Reading time:  Approximately 3 minutes

Are you really disinfecting or simply cleaning?

 

The quest to answer that question began with an innocent comment in a family group text during the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic.

Something was mentioned about keeping your house disinfected and how difficult it was to get the necessary cleaning products.

Since I have long disinfected with bleach, and always keep a jug in the laundry room, I wasn’t too concerned. 

As almost an afterthought, my wonderful daughter-in-law just happened to mention,

 

“Just make sure it isn’t splashless bleach because splashless bleach isn’t a disinfectant.”

 

Wait, what?  Surely that could not be true.  Because of course I use splashless bleach and I have for a very long time.

Immediately I went to the laundry room and pulled the jug off the shelf.  And sure enough, on the back of the jug was the warning:

 

“Not for sanitation or disinfection”

 

What the heck?

Turns out, even if I had been using the correct bleach to disinfect, because I was not using it according to the directions, I still wouldn’t have been disinfecting our home.  The directions indicate the bleach solution must come in contact with the surface for at least six minutes.

Wash and wipe isn’t going to sanitize or disinfect.

The answer to the question, “am I really disinfecting my home or simply cleaning is;  most of the time I am simply cleaning.  And most of the time cleaning is perfectly adequate. 

 

But there are times, like now, that it is imperative that parts of your home are being properly disinfected.  

 

So if you really want to properly disinfect your home you must do two things:

 

 Read the label on the product that you are using

 

If I said I am surprised by the lack of disinfectants I am using, that would be an understatement.  I am alarmed.  If the label does not indicate that it is a disinfectant, assume it is not.

 

Read and follow the directions for disinfecting

 

Those wipes we are all clamoring to purchase?  Check the back.  They might be doing a little more than soap and water but if you aren’t using them according to the directions, you aren’t disinfecting. 

Every product is different but in almost all cases the disinfectant must come into contact with the surface for longer than the time it takes to spray it on and wipe it off. 

 

My bleach indicates six minutes to kill the germs.

 

Oy Vey!  Who knew?  Definitely not me and after making a FaceBook post asking the same question, I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of unsuspecting consumers. 

Cleaning is great and most of the time it is perfectly adequate.

But if you ever want to know if you are truly disinfecting your home; inspect the label and read and follow the directions. 

 

Always remember, if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves!

 

Happy disinfecting, (or cleaning), whichever you happen to be doing!

 

TAKE ACTION!!!

If you enjoyed the post, consider subscribing to Micki’s Little Letter

Like it?  Please share it!  (It’s a little thing that means a lot to me!)