Cleaning… sanitizing… disinfecting… what’s the difference?

More than ever, keeping your home free from harmful chemicals and bacteria is critical. But how? Here are some tips to help guide you during this time:

What’s the difference between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting?

Cleaning is simply removing debris and dust from any surface. Sanitizing removes visible dirt contaminants that may affect your health. Disinfecting is eliminating the invisible microorganisms that are harmful to someone’s health.

When should I clean, sanitize or disinfect?

You should disinfect high risk areas where frequent touching occurs, and pathogens is likely. These areas include:
• Light switches
• Door handles (inside & out)
• TV remotes
• Doorbell
• Stair rails
• Cabinet knobs
• Toilet handles
• Appliance handles
• Sink faucet knobs/handles
• Toilets
• Communal surfaces like tables and benchtops or tops of chairs
You should sanitize areas and surfaces that come into contact with food. Lower risk areas that just require cleaning include your floors and your windows.

Do I need to clean, sanitize AND disinfect? Or, can I just do one?Cleaning is enough to prevent contaminants from coming into contact with foods or beverages and it removes allergens and microorganisms. However, cleaning alone leaves you at risk of cross-contamination. This can be prevented through sanitizing, because it reduces the number of bacteria present on a surface by almost 100%. This is effective enough, but you need to disinfect to reduce or remove viruses and fungus that are also harmful.

So, to answer the question — what is the difference between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting? Well, they all have the same purpose, but have completely different functions. You need all these methods in order to maintain a clean and bacteria-free environment.