Cleaning, disinfectant cleaning, disinfecting: they might sound similar, but in practical terms they actually describe very different things. Whilst manual cleaning with cleaning agents places the focus on objective cleanliness, disinfectant cleaning and routine disinfection go one step further. These are applied as a preventive measure, reducing germs and micro-organisms on surfaces exposed to regular skin contact with many people. Such surfaces include, for instance, door handles, handrails, operational elements such as card readers, touchscreens, etc. By means of regular, officially mandated, targeted disinfecting measures, viruses, bacteria, spores and yeasts can be destroyed or inactivated almost completely, ensuring surfaces are no longer infectious. Targeted disinfecting using disinfectants is recommended in sectors with a high risk of infection, for example in hospital rooms and wards, as well as whenever transmissible diseases emerge, upon instruction from governing bodies, in swimming pools and in the food industry.
Reliable disinfection requires exact dosing of the disinfectant in cold water and sufficient wetting of the previously dry surface using a cleaning cloth, plus the prescribed contact time and the appropriate ambient temperature of around 20 °C must be guaranteed. While the treated surface dries, it must not be touched or wiped over, in order to eliminate the risk of recontamination. Only in food-processing sectors, such as restaurant and canteen kitchens, must the surface be rinsed afterwards with drinking water.