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While cleanliness may be next to godliness, it’s also very closely related to disinfection. In fact, cleaning can avert the need to disinfect in some situations because clean and dry surfaces can’t harbor microbial growth for very long.
Tip
The guiding principle is always to remove germs if possible rather than kill them, and then, when necessary, use the least amount of the mildest chemical that will do the job, because stronger often means more toxic to people.
Removing soil
Washing or scrubbing a surface physically removes soil and organic material such as blood and body fluids, and takes with it many germs. In fact, most chemical disinfectants can’t do their job when high levels of organic soil are in the way. Soil can absorb the active ingredient, provide more places for the germs to hide, and change the chemical nature of the disinfectant.
Remember
By removing the organic soil with an appropriate cleaner, you give the right disinfectant a much better opportunity to kill the target bugs.
Utilizing the magic of microfiber
One of the greatest cleaning weapons in the war against harmful microorganisms is microfiber (ultra-fine synthetic fibers woven into cloth), in the form of mops and cleaning cloths. In the same way that a terry cloth towel is more absorbent than a cotton shirt because of its thousands of tiny loops, microfiber tools supply more aggressive cleaning action, because they have increased surface area and holding space for microsoils.
Microfiber helps physically remove the food and moisture necessary for microorganisms to survive, but better grades of microfiber (those with very dense weaving and fiber configuration) can even remove large quantities of microbes, including hard-to-kill spores.
Tip
Use microfiber with a disinfectant solution for best results against germs.
Dusting and Vacuuming for Germ Control
• To reduce airborne dust and germs, wet dust horizontal surfaces daily with cleaning cloths pre-moistened with detergent or an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant or disinfectant wipes;
• Use vacuums with HEPA filters;
• Regularly clean and maintain equipment to ensure efficient particle removal.
Cleaning floors
Methods for cleaning hard floors include dry and wet vacuuming, wet mopping, spray-and-vac machines, and self-contained autoscrubbers. Methods that produce minimal mists and aerosols or dispersion of dust are best.
According to the CDC: Minimize contamination of cleaning solutions and cleaning tools. Bucket solutions become contaminated almost immediately during cleaning, and continued use of the solution transfers increasing numbers of microorganisms to each subsequent surface to be cleaned. Cleaning solutions should be replaced frequently. A variety of "bucket" methods have been devised to address the frequency with which cleaning solutions are replaced. Another source of contamination in the cleaning process is the cleaning cloth or mop head, especially if left soaking in dirty cleaning solutions. Laundering of cloths and mop heads after use and allowing them to dry before re-use can help to minimize the degree of contamination. A simplified approach to cleaning involves replacing soiled cloths and mop heads with clean items each time a bucket of detergent/disinfectant is emptied and replaced with fresh, clean solution.
De-germing floors
Floors aren’t a high-touch surface, but some cleaning professionals and healthcare experts suggest including them in the disinfection process. The law of gravity turns floors into depositories of everything from soiled tissues to dust to microscopic organisms. The floors in a hospital setting, especially in a patient’s room, get littered and loaded with stuff of varying size from microscopic to large enough to see and pick up by hand.
Remember
Do disinfect floors whenever blood or highly infectious agents are present. You should also disinfect floors that are regularly touched by an immunocompromised person.
Tackling biofilm
Underscoring the need for cleaning in addition to disinfecting, scientists are finding that germs are more tenacious survivors than anyone ever imagined. Bacteria on damp surfaces don’t remain as isolated and free-floating life forms but communicate and colonize with other germs to build a tough, protective biofilm that can withstand even the strongest disinfectants.
Bacteria and other microbes require a damp surface to form a biofilm. In our mouths, the biofilm is called plaque. You also are likely to encounter biofilms inside water distribution pipes, and under the rims of toilets and urinals. Wet areas surrounding drains and faucets provide ideal conditions for biofilm formation, and so might frequently splashed areas on counters and floors. Biofilms are everywhere. (The reason you slip on a rock in a stream, for example, is that it’s covered in biofilm.) And you just can’t zap them with disinfectant.
Biofilm protects itself with a tough, thick matrix that makes up two-thirds of the film. You have to break up the matrix to make the germs vulnerable. One of the best methods of breaking through biofilm’s matrix is agitating, brushing or scrubbing the surface to which it’s attached. For difficult-to-reach areas like the nooks and crannies around faucets, a stiff toothbrush helps break down the colonies.
A portable steam vapor system (you’ll find the biggest selection online) may also be an effective tool to kill the organisms or microbes that hide within the biofilm. The heat penetrates the biofilm and the microbes, which otherwise may not be affected by disinfectants.
Adapted with permission from Infection Control for Dummies by IEHA President J. Darrel Hicks, R.E.H.
