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March 06, 2025 6 min read
Productivity is everything, but it should never come at the cost of results. Cleaning public restrooms can take a lot of time when done right, and you have no shortage of items on your to-do list that need to get crossed off. So how long does it take to clean a public restroom?
There are too many moving pieces at play to give you a one-size-fits-all answer. It all depends on the size of the restroom and the extent of cleaning necessary. But the best thing you can do to save time without compromising on cleanliness is investing in a restroom cleaning machine.
Our Tornado Touchless Restroom Cleaning Machine at SweepScrub can cut your cleaning time by ⅔ - so if it used to take you 15 minutes to clean a single restroom, it now takes 5 minutes.
The best part is you actually clean betterwith less manual labor - and without the direct contact with gross germs in these public settings.It’s one of the best pieces of equipment you can add to your commercial cleaning arsenal. Get in touch with us at SweepScrub to learn more!
First, let’s look at what goes into cleaning public restrooms so you can get a better sense of why it takes so long. It’s not as simple as emptying the trash and sweeping the floor, after all:
Stock up on disinfectants, gloves, trash liners, and cleaning tools.
Of course, this is a very simplified look at how to clean public restrooms. We encourage you to read our commercial restroom cleaning checklist for the full process. But how long does it take to clean a public restroom?
So how long does it take to clean a bathroom? There are far too many factors at play to provide any sort of one-size-fits-all answer. Here’s what you need to take into consideration for a more accurate sense of how long this process takes.
You can imagine how much longer it would take to clean an expansive train station restroom with 20+ stalls than it would a single user restroom at your local park.
The bigger the restroom, the longer the cleaning time - but layout makes a bigger difference than most people realize.Tight corners, partitions, and obstacles make it more difficult to maneuver equipment and supplies, adding time to each task you do.
Even two restrooms with the exact same layout might have different cleaning times since they might not be used in the same manner. Foot traffic, user behavior, and industry-specific hygiene standards all influence the cleaning time.
High-traffic locations kike shopping malls, airports, stadiums, schools, and hospitals need to be cleaned much more frequently, so you’ll spend more time cleaning these over the course of a week, month, and year.
In contrast, low-traffic locations such as office buildings and boutique stores might only need to be cleaned once a week rather than every day. This means you’ll spend less total time cleaning these spaces over the course of a month or year.
Not all restrooms incur the same level of dirt and grime, and the “starting conditions” of the space will dictate how long it takes to get the restroom to an acceptable state.
There’s a reason we recommend cleaning restrooms more frequently than others might suggest. Staying ahead of messes takes less time than playing catch up. The more often you clean, the less time each cleaning session takes.
On the other hand, neglected restrooms are subject to hardened grime, stains, and odor buildup that all call for deep scrubbing and more cleaning chemicals. Translation: longer cleaning times.
Your staff’s experience cleaning restrooms will dictate the cleaning time to some degree as well. Trained cleaners following a structured workflow with no unnecessary steps can work through a restroom in a fraction of the time someone less experienced might need.
But efficiency aside, taking the time to train your cleaners is important for safety and hygiene purposes. It prevents not only wasted time but also missed spots and improper use of cleaning solutions, which could cause damage to flooring, countertops, toilets, sinks, etc.
We mentioned earlier how the right restroom cleaning machine can dramatically reduce your time spent cleaning. If you’re doing things the old fashioned way with wipes, brooms, and mops, expect to spend a lot more time cleaning.
However, a touchless restroom cleaning machine can spray, scrub, and vacuum in a single pass. There are other investments you can make to streamline the cleaning process:
The cleaning agents you use matter, too. Multi-surface disinfectants cut down on time spent switching between products. Similarly, fast-drying cleaners minimize the wait time before the restroom is usable again.
We’ll talk more about this in a moment, but the best thing you can do to speed up your restroom cleaning process - without compromising on results of course - is investing in better equipment and training your staff.
All that being said, how long does it take to clean a public restroom? A small, lightly-used office restroom might take no more than 10 minutes. But a high-traffic restroom in an airport or stadium could take 30 minutes or more per cleaning session. Here are some typical timelines:
These are just estimates based on a standard cleaning process. For deep cleaning, though, it could take as much as double the time. Here’s another way to look at the public restroom cleaning timeline, based on the tasks:
Once you start actually cleaning public restrooms you’ll get a better sense of how long it takes you. You’ll get to the point where you can walk into a restroom and know right away roughly how long it’s going to take based on the size/layout and soil level.
You’ll also start to see just how monotonous and time-consuming traditional cleaning methods are. So if you’re looking to speed things up while getting better results, get in touch with our team at SweepScrub.
SweepScrub is your trusted choice for commercial cleaning equipment and supplies online. We carry all the industry’s best manufacturers at unbeatable prices with world-class customer service from A to Z.
The Tornado Touchless Restroom Cleaning Machine is a powerful investment for cleaning restrooms faster, minimizing human contact with gross touchpoints, and achieving impeccable results.
This 15-gallon, high-powered system eliminates the need for manual scrubbing, using adjustable 500 PSI spray pressure to disinfect surfaces, break down grime, and extract dirty water - all in one step.
That said, how long does it take to clean a public restroom with this machine? 66% less time than if you were using traditional manual cleaning methods. Think about how much money this investment will save you over the course of its life just in terms of labor reduction.
The auto-fill and auto-dump features minimize downtime, while the 40' solution hose and 25' vacuum hose support seamless cleaning of even the largest restrooms.
This is just one of many solutions we have in store for you at SweepScrub, so connect with us today and we’ll talk about your operation’s needs and how we can help.
So, how long does it take to clean a public restroom? As we wrap things up remember that there’s no way to say with any level of certainty since it’s based on the size and layout of your restroom, it’s current state, and how you clean it.
In general, though, it can take 5-10 minutes to clean a small, lightly used facility or 30-45 minutes to deep clean a more expansive restroom. At any rate, our machines can help you speed things up without sacrificing cleanliness and sanitation.
Learn more about warehouse floor cleaning, cleaning concrete floors, school floor cleaning, or how to use a commercial floor scrubber here in our blog, where you’ll find plenty of other resources as well.
But whether you’re looking for a floor sweeper machine for keeping hallways in check or you want the best tile floor cleaning machine for your bathroom, we’ve got you covered. Reach out to our team today and see how we can empower you to clean better and faster!
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