6 Disinfecting Myths That Are Sabotaging Your Cleaning Efforts

According to the CDC, cleaning “refers to the removal of germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. It does not kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.” Disinfecting, on the other hand, “refers to using chemicals, for example, EPA-registered disinfectants, to kill germs on surfaces. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.” “On bacteria, sanitizing requires a 99.999% (note five nines) reduction, whereas disinfecting requires a bigger (99.9999%; note six nines) reduction,” adds Hengsperger. “As soon as you start making claims on killing viruses (harder to kill than bacteria), then you are talking about disinfecting. There is one level higher, sterilizing, but this is only used for medical equipment.” RELATED: 6 Things That Are Naturally Antibacterial to Safely Disinfect Your Home