3 Ways Cleaning Companies Can Disinfect Your Facility

Keeping your facility as clean and safe as possible is important for any facility manager, especially in this day and age. And typically, that requires hiring a janitorial company, since your employees simply don't have time to clean every inch of the building on a regular basis.

A cleaning company can help you to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and other microbes from your facility in a variety of ways. Here are three of the ways that cleaning companies can help to disinfect your facility.

1. Steam Cleaning

Steam cleaners are often used for carpets, drapes, and similar items. But did you know that steam can actually have a disinfecting effect? While steam cleaning is unlikely to kill every microbe in your entire facility, it can kill a high percentage of bacteria and thereby cut down on the number of hazardous microbes on, say, your carpeting.

Keep in mind that since steam is so hot and wet, it could damage surfaces such as laminate floor or wood. Porous surfaces and delicate silk or velour items could also sustain damage from the heat or moisture. So only use steam (or have your cleaning company use steam) on surfaces that can take the heat and won't shrink, swell, warp, melt, or deform.

2. UV Lights

The application of UV lights for disinfection in your building is more limited than you might hope. Using a UV light wand to disinfect surfaces is a bit of a controversial subject, and not all expertsagree it should be widely used. If you'd like to use UV light anyway, ask your cleaning company if they can use UV light wands while cleaning hard surfaces such as tables.

However, some UV light devices can be used to help disinfect your air. Ask your cleaning company if they provide air cleaning machines and devices or have any recommendations on which ones to use. When purchasing, look for a device that's designed not to give off ozone and that uses a fan to cycle more air through the UV light.

3. Cleaning With Chemicals

When some disinfecting products are more difficult to come by, cleaning companies may have to substitute alternate cleaning supplies in some cases. Be sure to discuss with your cleaning company which cleaning chemicals they plan to use on your facility, since some cleaners are known to be more effective at disinfecting than others.

For example, the EPA's official list of substances that can be used to kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, includes products with hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol, and other active ingredients. The prices of these products can vary widely, as can the amount of contact time needed to kill bacteria and viruses. One product may need a single minute, while another could require 30.

Be sure to ask your cleaning company what contact time is needed for the disinfecting products they use, and what steps they take to ensure the contact time is reached. For instance, lightly misting a product on a surface typically won't allow 30 minutes of contact time. The product is likely to partially evaporate before then, so a heavier spray will be needed.

These are three of the ways your professional cleaning company could help to disinfect your office, retail, or other facility space. As you can imagine, any of these cleaning types can be a lot of work and can require training and careful handling to avoid health and safety hazards (such as burns from hot steam), so be sure to choose an efficient and experienced company.

We provide commercial cleaning services for companies and facilities throughout the Atlanta area, and we happily provide free estimates. For more information on services, scheduling, or the cleaning products that we use, get in touch with Janitorial Services Atlanta today.