Pub Cleaning Checklist: The Ultimate Cleaning Guide


Keeping your pub clean should always be a priority for every proud pub owner. Hygiene is an important part of running a pub, making sure you are always following health and safety regulations and keeping your customers and staff safe at all times.

Cleaning your pub thoroughly also helps to maintain your reputation as a trustworthy establishment, allowing you to build your image and attract more customers. To help with these goals, we’ve compiled a cleaning checklist for you. A checklist brings routine, sets expectations for the staff, and ensures your customers always have a pleasant environment in which to spend their leisure time.

The 30 Second Rule

That’s how long it takes for a customer to judge your pub and decide whether to stay or go. And given that there is ample competition, especially in Dublin, there are a handful of first impressions you can manage and/or improve by simply … cleaning.

Unclean entrances, odours and ambiences can all be very off-putting for any business, but especially so in a place, where people come to eat, drink and socialise.

Making certain your pub is clean and fresh at all times encourages customers to stay in your pub and try out your food, increasing business and promising them they will have a good time. You never know – you may get a returning customer out of it.

Daily Pub Cleaning Checklist During Service

Keeping a bar or a pub clean is a daily affair, not just to create a pleasant ambience for your customers but also to meet the standards of the environmental health department.

Staying on top of any potential problems that may arise keeps your business running smoothly, allowing for a more efficient and focused service that keeps your staff workload fair and your customers happy.

  • Wipe Down the Bar – food and other stains and dirt can gather here during the day as this area sees a lot of traffic. Keep it looking clean and presentable for your customers.
  • Wipe Down Tables – this is also a hot spot for germs and bacteria. Buld trust with your customers by making sure the table is cleaned after every use so it is ready for the next customer.
  • Replace Beer Mats – beer mats protect your table from any spills from drinks which means that at the very least they’ll need a regular cleaning after each use. Replacing them can also help to enhance your reputation as a clean and appealing place to visit as well as keeping the table thoroughly sanitised.
  • Sweep Up Fallen Food – Fallen food can be a good spot where germs can cultivate and will also attract pests to your premises. Keep in line with health regulations by sweeping up any food between customers and vacuuming your pub at the end of the day.
  • Glass Washer – avoid passing germs around by making sure glasses are always well washed, It also helps to eliminate greasy fingertips and lip marks, ensuring glasses are sparkling clean for their next use.
  • Check Toilets – this is a vital area of your pub for health and hygiene and also in upholding the image of your business. Always check there are no blockages in toilets, mop up any water spilled on the floor from sink, make sure the toilets are cleaned regularly and if needed, refill toilet rolls and soap.
  • Spot Clean – this effectively means taking a cloth around with you and cleaning any spots of dirt you see that have been missed in the rest of your cleaning process. This helps to add that extra element of shine to your pub and keeps you on top of any potential problems.

man and woman serving up coffees and drinks inside

Daily Opening Pub Cleaning Checklist

The next pub cleaning checklist for you to make a note of involves setting up a cleaning routine for the morning before you reopen

This is a great way to make sure everything is in place before service and customers are walking into a pub that doesn’t smell of or resemble the busy night before. Making things feel fresh and new gets your customers in a good frame of mind helping to promise an enjoyable experience ahead.

General Bar Cleaning Checklist

Before the work day starts, it is imperative that you review your pub to make sure everything is clean and in its place for the next day of service.

This involves making sure the entrance is spotless, brushing down and shaking out doormats and disposing of any litter from wastepaper baskets in your reception and your food and packaging waste from the previous service.

Straighten your tables and chairs to make sure your main pub area looks ordered and professional and clean the floor and bar area thoroughly, making sure everything’s wiped down and pristine.

This is a great way to prepare for the day ahead and make sure your staff aren’t bogged down with extra chores during service.

Checking Your Pub For Dust

During your cleaning, check for dust. This not only helps your pub to maintain its optimum condition when it comes to health regulations, it also protects your staff and customers from any dust-related allergies which can disrupt the service and interrupt the customer’s enjoyment of their stay.

The primary places to check for dust include any lights, switches and fixtures, skirting boards, corners of walls – where spider webs can often be found as well – picture frames, fireplace mantlepieces and furniture.

Sweep as you go and make sure you’ve been thorough and scoured every inch of your premise to ensure maximum cleanliness for when the day starts properly.

Restocking Your Bar

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do for your pub cleaning checklist is to make sure you are well stocked for the day ahead and have enough resources and supplies that you can be confident you won’t run out.

This can involve a lot of intuition regarding your knowledge of the flow of customers your pub gets over the course of the day. Using this insider knowledge will help you reach the optimum amount of stock for your day, helping your business to run smoothly and removing stress on yourself and your staff.

Replace clean glassware on the correct shelves and keep your bar well stocked with bottle openers, corkscrews and classic bar snacks – sure to raise the morale of any waiting customer!

Make sure you have a good supply of garnishes and other foods as well to help ensure customers can get what they came for and make sure your hot drinks station is filled to capacity.

Your pub bathroom will be frequently visited over the course of a day so it’s imperative it starts off in the best condition possible.

Clean your surfaces, sinks and taps of any dirt and scum left behind by soap and make sure the mirrors are polished and sparkling without any water tracks or smears.

Refill your soap, toilet roll and sanitary items and if necessary and possible, check the maintenance on your hand dryers to keep on top of any potential mechanical breakdowns.

Make sure your toilet is well sanitised along with doors and door knobs that can be hotspots for germs and mop and dry the floor to prevent slipping.

Our pub cleaning checklist will help you to develop an effective cleaning schedule for your business to make sure you’re ready for the next day of work. Adhering to the cleaning regulations for front of house service is the foundation for a healthy, customer filled pub.

rustic looking tap house with vintage signs on the wall and wooden tables

End of the Day Pub Cleaning Tasks

The cleaning doesn’t stop when the last customer leaves the building.

After they’ve left, it’s important to make sure you restore your pub and bar to how they looked at the beginning of the day to ensure you are successfully combating germs and bacteria and keeping your pub and bar looking as appealing as possible for the next day.

Cleaning Behind the Bar

  • Sweep and mop behind the bar

  • Clean and wipe speed rails and bottles

  • Sort and clean out fruit and garnishes

  • Empty and sanitise ice bins

  • Clean all glasses and glass machine

General Cleaning Tasks

  • Put dirty linen and bar mats in laundry

  • Wipe, wash and sanitise all surfaces

  • Clean and shut down the coffee machine and other hot drinks stations

  • Pack up furniture, stacking chairs on top of each other or on the table

  • Lock the entrances and set alarms.

Weekly/Deep Pub Cleaning Checklist

So you’ve got your daily bar cleaning checklist for the whole service day but a daily bar cleaning won’t maintain health and hygiene all by itself.

Depending on how busy your pub is and how big it is, the following cleaning tasks may need to be addressed bi-weekly. These are the tasks that require more time, effort and intensity so schedule them accordingly to make sure you get the most out of these cleaning procedures to help your pub be the best it can be.

Behind the Bar Cleaning Checklist

A good place to start when it comes to carrying out a deep cleaning is behind the bar. It’s perpetually busy during service which can mean things can get overlooked. This bar cleaning checklist will help you identify what needs your attention first.

  • Empty and clean fridges and reach-in coolers

  • Clean and/or sweep and mop behind movable equipment

General Cleaning Tasks

After you’ve cleaned behind the bar, move on to the more general aspects of deep cleaning.

These tasks are addressed in your daily bar cleaning schedule but it’s a good idea to pay closer attention to them in a weekly deep clean to make sure you’re staying on top of things:

  • Dust and remove cobwebs in high areas

  • Polish windows and wipe/dust blinds

  • Shine/polish brass and silverware

bar with seats the the front and a man and woman sitting on the end of the bar enjoying a drink

Managing your Pub Cleaning Checklist

To help manage your pub cleaning checklist, it’s a good idea to assign different cleaning tasks to each member of staff, perhaps per shift.

A sign off sheet for each cleaning task is a useful tool for management to monitor the cleaning. This makes the cleaning to-do list less daunting and easier to handle. Spreading out the cleaning workload between everyone means little jobs can be done properly and add up to overall cleanliness your pub will benefit from greatly.

However, your bar and kitchen staff are sure to be tired and exhausted after a long shift so a better alternative may be to hire a professional deep cleaning service to ensure daily standards are met. Our pub cleaning checklists will be useful to ensure your cleaners meet all your requirements!

You can personalise your contract based on the size of your pub and your particular needs. You will always be at the centre of everything we do to ensure your pub is cleaned to regulation standards and help you become the best in the business.

These checklists are simply guidelines – you can add to them if your pub has any special cleaning requirements. Keep your business clean, safe and healthy for both customers and staff alike. Also, get the team involved and let your employees know how important it is to keep the pub clean and looking inviting.

Whether you are allocating the task to them or you hire a cleaning company, these checklists will help to direct cleaners and get things done more efficiently.

Office Cleaning Dublin

Office cleaning gives a good first impression to your customers and visitors, as well as enhancing your staff’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Reducing viruses, allergens, dust, and mould makes your team healthier and more productive.

Alliance Select research showed that many office customers wanted to switch because their previous cleaners performed an unsatisfactory job, neglecting some key areas. We always aim to raise the standard for our office clients and that’s why many of them remain with us for years!

Our professional office cleaning staff, vetted, trained and supported by our experienced management team will be pleased to help and take away the hassle away from you, so that your staff can stay healthy and concentrate on their work.

We are also offering Office Carpet Cleaning services Beside all other services we offer at the Alliance Select.

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