Two-Step Cleaning Then Disinfecting

Over the last year and a half, the world has changed. How people live at home, how they work, learn, recreate, socialize and travel has all changed. The pandemic quickly spotlighted deficiencies in how facilities were being maintained, and it highlighted what building service contractors really needed to be doing to create safe and healthy environments for building occupants.

Fortunately, for BSCs on a budget, government money became available if used to update products and equipment, to train staff and to get help from industry experts. This was helpful since navigating changes during the pandemic caused confusion on many teams. Federal, state and local government agencies were offering instruction on what had to be done, but rarely offered guidance on how to accomplish the goals.

The good news is, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), in essence, is easy to kill. It is clearly outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and in cleaning industry best practices that a two-step cleaning and sanitizing or disinfecting process must be used.

The act of cleaning is the first and main step to the removal of soils, pathogens and biofilms from surfaces. Once cleaning has been completed, then sanitizing and disinfecting is done to kill and remove the last 20 percent of pathogens that might be left behind.

It’s important to remember that both sanitizers and disinfectants are registered pesticides, which means they kill things. These products can be “safer” or “less toxic,” but because of their kill claim, they are never considered “green,” “totally safe,” or “nontoxic.” Hypochlorous acid falls into the category of “safer” and “less toxic” when used as a sanitizer or disinfectant.