons.

The Future of Cleaning Innovation

As innovations in the industry evolve, so will advances in cleaning efficiency, sustainability, and safety. Unger is dedicated to engineering advanced tools and technology to help cleaning professionals work smarter, reduce environmental impact, and protect both workers and building occupants. From ergonomic designs that minimize strain to eco-friendly solutions that conserve resources,  continued advancements will shaping the future of the industry in meaningful ways.

International Cleaning Week is the perfect time to recognize the hardworking professionals who keep workplaces, schools, and other commercial spaces clean and safe. Their dedication is essential to maintaining healthy environments, and ongoing innovation will continue to support their efforts!