Cleaning vs Disinfection – The Post-Covid Dilemma

I know what you are all thinking – isn’t the office cleaning process also including disinfection? Generally speaking – yes, but there are more than a few tasks that have nothing to do with disinfection. Organising an office desk, emptying the waste bins, or dusting has nothing to do with killing viruses, bacteria, and germs.

A few years ago, nobody thought about it – the two segments of office cleaning would naturally intertwine together. Covid-19 changed all that. Professionals returning to their office environment suddenly started asking about anti-viral treatment, what detergents we used, and whether we followed the 3-step cleaning process (look who’s using professional terminology!).

All this should not come as a surprise – after more than eighteen months of media hysteria about the pandemic, the least we can expect is some concern, if not outright fear. Commercial cleaning contractors must understand that there is no going back to the good old days when dusting and spraying the desk with a universal cleaner was enough. Office workers will ask questions – and your technicians better be prepared to answer them convincingly.

I would say the focus has shifted dramatically – if it was 80% cleaning and organising to 20% disinfection before 2020, it is now at least 50-50, tilting heavily in favour of anti-viral and bacterial treatment. The quicker you adjust to the changed realities, the better – otherwise, you might lose customers for no apparent reason.