Cleaning vs Sanitising vs Disinfecting: The Difference Explained
When you are researching to outsource commercial cleaning services, you may come across words like cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting. Some cleaning services only have cleaning in their routine while others have sanitation and disinfection. You may wonder why the terminology is different and why they are used in specific places.
The meaning of cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting are different in the commercial cleaning industry, and in this article, we’re going to discuss it in detail.
What is Cleaning?
Cleaning is the general tasks that involve removing dust, oil, dirt, grime, crumbs or other organic and solid substances from surfaces like floors, shelves, windows, desks and others. Pay attention that germs and bacteria aren’t on the list of things cleaning removes. That is because we use agents and solutions like water and soap or green cleaning solutions to clean surfaces. These cleaning supplies are not powerful enough to deal with germs, viruses and bacteria.
Read More: Reduce Dust in Office Spaces
What is Sanitising?
Sanitising is the next level of regular cleaning that we explained. Sanitising involves cleaning surfaces to get rid of germs, viruses bacteria or other nasty particles. When sanitising, we will use cleaning solutions that are reinforced with certain chemicals to remove bacteria and germs effectively. However, keep in mind that sanitation will lower the number of bacteria and germs on a surface to a level that is acceptable for general areas like offices, retail stores or homes. For more sensitive areas, sanitation should be accompanied by disinfection.
Read More: How to Reduce Cleaning Costs in Office?
What is Disinfecting?
The most effective form of cleaning is disinfecting. Disinfecting involves the use of strong chemicals to completely wipe surfaces of any hidden threats like germs, viruses, bacteria and parasites. Disinfection, accompanied by sanitation is involved in sensitive areas where thorough cleaning is vital. Places like hospitals, medical centres, schools and similar establishments require disinfection and sanitation after their regular cleaning routines.
However, disinfection is not suggested for other spaces like offices or retail stores on a regular basis as the chemicals are strong and may cause allergic reactions or dizziness if employees are exposed to it more than often.
Read More: How to Get Rid of Bad Smell in Office
What to Clean, Sanitise and Disinfect
Understanding where to clean, sanitise and disinfect might be difficult. Therefore, we have prepared a table that indicates what sort of cleaning different areas require in a general office space.
| Type of Area | Cleaning | Sanitising | Disinfecting |
| Office Floors | X | ||
| Office Hallways | X | ||
| Lifts | X | X | |
| Reception Area | X | X | |
| Office Cubicle | X | X | |
| Meeting Rooms | X | X | |
| Toilets | X | X | X |
| Kitchen | X | X | X |
| Storage Room | X | ||
| Break Room | X | X | |
| Server Room | X | ||
| Desks & Chair | X | X | |
| Carpets & Upholstery | X | ||
| Computer Case | X | ||
| Keyboards & Mouse | X | X | |
| Phones | X | X |
Read More: Daily Office Cleaning Checklist
Conclusion
If you have been looking for commercial cleaning services, you might have seen words like cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting used in various marketing materials and guidelines. These words look the same as they all refer to cleaning but their meaning is different in the commercial cleaning industry.
In this article, we discussed the difference between cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting in detail and provided a table with examples of what areas in a general office space required cleaning, sanitation or disinfection. The information in the article will help you select the right commercial cleaning service that fits your requirements at your premises.
