Advice for our Clients

Navigating through these trying times with COVID-19 can be a challenge for many of us. It is very important to follow the proper disinfection process to keep your offices and homes clean and safe. Keeping your homes clean helps keeping your offices clean too.

Understanding the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting:

1. Cleaning

   • The cleaning process is meant to remove dirt from surfaces. This usually includes removing a good portion of harmful bacteria and other germs.

   • This approach is appropriate for low-risk surfaces such as office floors, windows, etc.

2. Sanitizing

   • The sanitization process is meant to kill approximately 99.9% of harmful bacteria. This is very useful around food contact surfaces. It is important to know that sanitization does not kill viruses, such as the coronavirus. Most sanitization products on the market have a contact time of around 30 seconds. This means the surface being sanitized must remain wet for at least 30 seconds.

   • Sanitizing should only be applied to food contact surfaces, which is required as part of the food code.

   • Since sanitizing does not make anti-viral claims, sanitizing offers no confidence of killing the flu or other viruses (such as the coronavirus) commonly found on surfaces.

3. Disinfecting

   • The disinfecting process in meant to kill 99.999% of germs. This includes harmful bacteria and viruses. Most disinfecting products (sprays or wipes) on the market today have a contact time of between 5 and 10 minutes. Some are faster.

   • Disinfection is appropriate for frequently touched surfaces and surfaces likely to harbor pathogens, such as doorknobs, light switches, phone handsets, stair railings, etc.

So, to deal with the current threat of COVID-19, it has become more important to disinfect high touchpoint surfaces.

If you would like to supplement the level of cleaning and disinfection in your offices to keep them healthier between our cleaning visits, here are some tips:

1. In-between scheduled cleanings by our cleaners, you should disinfect high touchpoint surfaces frequently, such as doorknobs, light switches, phone handsets, stair railings, etc.

2. When disinfecting:

   • Choose a wipes or spray disinfecting product

   • Find on the product label the required contact time for disinfection (not just sanitization).

   • Pre-clean any surfaces prior to disinfecting.

   • Use disinfecting sprays or wipes as directed on the product label. Ensure you observe the proper contact time.

   • After disinfecting, let the surface air dry making sure it stays wet for as long as recommended on the product label – usually between 5 to 10 minutes, some are faster.

   • If disinfecting food contact surfaces or toys, rinse with water after they air dry.

Please note that our cleaning crews have all been instructed to do the additional disinfecting of high touch points in your offices and have been doing so since the outbreak began.

We hope this has been helpful and insightful information for you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.