What Is The Difference Between Cleaning, Sanitizing, And Disinfecting?

This pandemic has taught us the importance of taking care of ourselves. An essential part of staying healthy is to ensure that our environment is clean and hygienic. In order to slow the spread of diseases and viruses on your premises, it is important to understand the methods and practices in depth that you should incorporate in your cleaning regime. But cleaning an area could mean different things to different people, especially more so if we do not understand the proper meaning of the terms involved with maintaining the cleanliness of an area. A lot of the terms are often used interchangeably, albeit unknowingly. In this article, we are going to understand the basic difference between cleaning and sanitizing and disinfecting.

Difference between cleaning and sanitizing

In layman's terms, the difference between cleaning and sanitizing is that cleaning is the process of cleaning the dirt and debris from a surface, and sanitizing means killing the bacteria from a surface after it has already been cleaned. Cleaning is the first step that needs to be carried out regardless of the surface, and sanitization follows later. Cleaning reduces the visible contamination from a surface, it does not eliminate germs but can help reduces their number. Sanitizing reduces the number of microorganisms to the level that is considered safe by public health standards. Sanitizing is meant to be used as a preventive measure to reduce the risk of getting infected. It is wise to carry with you a bottle of alcohol based sanitizer at all times. You never know when it may come in handy.

Difference between sanitizing and disinfecting

The main difference between sanitize and disinfect is the number of microorganisms that can be eliminated by each process. While sanitizing claims to kill the germs, it can only eliminate 99.9% of germs from a surface. Disinfecting on the other hand is more potent and can kill 100% of microorganisms from a surface. Since disinfection is a more intense process, it is often used in areas like health care facilities, daycare centers, and so on. The procedure to disinfect and sanitize is different too. While sanitizing, you need to clean the surface, apply a sanitizer, and the surface is then good to be used within 30 seconds. On the other hand, while disinfecting, you need to clean the surface, then apply the disinfectant as per the directions on the product, allow it to work its magic for 5-10 minutes or as long as the product calls for, and then rinse it off. Surfaces like light switches, door handles, handrails, bathroom surfaces, faucets, computer keyboards and mice, phones, remote controls, and so on need to be disinfected regularly since they are frequently touched.

Why choose us?

Now that you know the difference between sanitizing and disinfecting and cleaning, you also know that, while cleaning may be a fairly simple task since all you need is some soap water, and a cloth, sanitizing and disinfecting aren’t. Disinfection especially is a process that involves handling chemicals that can prove dangerous if not used properly. This is where Judux comes into the picture. Our experts use the state of the art technology to ensure that your premise is clean, sanitized, and disinfected without you even having to lift a finger. Considering getting your home and offices cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected? Get in touch with us today.