Cleaning vs. Disinfecting: CDC's Guide for Offices, Gyms and Community Buildings

For most offices, gyms, businesses and community centers, soap and regular cleaning are enough to keep germs from spreading. Disinfecting is for specific situations — like when someone has been sick on a surface — and spraying sidewalks or fogging rooms is not recommended at all. Here is CDC's guidance for community settings. (It does not apply to health care settings or other facilities with their own cleaning rules, and it addresses germs, not chemicals that may be on surfaces.)

Image from CDC's page on cleaning and disinfecting facilities.

Three different jobs

Always clean first: dirt can make it harder for sanitizers and disinfectants to kill germs.

When to clean

• High-touch surfaces, regularly — pens, counters, shopping carts, door handles, stair rails, elevator buttons, touchpads, restroom fixtures, desks.
• Other surfaces, when visibly dirty.
• High-traffic areas may warrant more frequent cleaning, or disinfecting as well.

Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after cleaning.

When and how to disinfect

Disinfect, in addition to cleaning, where people have obviously been ill — for example, where someone vomited. During some outbreaks, local health authorities may recommend specific procedures.

Before: clean with soap and water; check the label to be sure the product suits the surface; open doors and windows or use fans and ventilation; wear the protective equipment, such as gloves or goggles, listed in Section 8 of the product's Safety Data Sheet. Use an EPA-registered disinfectant for the specific germ, if known — not all disinfectants work on all germs.

During: leave the disinfectant on long enough to kill germs — the contact or wet time on the label — keeping the surface wet the whole time. Dilute with room-temperature water only if the label says to dilute (diluted products may have a shorter shelf life). Never mix products; never eat, drink or inhale them or apply them to skin; and never wipe or bathe pets with disinfectants.

After: label all solutions clearly, store chemicals out of reach of children and animals, and wash your hands for 20 seconds.

Fogging, fumigation and wide-area or electrostatic spraying are generally not recommended as main ways to disinfect, and carry safety risks, unless the product label allows them.

Protecting workers

Before assigning cleaning and disinfecting tasks, employers should set policies to protect workers and train them in:

• what personal protective equipment is needed (see the Safety Data Sheet), when to use it, and how to put it on, use it, take it off and dispose of it;
• reading labels about the hazards of the cleaning and disinfecting chemicals used;
• making sure work areas are well ventilated;
• labeling all hazardous cleaning products and chemicals;
• keeping Safety Data Sheets available for every cleaning product and chemical.

Employers must follow applicable OSHA standards, including the hazard communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) and personal protective equipment standards (29 CFR 1910 Subpart I), and state-plan requirements where they apply.

These recommendations are not meant for health care; food and agricultural production or processing; manufacturing; food preparation and service; or early care, education and child care settings, where specific cleaning rules may apply.

Sources

Based on "When and How to Clean and Disinfect a Facility," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. See also the EPA's guidance for cleaning and disinfecting public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools and homes.