It’s more important now than ever to understand how to appropriately defend yourself from infection. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion around which cleaning styles are and are n’t applicable.

People tend to use the terms cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting and sterilising interchangeably, but there are distinct differences between all four. Read on to learn which styles you should be using.

What’s Cleaning?

Cleaning is the process of removing visible dirt, dust and other soils from surfaces. It’s generally completed with a cloth or wipe in conjunction with a soap, cleaner or detergent.

Cleaning on its own doesn’t kill or completely remove bacteria or contagions from surfaces, but it’s still essential. Cleaning should always be performed before sanitizing, disinfecting and sterilising because it improves the effectiveness of each process.

What’s Sanitising?

Sanitising reduces the volume of bacteria on a surface, but doesn’t kill or destroy bacteria. Sanitising also doesn’t kill or destroy contagions from surfaces. Rather, it lowers the volume of bacteria on a surface to a safe degree as judged by public health norms.

Sanitisers are frequently used on food contact surfaces because they contain lower harsh chemicals in comparison to disinfectants. However, always check the tag to certify that the sanitiser you’re using is in fact food safe if you’re using it in a kitchen or food prep area.

What’s Disinfecting?

Disinfecting kills or inactivates both the bacteria and contagions identified on the product’s tag from surfaces. Disinfectants are the only products approved by the EPA to kill contagions on hard surfaces.

Disinfecting is one of the most dependable ways to stop the spread of infection and germs, but not all disinfectants are created equal. Right now the world is battling a contagion we ’ve never encountered previously, aka an emerging pathogen. Only disinfectants with emerging pathogen claims should be used to disinfect against COVID- 19. These disinfectants can be found on the EPA’s N- List.

Although sanitisers are more constantly used on food contact surfaces, disinfectants can be used, but they must contain food safe chemicals. For illustration, EarthSafe’s PUR- TABS which we use with our electrostatic disinfection devices are safe to use in kitchens and on food contact surfaces.

Disinfecting is performed in a variety of circumstances, especially now as we battle COVID- 19, but it’s especially important in hospitals and other medical establishments.

What’s Sterilising?

Sterilising destroys or eliminates all forms of microbial life, not just bacteria or contagions. Sterilising isn’t something the average person will need to do in their home. It’s most common in surgical rooms and laboratories.

Let’s Summarise

Cleaning – removes dirt, dust and other soils from surfaces.

Sanitising – removes bacteria from surfaces.

Disinfecting – kills dangerous bacteria and contagions from surfaces.

Sterilising – kills all microorganisms from surfaces.

The right products alone won’t equate to desired results. Products must be paired with the right strategies. For instance, the correct dwell time, the correct dilution and the applicable equipment.