Most people know that you need to disinfect your office and work space. However, most don’t know that cleaning and disinfecting are two different things. Two completely different steps. We mention this in one of our previous blogs that you can read here. According to the CDC, “cleaning refers to the removal of germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. Cleaning does not kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection. Disinfecting refers to using chemicals to kill germs on surfaces. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.”
The First Step To Disinfecting: Clean Your Space”
In order to properly disinfect, you need to clean your space throughly. While cleaning does not kill germs, bacteria or viruses, it does reduce the number. There are a variety of things that you can use to “clean” your space. Whether that is a wiping cloth or just a warm or mild water solution you use to wipe down your office or workspace. Cleaning and throughly wiping your space ensures that you are not just moving dirt and dust around. Viruses and bacteria stick to dirt, dust and other surfaces. Although they cannot live on surfaces for ever, they can remain for 24-48 hours.
After Getting Rid Of Dirt and Dust, It’s Time To Disinfect
If you are familiar with oxidizers like bleach, it is the free form of chlorine within the product which has the most germ-killing abilities. Once the free form of chlorine becomes bound, it is less biocidal, meaning its ability to kill germs weakens. What binds the free form of chlorine? Dirt, debris, and impurities; the material you should be removing by cleaning.
At Pioneer TexasHOME our standard practice is to combine cleaning AND disinfecting together in order to ensure that our clients are properly cleaned and disinfected. By doing so, we are allowing our EPA approved products to work at their best so that you can! Simply disinfecting will not give you the most effective result. The free chlorine in your bleach solutions and disinfectants are great. However, if the disinfectants are binding with debris or other material, it becomes less effective at killing germs. In the future, remember to ask your janitorial company if they are in fact cleaning before disinfecting. If not, the products are being wasted, money is being wasted, and most importantly they aren’t keeping you as safe as you deserve.
Pioneer Texas’ Methods Can Work For Your Office
No matter whether you own an office building, workplace or are a property manager cleaning your spaces thoroughly is a no brainer. You should have an office cleaning or commercial services company that you can trust to get the job done right the first time. If you own a small business, check out our entry on cleaning and disinfecting your small business for a few tips how you can slow the spread of germs in your office or shop. Click here for more.
Give Pioneer Texas in San Antonio a call today at (210) 569-2156 for more helpful tips or a FREE consultation on how we can help you clean and disinfect your business or office building.
