The Cleanfax Spring 2026 digital issue is now available online. In this issue, dive into the real-world challenges and opportunities shaping today’s cleaning and restoration businesses—from marketing and leadership to technical precision in the field. You’ll find practical strategies for driving growth, improving performance, and staying competitive in an increasingly complex landscape. Technical insights in this issue will sharpen your approach to cleaning science, assessment, and execution, while business-focused features will help you tackle everything from hiring to customer acquisition. You’ll also learn about emerging trends, tools, and industry shifts—such as AI developments—that are changing how companies operate day to day. This issue delivers ideas that help you work smarter, lead better, and build a stronger business.

The Spring 2026 issue includes:

• When Jobs Go Sideways: How service recovery turns frustration into loyalty.
• The Military Housing Opportunity: Why standards-based remediation is no longer enough.
• The 2026 Cleaning Industry Leaders Review: How leadership, vision, and decisive moments shaped three standout cleaning companies.
• Hidden Hazards of Fentanyl Cleanup: As the fentanyl crisis grows, more restoration companies confront these toxic cleanups.
• AI and the Future of Restoration: A closer look at how tech is reshaping core workflows in water damage restoration.
• Price Shoppers Are Poison: Why the cheapest clients cost you the most.
• Productivity Killers Lurking in Hard Floor Care: Solve today’s floor care challenges without adding staff or complicating processes.
• Uncover the Hidden Health Threats in Carpet: What science, standards, and real-world experience reveal about contaminants.
• The Last Word: Five Questions: Stephen Rodriguez

View the Table of Contents and see all that’s available in this issue.

Each front-line middle manager in the U.S. loses more than six working weeks, or 33 days, per year to low-value tasks including pointless meetings, duplicating data entry, email overload, managing staff schedule and administrative busywork, according to a SafetyCulture analysis.

That lost work time equates to an estimated US$6,400 in wasted salary per manager annually. Nationwide, this adds up to $59.9 billion in lost productivity.

Of the sectors studied, construction and manufacturing contribute the most, costing an estimated $16.7 billion and $17.3 billion annually, respectively, followed by retail ($14.3 billion), distribution and transport ($7.7 billion), and hospitality ($3.8 billion).

Key findings from SafetyCulture’s latest report include:

• Middle managers spend, on average, an estimated 5.13 hours per week on unnecessary, low-value tasks.
• 85% of middle managers have presented improvement ideas, yet only 54% saw them implemented.
• Of those impacted by idea dismissal, 51% report inefficient processes persist, 35% feel disempowered, and 28% lose trust in senior leadership.
• Continuous improvement initiatives often create extra workload without clear benefits for 36% of middle managers whose organization have improvement programs.

“Middle managers are the glue holding workplaces together,” said Tom Murdock, SafetyCulture managing director Americas. “Organizations that listen and act on manager feedback don’t just save money, they unlock potential, improve operations, and turn wasted time into real profit.”

Companies that streamline meetings and administrative workflows, implement better workflow tools, and empower managers with more decision-making authority could recover millions in lost productivity each year, boost employee morale, and improve customer outcomes, the SafetyCulture analysis found.