To clean for health and hygiene, it is important for professional house cleaners to be trained on what types of cleaning products are most effective and safe for use. What products do professional house cleaners use?
To kill germs and viruses, they should use a sanitizer or disinfectant. If they need to remove soil, they should use an all-purpose cleaner. If it is a surface that needs to be disinfected or sanitized, the cleaner should clean the surface first, and then apply the disinfectant or sanitizer, allowing the recommended waiting time so the chemical can work effectively before wiping.
Professional cleaning services must understand the difference between a disinfectant and sanitizer. A sanitizer is a chemical that reduces the number of microorganisms to a safe level. It is not required to remove 100% of all organisms to be effective. Sanitizers are required to kill 99.999% of the infectious organisms present within 30 seconds. The EPA states that sanitizers reduce but not necessarily eliminate microorganisms from surfaces to levels considered safe as determined by public health codes or regulations.
A disinfectant is a chemical that destroys all organisms listed on its label. The organisms it kills are disease-causing bacteria and pathogens, and it may or may not kill viruses and fungi. According to EPA guidelines, disinfectants must reduce the level of pathogenic bacteria by 99.999% during a time frame of greater than 5 minutes but less than 10 minutes.
The cleaning industry has changed quite a bit over the past several years. Cleaning companies are much more aware of health concerns, therefore cleaning for health and hygiene is now the standard. When choosing cleaning chemicals, professional cleaning services focus on their customers’ individual needs. They know about the types of surfaces they are cleaning and whether the surfaces need to only be cleaned or sanitized and disinfected for health and hygiene.