Childcare Cleaning: The Checklist You Need

Running a childcare facility is a lot of work and has many challenges. If there is anything people have learnt recently, it is how important hygiene and cleanliness are linked to our well-being. When working with children, parents expect the professionals to have a certain standard of safety, cleanliness, and organisation. For expert results, trust professional office cleaning professionals. Our office cleaning company team ensures top-quality results every time.

There is a lot more to childcare cleaning than just putting the toys away, vacuuming, and taking the garbage out. You should have a whole cleaning schedule for when and how often items and the room gets cleaned in your facility. This post will break down precisely what you should be cleaning and how often it should be cleaned.

Organisation Is Key

Many different cleaning tasks need to be completed every day when running a childcare centre. That is why you should be organised. Make a checklist with the following tips and have them in a specific spot for you and your staff to see. Additionally, you can sit your team down and make a rota, so everyone is helping with the cleaning duties.

When you break up the tasks throughout the team, it will take less time.

Continuous Cleaning

The following are tasks that you should be doing daily. Everything on this list should be cleaned before and after each use:

• All diaper potty chairs and changing tables should be cleaned and disinfected. There should be no bodily fluids.
• Remember to use hand sanitiser or disinfectant wipes after every diaper change or if you have emptied the trash.
• Empty the diaper pails or trash bins before they are full.
• After each use, all handles and toilet seats should be wiped down with bleach.
• Wipe down all play area surfaces after each use with a disinfectant wipe.
• Food prep areas and countertops should be wiped down before and after each use.
• Leaving unwashed dishes in the sink to pile up is a big no. Wash them up immediately.
• Clean the sinks, and make sure there is no food or debris.
• All tables, chairs, and other surfaces should be cleaned before and after snack time.
• Toys should be picked up and put away if they are not being played with. If there are toys that have been bitten or dirty, put them in a safe space to be deep cleaned after the children are gone.

Daily Cleaning

When you have a daily cleaning schedule, your staff will understand what needs to be done, and they can divide up the duties amongst themselves. You should be cleaning the following things daily or throughout the day:

• Spray and wipe all the toys at the end of each day and put them back in the correct spot.
• All arts and crafts supplies should be cleaned up and organised.
• Mats, sleeping pads, and linens should all be checked for soil, and you need to wash them after every use.
• Sanitise and clean all kitchen equipment, countertops, and sinks.
• Vacuum all the soft surfaces and rugs in the centre and sweep and mop the floors.
• Go over all doorknobs, light switches, cabinets, phones, and computers with disinfectant.
• Scrub the toilets with bleach and disinfect. Also, remember to clean the sinks, countertops, and other surfaces.
• Wash the linens before putting them back on the changing tables or beds.

Weekly Cleaning

The following list involves things that you should be cleaning weekly. These can all be divided among the staff on a specific day, so it does not take as much time. Also, if you do this weekly, then the overall cleanliness of the facility will be well maintained.

• Wash and clean all dress-up clothes, toys, and special play items.
• Wipe and disinfect all reading material and bookshelves.
• Clear out the cubbies and wipe inside and out with wipes.
• Deep clean the crafts area and art supplies.
• Wipe the cribs and changing tables; make sure to go under the pads and mats.
• Change out all of the linens and wash and fold the used ones.
• Deep clean all of the rooms; this also means dusting difficult places to reach and wiping the walls.
• Thoroughly clean the bathroom; get behind the toilet and sink. Also, wipe and spray the bathroom stalls and walls.
• Clean the kitchen and all of the equipment. Take time out to check on all of the items in the fridge. Throw away anything that is expired and make a new shopping list.
• If you have a van or car, you should also deep clean that. Make sure to vacuum everywhere and wipe down the dashboard and handles.

Monthly Cleaning

Rotate the following list amongst the staff throughout the year, so it is not just one person who is stuck doing the monthly cleaning by themselves. This is a list of all the things you should be cleaning monthly:

For more useful tips, explore our guide on warehouse cleaning checklist for practical advice.

• Inspect the drains and plumbing, ensure there are no leaks and nothing is clogged.
• Deep clean all the windows, curtains, and blinds. We have a post about how to deep clean blinds, so read that if you need some tips. If your curtains are fabric, then this is an excellent time to take them down and wash them.
• Vacuum behind furniture and dust windowsills and baseboards.
• Take everything out of all the closets, shelves, and storage containers. Wipe everything down and make sure it has been disinfected before organising it again.

Professional Cleaning

The following list should be left to the professionals to deep clean. It is useful when cleaning services come in and do the following because they are getting the germs and bacteria that you cannot get yourself.

• Have the company deep clean your carpets and upholstery a couple of times a year because there will be bacteria build-up on these heavy traffic items. This will also help get rid of any stains.
• Get your air ducts cleaned so there is no mould or dust. Having mould and dust in your centre can cause respiratory problems in children and make it harder for people to breathe.
• If you have hardwood floors, get them deep cleaned and polished to bring them back to life.
• Have the bathrooms and the kitchen deep cleaned, especially the grout. This will ensure less accumulation of mildew, germs, and bacteria.

While you can do everything you can to keep your space clean, there are also cleaning tips you can tell parents to do when they pick their child up from you. The following are tips that you can send to parents in a newsletter so that they can help with the cleaning process as well.

Tips for Parents

• Have hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes ready in the car.
• Wipe backpacks and lunchboxes before jumping into the car.
• Throw away any uneaten or old food or snacks that cannot be stored and kept.
• Bring a spare bag for any soiled items your child may have.

What the National Quality Framework Requires for Childcare Centre Cleaning in Australia

Cleaning a childcare centre isn’t optional housekeeping — it’s a regulatory obligation embedded in the framework that governs every long day care, family day care, and preschool in Australia. The Education and Care Services National Law (2010) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations (2011) set the baseline, and the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority — ACECQA — enforces it through the National Quality Framework.

Regulation 103 states that premises, furniture, and equipment must be maintained in a safe, clean condition and in good repair. Regulation 77 requires that practices for handling, preparing, and storing food maintain hygiene standards consistent with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. These aren’t guidelines. They’re enforceable standards that assessors from the relevant state regulatory authority — in NSW, that’s the NSW Department of Education’s Early Childhood Education directorate — will check during assessment and rating visits.

The National Quality Standard sits at the centre of this framework, and Quality Area 3 — Physical Environment — is where cleaning compliance lives. Standard 3.1 requires that the design and location of the premises is appropriate and the facility is maintained. Element 3.1.2 specifically addresses upkeep: the premises and outdoor spaces are organised in ways that ensure safety and support children’s health. A childcare centre in Parramatta or Blacktown that has mould creeping behind shelving units, stained carpets in the reading corner, or a bathroom with grout that hasn’t been scrubbed in months is going to flag on Element 3.1.2 during a rating visit.

Then there’s the infection control layer. The NHMRC publication Staying Healthy: Preventing Infectious Diseases in Early Childhood Education and Care Services — now in its fifth edition — is the reference document that assessors, directors, and environmental health officers rely on. It specifies cleaning, sanitising, and disinfecting protocols for different surface types, outlines the difference between routine cleaning and outbreak response cleaning, and provides the recommended chemical concentrations for each scenario. Sodium hypochlorite at 1,000 parts per million for routine environmental cleaning, and 10,000 parts per million for blood or bodily fluid spills, are the standard concentrations drawn directly from the NHMRC guidelines.

Centres that treat cleaning as an afterthought rather than a compliance function are the ones that receive a Working Towards rating on Quality Area 3 — and that rating sits on the national register where every parent looking at childcare options in Sydney can see it.

What a Professional Childcare Centre Deep Clean in Sydney Covers Beyond the Daily Routine

Every childcare centre has a daily cleaning routine. Educators wipe tables between activities, bathroom attendants restock soap and sanitise change tables, and the afternoon cleaner vacuums the rooms and empties the bins before lockup. That daily loop keeps the centre operational, but it doesn’t deal with the contamination layers that build up over weeks and months in a facility where 60 or 80 children under five are eating, crawling, touching, and putting things in their mouths all day.

A professional childcare deep clean works through the centre systematically from ceiling to floor, and the distinction from daily maintenance is both the scope and the chemicals involved. Start with the floors. Childcare centres across Sydney use a mix of vinyl, linoleum, rubber matting, and carpet depending on the room. Playrooms and wet areas typically get machine-scrubbed with a rotary floor scrubber and a neutral-pH detergent that’s safe for environments where children sit and crawl on the floor. Carpeted areas in sleep rooms and quiet corners get hot-water extraction to pull out embedded dust, milk residue, food particles, and biological material that vacuuming cannot shift.

Bathrooms and nappy change areas receive a full strip clean. Toilets, child-height basins, and change table surfaces are scrubbed and disinfected with an ARTG-registered hospital-grade disinfectant — not the multipurpose spray from the daily cleaning caddy. Tile grout gets treated with an alkaline cleaner to remove the biofilm that builds up from soap residue, moisture, and organic matter. Floor drains receive enzymatic treatment because childcare bathroom drains — particularly in older centres across the Inner West, Canterbury-Bankstown, and Cumberland council areas — accumulate protein-based residue that produces persistent odour and attracts drain flies.

The kitchen and food preparation area follows FSANZ Standard 3.2.2 requirements. Benchtops, sinks, highchair trays, and bottle preparation surfaces all require sanitisation with food-safe chemicals at correct concentration and contact time. The NHMRC Staying Healthy guidelines specify that food preparation surfaces must be cleaned and sanitised before and after each use — a standard that daily cleaning routines frequently miss on the sanitisation step.

Then there are the items that no daily cleaner touches. Cot mattresses and sleep mats need surface disinfection and airing. Soft furnishings — cushions, fabric dividers, dress-up clothes — accumulate dust mites, allergens, and biological residue that the NHMRC identifies as respiratory triggers for children with asthma and allergies. Outdoor play equipment, sandpit borders, and covered verandah areas need pressure washing and disinfection. Air conditioning vents and return air grilles collect dust that circulates through rooms where infants sleep — and a centre in Ryde or North Sydney that hasn’t cleaned its HVAC returns in six months is circulating exactly the kind of particulate matter that Quality Area 3 assessors will notice.

How Much Childcare Centre Cleaning Costs in Sydney and What Drives the Price

Childcare centre directors and approved providers want a budget number, so here it is. Across Sydney in 2026, ongoing daily cleaning for a long day care centre typically runs between $5.00 and $10.00 per square metre per month under a term-based or annual contract. For a standard centre of 400 to 700 square metres of internal floor area — covering playrooms, sleep rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, office, and foyer — that puts the monthly cleaning cost between $2,000 and $7,000 depending on the scope, frequency, and contract structure.

Term-break or quarterly deep cleans are usually quoted separately. A full deep clean for a medium-sized long day care centre during a closure period — covering machine floor scrubbing, carpet extraction, bathroom strip clean, kitchen sanitisation, cot and mat disinfection, and outdoor equipment wash — typically runs between $1,500 and $4,500. Larger centres with multiple age-group rooms, commercial kitchens, and extensive outdoor areas push that higher.

Three factors drive the price above average. First, the number of bathrooms and nappy change stations. Centres that service infants, toddlers, and preschoolers across separate rooms — as required under the Education and Care Services National Regulations for different age groups — have multiple bathroom zones that each require individual servicing. A centre in Campbelltown or Liverpool with four age-group bathrooms takes significantly more labour than a two-room centre in Mosman.

Second, infection control requirements. Childcare centres operate under tighter disinfection protocols than standard commercial premises. The NHMRC Staying Healthy guidelines mandate specific cleaning responses for gastroenteritis, hand foot and mouth disease, conjunctivitis, and head lice outbreaks — all common in Sydney childcare centres. A cleaning contract that doesn’t account for outbreak response callouts is a contract that will leave you exposed when 12 children go home with gastro on a Wednesday afternoon.

Third, compliance documentation. If the centre needs cleaning records for an upcoming ACECQA assessment and rating visit, or for the approved provider’s quality improvement plan, the documentation adds time. Every task has to be logged, signed off, and cross-referenced against the cleaning schedule. At Clean Group, we build this documentation into our childcare cleaning contracts because we know directors need it for their QIP and for parent communication.

The Cleaning Accountability Framework publishes benchmark rates for specialised facility cleaning that reflect award wages under the Cleaning Services Award 2020 and realistic on-costs including superannuation at 11.5%. If a cleaning quote for a childcare centre comes in well below CAF benchmarks, the company is likely cutting corners on chemical quality, staffing ratios, or both — and in a facility full of children under five, those are not corners worth cutting.

Conclusion

Cleaning a childcare centre is vital for the health of everyone who steps foot in there. If you break up the cleaning duties throughout the staff, it will take no time to complete. Also, if you keep up with your cleaning schedule, you will notice that the cleaning is not that strenuous to complete.

Keeping a clean environment for yourself, your staff, and the children is vital when running a childcare centre. Make sure to follow these tips when it comes to your cleaning routine.

For more helpful insights, explore our guide on comprehensive cleaning checklist for gyms.

Frequently Asked Questions About Childcare Cleaning

How often should a childcare centre be professionally deep cleaned?

Most Sydney childcare centres that maintain strong NQS ratings deep clean during each term break or school holiday closure — typically four times per year. Daily operational cleaning happens every day the centre is open, and weekly maintenance covers tasks like detailed bathroom scrubbing, kitchen deep wipe, and outdoor equipment cleaning. Centres that experience infectious disease outbreaks — gastro, hand foot and mouth, or conjunctivitis — may need additional targeted deep cleans during the term. The NHMRC Staying Healthy guidelines recommend intensified cleaning during confirmed outbreaks as a core infection control measure.

What cleaning standards apply to childcare centres in Australia?

The Education and Care Services National Regulations (2011) are the primary framework — Regulation 103 requires premises to be maintained in a safe, clean condition. The National Quality Standard under the National Quality Framework assesses cleaning compliance through Quality Area 3 (Physical Environment), specifically Element 3.1.2. The NHMRC publication Staying Healthy provides infection control and cleaning protocols that ACECQA assessors reference. FSANZ Standard 3.2.2 applies to food preparation areas in centres. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 requires the approved provider to manage WHS risks including hygiene.

How much does childcare centre cleaning cost in Sydney?

Daily ongoing cleaning for a Sydney childcare centre typically costs $5.00 to $10.00 per square metre per month. A standard centre of 400 to 700 square metres would pay $2,000 to $7,000 monthly depending on scope and frequency. Quarterly deep cleans are quoted separately at $1,500 to $4,500 for a medium-sized centre. The final price depends on the number of bathrooms and age-group rooms, infection control requirements, outdoor areas, and whether compliance documentation is needed for ACECQA assessment visits.

Can childcare centre staff handle the deep clean or do we need a professional service?

Educators and centre staff manage daily operational cleaning — wiping tables, sanitising change areas, sweeping floors. A deep clean requires equipment and chemicals that most centres don’t carry on site: rotary floor scrubbers, truck-mounted carpet extractors, ARTG-registered hospital-grade disinfectants, enzymatic drain cleaners, and commercial-grade kitchen sanitisers. The training requirements differ too — deep cleaning in a childcare environment involves understanding chemical dwell times, child-safe product selection, and NHMRC-specified disinfectant concentrations. If your team can’t produce a Safety Data Sheet for every chemical they use, a specialist commercial cleaning service is needed.

What should a childcare centre look for when hiring a commercial cleaning company?

Start with insurance: $20 million public liability cover is the baseline for childcare facility contracts in Sydney. Confirm workers compensation through icare or an authorised insurer. Check the ABN at abr.business.gov.au. Ask whether the company understands the Education and Care Services National Regulations and the NHMRC Staying Healthy infection control requirements — these are not standard commercial cleaning protocols. Confirm they use ARTG-registered disinfectants and can provide Safety Data Sheets for every product entering the centre. Request references from other childcare centres and ask to see their cleaning schedule template and compliance documentation format before signing.