Why You MUST Clean Before You Sanitize or Disinfect

We're all looking to do things more efficiently. For some people, it's a point of pride. For others, it's how they adapt to the need to cut costs. There are a lot of ways to do that. Paring down the number of cleaning products you use is one of them. One of the powerful things about H2Orange2 is that it's a powerful cleaner and an EPA-registered sanitizer. But you should beware products that say they can clean and sanitize or clean and disinfect in one pass. Be sure to read labels carefully and follow the EPA-regulated instructions. Some products are advertised as a one-step disinfectant, but the instructions reference “pre-cleaned surfaces.” Our Non-Acid Disinfectant specifies cleaning as the first step before its use.

The fact is, to effectively sanitize or disinfect an area, you have to remove the dirt and debris from a surface first. That means cleaning first, THEN sanitizing or disinfecting. That's because these products can't effectively penetrate through dirt and debris to do their work. For more about when you should sanitize versus disinfect, reference our past blog on the topic here.  

Here's our recommended method for cleaning and then sanitizing or disinfecting surfaces.  

Cleaning

1. For regular cleaning, apply the Light Duty (green) solution of H2Orange2 to surfaces. For heavily soiled areas, use the Heavy Duty (red) solution.  

2. Wipe away the dirt and debris from the surface.

Sanitizing

1. Apply Heavy Duty (red) solution liberally to pre-cleaned hard surfaces with a spray bottle, pump up pressure sprayer with a coarse spray, cloth, sponge, or mop.  

2. Allow the surface to remain wet for 5 minutes.  

3. Allow the surface to air dry or wipe dry to remove excess liquid.

Disinfecting

1. Apply diluted Non-Acid disinfectant to the pre-cleaned hard surface.  

2. Allow the product to sit on the hard surface for ten minutes.  

3. Allow to air dry. If needed, excess moisture can be wiped away after ten minutes. Floors do not need to be rinsed unless they are to be waxed or polished.