Viral Cleaning

3/20/2020 (Permalink)

All of us here at SERVPRO of Newton / Wellesley want you and your loved ones to stay safe and know that we will make it through this together! The easiest step we can all take at home and in the workplace is to properly sanitize the area. Did you know that while everything can be cleaned, the same does not hold true for disinfecting?

Cleaning/Sanitizing/Disinfecting

It is important to understand the different levels of cleaning that may or may not be possible for each surface. All surfaces can be cleaned, many surfaces can be sanitized, and some surfaces can be disinfected.

The three main levels of microbe control are:

• General surface cleaning – physically removes visible dirt, organic matter, viruses, fungi, and bacteria. General surface cleaning is accomplished with water, detergent, and physical scrubbing of the surface. The guiding principle is to remove microbes if possible, rather than kill them (with a sanitizer or disinfectant). In addition, thoroughly cleaning a surface can reduce the need to disinfect because without the nutrients and moisture needed to survive and multiply, most microbes cannot live on a clean and dry surface for very long. 
• Sanitizing – reduces but does not necessarily eliminate all the bacteria on a treated surface. Sanitizers do not have claims for viruses or fungi. To be a registered sanitizer, the test results for a product must show a reduction of at least a. 99.9% in the number of each type of bacteria tested on non-food-contact surfaces. Examples of non-food-contact sanitizers include carpet sanitizers, air sanitizers, laundry additives, and in-tank toilet bowl sanitizers.
• Disinfecting – works by using chemicals to kill germs on surfaces. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs.v Disinfecting destroys or irreversibly inactivates infectious or other undesirable microbes, but not necessarily the spores of bacteria and fungi. The number of microbes killed during a disinfecting process will vary, depending on the specific chemical and how it is used.

For more information on COVID-19 and how best to protect yourself and others around you visit the Centers for Disease Control website. 

Please be safe and vigilant in your cleaning efforts. Should you have any doubts regarding the safety of your residential or commercial property needs expert preventative deep cleaning services, call the experts at SERVPRO of Newton / Wellesley today – (617) 332 - 9000