Should you sanitize or disinfect or both?

In the age of COVID-19, people are seeing the truth of the fact that a clean home is vital to a person's mental and physical health.

The job of keeping a house neat and tidy is daunting for some, but keeping it sanitized and disinfected to prevent illness is a whole other level.

What cleaning supplies and methods are going to give you the clean you need to stay healthy?

Sanitize vs. disinfect, which one is better, and what are the differences between them? Keep reading to learn the difference and the key to cleanliness.

Sanitize vs. Disinfect

What is the difference between sanitizing and disinfecting? Often, these two words are used interchangeably when talking about cleaning. That doesn't mean they have the same definition or the same effect when cleaning your surroundings. Let's look at the differences.

Sanitization

Sanitizing comes after cleaning. When you clean a surface with soap and water, you are removing dirt or other impurities from the surface of whatever you're cleaning.

When you sanitize, you take it a step further. You are trying to lower the number of germs, bacteria, and contaminants on a surface to a level that's safe. These 'safe' levels are public health standards or requirements.

You are reducing the number of, not killing, bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

If you wish to sanitize your home or business, use a solution made of one tablespoon of chlorine bleach, unscented, in a gallon of water.

You would use this process to clean things that don't generally have dangerous bacteria like your kids' toys, your cooking utensils, and your kitchen countertop.

Disinfecting

When you disinfect a surface, you are going another step further in that you are killing any microscopic organisms. This lowers the risk of spreading infection.

Disinfecting is not part of anyone's regular everyday home cleaning routine. It is meant for dangerous messes usually involving bodily fluids and/or blood so it's a common practice in medical facilities.

At home, you should disinfect your toilets and sinks to kill any bacteria or viruses.

A stronger bleach solution or cleaner that kills 99.999 percent of germs is necessary to disinfect a surface according to EPA standards. For sanitizing, the percentage is 99.9.

Do not overuse disinfectants even during the current pandemic. Such overuse of strong chemical cleaners has harmful health and environmental consequences.

Sanitizing vs. Disinfection

Now you know the difference when it comes to whether to sanitize vs. disinfect your home or place of business. Sanitizing is better than a regular cleaning, but disinfecting is best to remove pathogens and the spread of infection.

Do you know who can help you keep things clean at that level? We at Mai Supplies sell the best performing products in the world.

Our Spray Nine Disinfectant disinfects and sanitizes in under 30 seconds.

by Tony Mai