If you try to search on the internet, you are assured to find a lot of information (along with misinformation and outright wrong information) regarding these 3 terms. Others say cleaning and sanitation are just the same things like this site for example.

All that said, we always recommend that you only get your sources from the most reliable sites if at all possible. When it comes to health, of course we have government agencies designated to tackle just that – the Philippines has the Department of Health (DOH) for example.

The United States of America (USA) has their The United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) which is mandated to protect the overall health of all their citizens. Part of this government body is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which is designated to act on health emergencies like our current Covid-19 pandemic, and of course to control and stop the spread of diseases.

Cleaning, Sanitation and Disinfection Definitions

According to the CDC, cleaning simply removes impurities, dirt and germs from surfaces but not necessarily killing them. When these are removed however, it lowers the chances of infection. This is normally done by the application of soap products.

Disinfecting will result in the KILLING of germs on surfaces. This is done using chemicals or disinfectants that are meant to do just that, to kill bacteria, viruses and germs in general. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to remove germs like what cleaning does, but it can lower or eliminate them entirely further lowering the chances of infection.

Sanitation on the other hand is said to lower the presence of germs on surfaces to a point deemed safe by health standards. This is achieved by other cleaning or disinfecting procedures.

How best to protect yourself from Covid-19 infection from surfaces?

The CDC has recommended the cleaning of visible impurities on high contact places like door knobs, doors, elevator buttons, etc. After cleaning, disinfecting should follow for the best effect in avoiding infection.

Please do take note that there are of course proper ways and improper ways of disinfecting. Things like the technology (fogging vs misting) used in administering the disinfectants along with the quality AND the dilution of the said chemicals should be properly handled by experts otherwise, you might just end up relying on false security and increasing your chances of infection.

Worst, if the dilution of the disinfectants is too much, you are risking the lives of your employees and loved ones by exposing them to harmful chemicals.

I’m sure if you have been looking into getting your home or office space disinfected these days, you would have encountered many supposed disinfection “experts” that will introduce you to fogging and misting – two methods used widely these days in doing disinfection. I’m equally certain you are also baffled on which method you should actually opt for given all the misinformation and seemingly endless availability of unreliable information online especially in social media. I’m hoping this will be the final piece you’ll have to read regarding the matter by giving you insights directly from a company with 16 years of experience not just in providing sanitation and disinfection services, but also in manufacturing FDA and Halal certified disinfectants no less!

First off, does disinfection really help the spread of Covid-19 and other viruses?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCC), disinfecting is a part of a broad approach in stopping the unwanted spread of infectious diseases in schools.

That said, it’s been a known fact for awhile now that disinfection, if done right using the right method and disinfectants can successfully eliminate contagious diseases including the Covid-19 virus that can stay on surfaces for days.

How to eliminate bacteria and viruses effectively?

To put it simply, bacteria and viruses have to come into CONTACT with the right disinfectant with the right amount of contact time (at least 30 seconds) in order for it to be killed. For surface disinfection, this means using the right formulation of disinfectants, keyword here being “right”. If you use too little, it won’t be enough to kill the pathogens. If you use too much, it can be harmful to your health and the environment.

This is why the most common and best advice that so far to help fight the spread of Covid-19 is constant hand washing. This very basic and very common way of disinfecting ourselves has been proven time and time again to stop the spread of infectious diseases and should be practiced all the more during these days using highly available soap that needs to come into contact for at least 20 seconds on our hands.

Does fogging help eliminate viruses?

Now when it comes to your home and office spaces, knowing a disinfectant has to come into contact with viruses and bacteria for a certain amount of time depending on the disinfectant used, you have to ask yourself this – what happens to the disinfectant when it goes into a fogging machine that can get as hot as 100° Celsius?

Basic physical science will tell us an agent’s molecular composition spreads to the point that it disintegrates and finally becomes light enough to become airborne ergo becoming “fog”. This is even more prevalent when it comes to disinfectants as these chemicals are very susceptible to temperature resulting in the variance in their efficacy.

This is also the reason why when you look at people doing fogging, the disinfectant goes “up” because hot air does that.

All these taken into consideration, the “contact time” it needs for the disinfectant used in a fogging procedure is simply not there if any at all.

Therefore fogging simply is not recommended to disinfect surfaces against Covid-19 and is the reason why we do not offer the same service in all our disinfection procedures.

Do you also offer fogging service?

Absolutely! Given we are a pest controller as well but only against pests like mosquitoes. NEVER against pathogens.

Why should we trust you?

Apart from our vast experience in being the disinfection and sanitation partner of some of Cebu’s biggest names in the hospital, food manufacturing, banking and hospitality industry, we are also a God fearing business that only wants to do what is right for all parties – YOU included.

Of course you do not have to take our word for it so if you know anybody who are into food manufacturing or are medical practitioners, you can ask them as they also know these things given these are merely normal procedures to them even before Covid-19.