Are You Making These Common Disinfecting Mistakes?
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021
If you’re like most people, you didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about disinfecting before 2020. Most of us grabbed a familiar product off the store shelf and didn’t think twice about it. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a greater need for disinfecting at home, but the dos and don’ts circulating on the internet can be confusing. Here are three of the top disinfecting mistakes to avoid:
- Clean before using disinfecting products. Cleaning refers to using water and a product like soap to remove dirt and other debris from surfaces. Cleaning does not kill germs and bacteria but can reduce the amount of them on a surface. It is a vital first step that shouldn’t be missed. Cleaning a surface before applying a disinfectant allows the product to work better.
- Read the product label before use. It’s common for people to assume that all disinfectants work the same way, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Each product has its own individual concentration, which means unique requirements for use. Reading the label ensures you’ll get the maximum effectiveness and protect yourself by knowing the proper safety protocols.
Don’t immediately wipe the disinfectant away. It’s cleaning instinct for most of us, you spray and then you immediately wipe the surface. But that’s not how disinfectants work. In order to kill germs, disinfectants have a “dwell time” or amount of time they need to sit on the surface they’re disinfecting. This typically ranges from 1 to 10 minutes, depending on the product. If you aren’t giving the product time to do its job, you’re most likely leaving germs behind.
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1Based on independent lab testing associated with U.S. EPA registration #s 87742-1-92595, 84683-3-74771 and 70385-6. Sealed stone and VCT surfaces were evaluated. Bacteria and viruses tested include salmonella, influenza and E. coli.
2Our sanitizers associated with U.S. EPA registration #s 87742-1-92595, 84683-3-74771 and 70385-6 have been approved by the U.S. EPA for use against the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.
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