The Difference Between Cleaning, Disinfecting, and Sanitizing

Do you pay a professional cleaning company to keep your office clean and safe? Are you familiar with the differences between cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing? If not, you should take some time to understand the contrasts between the three.

Depending on the type of surface and accumulation of dust and dirt, your office floors might require a very targeted cleaning approach. In order to keep your commercial space safe for employees and clients, you should find a cleaning service that knows how to handle care and maintenance for a variety of surfaces.

At Regency Cleaning, we strive to work closely with each and every one of our clients to meet their unique cleaning needs. We also believe in taking every opportunity possible to help our customers further understand the processes behind an effective commercial cleaning service.

If you’re unfamiliar with the basic differences between cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing, we’ve provided a few basic points below to help you become familiar with these contrasting cleaning techniques today: 

Cleaning 

Cleaning is typically the first step in the process. It involves removing germs, dirt, and other debris from all floor and window surfaces. Generally, a simple mix of soap and water can be effectively employed to physically remove germs from these surfaces.

While it’s important to understand that cleaning doesn’t necessarily kill all germs and bacteria present, it is effective in removing a great deal of germs, dirt, and debris that has built up over time. The prolonged presence of germs and dirt in your commercial space can impact the likelihood of an infection spreading throughout your office staff. 

Disinfecting 

Disinfecting is the next step after cleaning to remove the first layer of dirt, debris, and germs. Disinfecting is actually effective when it comes to killing any germs or bacteria left after a thorough cleaning. Using specific chemicals, disinfecting can kill germs, but it doesn’t necessarily clean dirty surfaces, which is why this is the second step in the process. Using a disinfectant on a surface after cleaning is also a great way to reduce the risk of infection spreading amongst your employees. 

Sanitizing 

Once you’ve effectively cleaned and disinfected the surfaces in your commercial space, you might think about applying a final sanitizing solution. Sanitizing will effectively lower the amount of germs and bacteria remaining after thorough cleaning and disinfecting efforts.

Public health standards or requirements should be considered when determining whether or not you’ve lowered the number of germs in your commercial space to a safe level. Sanitizing is the crucial final step towards minimizing the risk of a serious illness or infection spreading around your office.

At Regency Cleaning, we believe that maintaining a safe, clean commercial office space is vital to the overall productivity of your company. If you’d like to discuss your specific cleaning needs with a member of our expert commercial cleaning team, please don’t hesitate to give the pros at Regency Cleaning a call at 1-403-520-7788 today!