EMD Commercial Cleaning has published a resource on warehouse deep cleaning that explains where dust and grease build up in distribution and manufacturing facilities, how crews remove it from overhead structures, floors, and equipment, and how the work is sequenced so that production continues. The resource was posted to the Saint Paul-based company's website on October 1, 2026, and draws on the company's work in industrial facilities across the Twin Cities metro.
Minnesota winters figure prominently in the resource. Once cold weather arrives, facilities stay sealed for months, it says, and road salt, moisture, and chemical ice melt ride indoors on forklift tires and boots, where heavy traffic grinds them into unprotected concrete. The resource describes the result as pitting, a slick slurry of oil and salt, and surface breakdown when floors are not degreased regularly.
Much of the resource concerns the surfaces that daily sweeping never reaches. Structural trusses, exposed ductwork, utility pipes, and high-bay light fixtures trap rising particles over months of shipping and production, and vibration from forklifts and passing trucks shakes those deposits loose onto inventory and machinery below. The resource describes crews working from scissor lifts with HEPA vacuum systems that capture dust at the beam surface rather than blowing it into the air, after containment sheeting is laid over racking bays and active work areas.
The resource ties overhead dusting to combustible dust safety. Fine wood, organic and metallic dust on elevated surfaces can feed flash fires and secondary explosions, it says, citing the 1/32 of an inch accumulation figure that the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 654 standard and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program use as a screening indicator rather than a universal limit. Under that guidance, a layer of that depth over 5 percent of a room's floor area warrants cleaning; overhead beams, joists and ducts count toward the total, and OSHA notes that the criterion assumes a dust of typical bulk density and can shift for lighter materials.
"Most of the dust in a warehouse sits where nobody looks, up on the beams and the light fixtures. It stays there until a forklift rumbles past and shakes it down onto the pallets," said Marin Morales, Operations Manager at EMD Commercial Cleaning. "We wanted facility managers to know what to look for before that happens."
At floor level, the resource centers on industrial degreasing. Forklift traffic works grease, tire rubber, and winter salt into porous concrete, and crews use commercial auto scrubbers and emulsifiers to lift those residues, with particular attention to loading docks. For manufacturing machinery, the resource describes cleaning exterior housings and cooling vents with non-conductive methods so that chemical residue, cutting oils, and packed grit can be removed without exposing electronics.
A later section addresses deep cleaning without halting production. Zone-by-zone cleaning isolates a racking bay or a production line behind physical containment barriers while adjacent sections keep operating. Heavy overhead vacuuming and floor scrubbing are reserved for off-hours and weekends when machinery is idle, and high-reach vacuum attachments clear beams from ground level where narrow aisles rule out a lift.
On frequency, the resource gives the company's own working intervals rather than a regulatory requirement: overhead beam dust removal every six to twelve months for active manufacturing sites and logistics hubs, and quarterly where heavy cardboard, wood or powders are processed, with the interval for any building depending on its materials, dust levels and applicable fire codes.
"Nobody wants to stop shipping for a cleaning crew, and in most buildings they do not have to," Morales said. "We section off one bay or one line at a time, do the overhead work when the machines are idle, and the rest of the building keeps running. The deep clean should not be the reason a truck leaves late."
The resource applies the same approach to facility types ranging from food and medical supply distribution to automotive suppliers, packaging plants and e-commerce fulfillment centers. Inventory, equipment, production hours, and dust levels determine the plan for each building, it notes.
EMD Commercial Cleaning, also known as EMD Cleaning Services, is a family-owned commercial cleaning company headquartered in Oakdale, MN. According to its website, the company has worked exclusively with commercial clients for more than 15 years, employs more than 80 in-house janitorial staff, does not use subcontractors, and assigns the same trained crew to each building, backed by hands-on leadership and 24/7 communication. Its services include janitorial, office and commercial building cleaning, industrial and warehouse cleaning, carpet cleaning, strip and wax for vinyl composite tile floors, and window cleaning. The company serves Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and the surrounding Twin Cities communities, as well as Hudson, Wisconsin.
###
For more information about EMD Commercial Cleaning, contact the company here:
EMD Commercial Cleaning
Marin Morales
612-202-3696
info@emdcleaning.com
1326 Helmo Ave N, Oakdale, MN 55128