When it comes to keeping your home and work environments safe, you have a lot you have to do. In order to make sure everyone around you is safe from the threat of different types of germs, you may have increased the amount of cleaning you do. When it comes to cleaning, are you making sure you disinfecting and sanitizing the areas properly? While disinfecting and sanitizing sound the same, they mean different things. Even the term “cleaning” means something different than disinfecting and sanitizing. If you want to make your home safe for people to visit for the holidays or want to make your office ready for the new year, knowing the differences between cleaning, disinfection, and sanitizing will help.

Cleaning

Cleaning serves as removing dirt and grime from specific places. It doesn’t do much in terms of killing germs, though it may remove some germs from the surfaces you’re cleaning. Since cleaning doesn’t remove the germs and microbes in your home or office, you’ll want to use other methods of disinfecting and sanitizing to keep everyone around you safe from different types of illnesses. Overall, cleaning is best for when you notice a buildup of dirt or grime and want to get rid of it.

Disinfecting

Disinfecting uses chemicals to kill germs. Disinfecting works best with harder items and harder surfaces, like toys and countertops. In order for the disinfecting to be effective, you’ll want to let it sit for a little bit of time to fully kill the germs present. You’ll also want to look at the label to see what kinds of germs the disinfectant is good at killing. Also, disinfecting will only kill germs. It won’t take the job of cleaning your home.

Sanitizing

Sanitizing is sometimes used interchangeably with disinfecting, but they mean different things. Sanitizing lowers the number of germs in a certain area to a safe level. So, germs aren’t completely eliminated. For instance, when you wash your clothes, you’re sanitizing them, not completely disinfecting them. Sometimes, sanitizing and cleaning can be performed together.

Which is Better?

Cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing each have their own time and place. Depending on what’s happening in your home or office, you’ll want to use the right terms and products to achieve your end goal. For instance, if there’s a lot of stains on a bathroom mirror, you’ll want to clean it. But if there’s an illness in your home or office, you’ll want to sanitize soft surfaces and disinfect hard surfaces. You’ll want to check the labels to make sure the germs that cause the illness are effective at disinfecting or sanitizing.

As you decide whether to host family members for the holidays or want to make the office safe for everyone in the new year, you have a lot to think about. Let Extreme Microbial Technologies help in making sure surfaces and the air has a drastic reduction in microbial presence. Our specialized equipment targets different particles and reduces their occurrence in your environment. Request more information now.