Cleaning and Disinfection of Homes and Offices: The Correct Way
There are so many things to consider when Cleaning and Disinfecting your home and office during this pandemic, and probably in future health crisis. What to prepare, what type of materials and materials to use, is it good enough to kill bacteria and viruses, and so on. Cleaning and Disinfecting your home and office doesn’t have to be very complicated, you just need to know how often you need to do it and what kind of chemicals you need to prepare.
Home cleaning and Office cleaning process are almost similar, the only difference is the frequency and where the potential dirt and contaminants are coming from, and that would determine how often you should be cleaning your space. A well cleaned home and office that is regularly disinfected promotes health and wellness to all occupants and would definitely cost less compared to paying hospital bills for each individual in case of infection.
Need something cleaned?
Getting Ready for your Home and Office Cleaning and Disinfection
Things to Prepare
- Safety equipment
- Cleaning Materials
- Chemicals to use
- People participating in the process
It is always important to put safety as your main priority whenever a cleaning and disinfecting your home and office. Either you or someone else might get into accidents or infection caused by the dirt and micro-organisms present. If there are no current health threats like a virus pandemic, a regular cloth facemask can do, but otherwise, using surgical grade facemasks should be used. The usual pair rubber gloves that you use for laundry can alternate as your cleaning gloves and is also important to protect you from sharp objects and from getting harmful reactions to chemicals being used in cleaning and disinfecting.
Cleaning Materials will include your vacuum (to ensure that all dust and dirt are collected in one place, instead of being swept from place to place), plastic brushes, wash clothes (basahan, pamunas), sponges and spray bottles. You might want to consider having a ladder handy in case of hard to reach surfaces.
Chemicals to use in Home and Office Cleaning and Disinfection
Some products double as an all purpose cleaner and disinfectant (like Lysol) but can be too tough on surface materials, not to mention expensive as well. When it comes to cleaning and disinfecting, you can always go “the stronger the better” but always take the surface you are going to apply it on to consideration.
Alcohol
Ethyl or Isopropyl, 40% or 70%, you can use it to clean and disinfect small surfaces. It is known to kill 99% of germs and viruses, but is quite expensive when comparing volume to price ratio. It also could damage wood and varnished surfaces. Not meant to be used in combination with other chemicals as it can produce gases that are harmful. It can dry up the skin as well, so use it in moderation. Use it to clean mirrors, glass surfaces, mobile devices and small plastic accessories.
Chlorine powder or Hypochloric Acid (Clorox)
3%-5% Chlorine solutions can be used for cleaning and disinfection, and is the cheapest in volume to price ratio compared to the other chemicals (listed here and in the market). It is a mild corrosive so it will definitely be tough on germs, but will also be tough on your skin and other surfaces. Without any additional chemicals, it already releases gases that can be bad for those with pre-existing respiratory problems. Use it on concrete floors, tiles and walls.
All-Purpose Cleaners
These types of cleaners use surfactants to seperate the dirt from the surface. They come in brands like Ajax and Mr Clean and comes in halfway or at an average when it comes to volume to cost ratio. Half of the consumers claim it is effective, but another half claims they don’t, but basically, it depends on how long you soak the surface when cleaning. Surfactants are slow-acting chemicals and take time to separate materials. Use it on any surface, given that it is slow acting, it doesn’t damage surface (as long as you don’t soak it for too long).
Toilet bowl Cleaners
This variety of cleaners combine the power of surfactants and powerful acids (Hypochloric acid and Hydrochloric acid). It is a bit pricey compared to all-purpose cleaners but not as expensive as alcohol when it comes to volume to price ratio. Similar to all-purpose cleaners, soaking the surface is a must to ensure effective removal of dirt and stains. Like hypochloric acid, handle these toilet bowl cleaners well and ensure you are protected as there are 2 corrosive ingredients included in them.
Alkyldimethylbenzylammonium Chloride
This is the active ingredient in some disinfection processes such as fogging machines like bac-to-zero. Basically it is just 1% in composition for the whole fogging process and can really kill bacteria. The only drawback is the question of its strength, can it really kill viruses? and most of all, the process of fogging, which poses a great risk to those with respiratory problems.
Quaternary Ammonium Chloride
This chemical is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Center for Disease Control (CDC) as an effective disinfectant in killing viruses. This chemical was effectively used during the first SARS outbreak. If you can get hold of this, you can use it for pat down (punas punas) disinfection or spray. Using microdroplet or Electrostatic Handheld disinfection can help you fully maximize this chemical, without any harm to those with respiratory problems.
People participating in the cleaning and disinfecting process
A thorough cleaning and disinfection of your home or office cannot be done by a single person alone. Even if it is just a small size, another pair of hand (and eyes), or more, will help ensure that every inch is cleaned. The number of cleaners will determine the time it will take to finish the task, that is why if you urgently need your place cleaned and disinfected, it is more cost efficient to hire a professional cleaning service company that knows what they are doing. They should cover everything, from safety to the right chemicals to use in cleaning and disinfection.
If you are looking for something specific like how to clean carpets, home improvements, removing hard water stains, or which cleaning chemical is the best, please check out our blog for more updates like these.