When it comes to cleaning and disinfecting, what’s the difference?
Cleaning and disinfecting are critical aspects of any maintenance routine, whether you’re maintaining a school, hospital, office, or other institution. Maintaining a clean environment reduces the spread of sickness and improves the overall appearance of your facility. Cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces in your business is the most effective technique to prevent germs from spreading. Are you unsure whether or not you should use cleaning or disinfectant in your facility?
When disinfecting, you should use both methods.
Cleaning can be done without disinfecting, but disinfection cannot be done without cleaning. You don’t need to disinfect them if you’re cleaning and don’t need to kill or remove germs. You must disinfect surfaces after cleaning them if you want to kill germs on them. To remove and kill germs, cleaning and disinfection are two different techniques that should be utilized together.
Before disinfecting, always clean.
Before disinfection, any visible dirt must be cleaned or removed. Cleaning removes loose dirt from a surface or object in preparation for disinfection.
Disinfecting bacteria on the surface destroys them and prevents them from spreading. Germs can lurk under soils and diminish the disinfectant’s potency if a surface isn’t cleaned first.
What Parts Should Be Disinfected?
Depending on your facility and industry, various places within your building will have different protocols for whether they should be cleaned or cleaned and disinfected. Clean-up and disinfection methods should be discussed with your supervisor.
Disinfect high-touch locations regularly. You may need to disinfect high-touch surfaces many times a day, depending on the surface and facility.
The following are examples of high-touch areas:
- Door Knobs\Handrails
- Switches for lights
- Dispensers of Soap
- Handles for Chairs
What exactly is cleaning?
The act of physically eliminating germs, dirt, and other contaminants from surfaces is known as cleaning.
Use an all-purpose cleaning product and a microfiber cloth or terry rag to remove soils away to clean a surface.
What is the efficacy of cleaners?
Using cleaning solutions and following correct cleaning procedures, practically all bacteria and dirt are removed from the surface. You haven’t killed anything by using a cleanser to kill hazardous germs. Cleaning just cleans the surface, removing bacteria and dirt. It does not affect them. Germs that have not been eliminated will reproduce and spread.
The majority of bacteria reproduce by dividing into two. Bacteria like Escherichia coli, more often known as E.coli, can divide every 20 minutes given the right conditions. That indicates that just one bacterium has produced almost 2,097,152 germs in just 7 hours. A disinfectant must be administered to the surface to kill the organisms left behind after cleaning.
What is the term “disinfecting”?
Germs are killed through disinfection. Disinfectants do not remove surface soils. Because cleaning agents cannot break through the dirt on surfaces, disinfectants must be employed after that. You are not adequately removing soils if you use a disinfectant to clean them, such as a soda spill or leftover food stains. Cleaning with a disinfectant will leave you with a sticky and odorous surface once it has dried.
Most disinfectants use quaternary ammonium chloride (QUATS), peroxide (Hydrogen-Peroxide based), or hypochlorite to kill microorganisms (bleach-based).
Each disinfectant has its own set of benefits and drawbacks.
What is the efficacy of disinfectants?
When used correctly, disinfectants destroy 100 percent of the pathogens specified on the manufacturer’s documentation.
A commercial cleaning solution can’t be called a disinfectant unless it’s been EPA tested and shown to kill 100 percent of the germs (mentioned on the label) on a specified surface.
A disinfectant must dwell for the prescribed dwell time to be effective.
The usual disinfectant dwell time varies depending on the disinfectant type and the organisms you’re seeking to kill. Hospitals will almost certainly require a disinfectant of a higher (hospital) grade.
Disinfectants that do not stay moist for the necessary dwell period kill fewer germs and are therefore considered ineffective.
What is dwell time, exactly?
Dwell time refers to how long a disinfectant must be wet on a surface to disinfect successfully. Different commercial cleaning agents require varying dwell times based on the EPA registration and contact duration necessary for each organism. Commercial cleaning chemicals that aren’t used with the correct dwell duration and removal process aren’t disinfecting and fulfill EPA standards.
For the required dwell time for each organism type, consult the data provided by your chemical manufacturer.
Inadequately cleaned surfaces raise the risk of germs spreading and causing illness throughout your facility.
You are letting germs reproduce and spread if you miss even an inch of surface or do not allow the disinfectant to remain for the required amount of time.
Disinfecting can be accomplished in one or two steps.
One-Step Methodology
Cleaning and disinfection are done simultaneously with a cleaner/disinfectant or disinfectant/cleaner product in the one-step disinfecting method.
Cleaners/disinfectants clean while also killing bacteria.
Allow the cleaner/disinfectant to sit for the prescribed amount of time. The right dwell time is crucial for killing all organisms on a surface (as specified on the product label).
Combination cleaners/disinfectants aren’t consistently as successful as the two-step technique.
Heavy soils cannot be adequately removed by cleaners/disinfectants, which is required for the disinfectant to kill all (designated) organisms on the surface thoroughly.
Two-Step Methodology
The surface is cleaned and disinfected using two separate compounds in the two-step disinfection process. The surface or object is first cleaned using a cleaning agent to eliminate visible and loose dirt. Apply a disinfectant to the surface with a microfiber cloth.
To avoid cross-contamination, choose a different color cloth for each separate surface in your facility. The surface or object is then disinfected in the second step.
Make sure the disinfectant is wet on the surface for the specified amount of time.
The effectiveness of your disinfection technique is determined by dwell time, mentioned kill claims, and the removal process. If you do not follow the manufacturer’s specified dwell duration for labeled organisms, the product will not reach its indicated efficacy.
Germs will be able to increase and spread throughout your facility if the amount of germs killed by your product is reduced.
Last Thoughts
Although eliminating germs is essential in any facility, cleaning materials and techniques will vary depending on the organization’s frequency, surfaces, and cleaning requirements and expectations.