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Cleaning: This involves removing unwanted contaminants, such as soil, dirt and grease, from a surface, material, or your hands. It’s usually what you’re doing when washing with soap and water. Cleaning along with rinsing and using a cloth or paper towel may remove some germs as well when they’re washed or wiped away.
Sanitizing: When sanitizing, you’re reducing (but not necessarily eliminating) the number of germs on the surface to levels considered safe as determined by…
The shelf life of disinfectants is approximately 1 year. The one year of effectiveness typically begins with the manufacture date. The expiration date is there because over time the active ingredient (the chemical doing the advertised action) may degrade. After the expiration date the product may no longer be doing the work you expect it to, so make sure to use the product prior to the expiration date. Anything you could want to know about a product can be found either printed on the label,…
Experts agree that frequent handwashing is one of the first lines of defense against many illnesses. But no matter how many times you wash your hands, there are always some sneaky little germs lurking around to hitch a ride on your skin. They loiter on shopping cart handles, linger on light switches, lurk about the phone and even hang around on the remote controls. That's why disinfectants and disinfecting cleaners can be a helpful option…
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Experts agree that frequent hand washing is one of the first lines of defense against illness. Along with hand washing, ensuring surfaces that you come into contact are free of germs is another important line of defense against the spread of germs or pathogens (disease causing bacteria, viruses or fungi). High touch surfaces such as door knobs, switches, and shopping cart handles are some places where cleaning may not be enough to ensure that…
ACI-Commissioned Poll Results Reinforce Importance of Using Disinfecting Sprays, Wipes As Directed to Ensure Virus Kill
8 in 10 Americans Are Confident in Ability of Cleaning Products to Protect Against Coronavirus
A new poll conducted for the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) finds that four in ten Americans are not properly allowing disinfectant sprays and wipes to kill the viruses and germs that can make us sick.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos for ACI (cleaninginstitute…
ACI, CBC Unveil Informational Resources on Quats, A Valuable Ingredient in Many Common Disinfectants
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: FAQ on Common Disinfectant Ingredients
Part of ACI’s Ingredient Communication Initiative
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), in partnership with the American Chemistry Council’s Center for Biocide Chemistries (CBC), launched a new webpage geared towards better understanding common disinfectant ingredients known as quaternary ammonium compounds, also referred to as QACs or quats.
Quats are a group of chemicals that are often found as the active ingredients…
The use of cleaning products, disinfectants and their chemistries contribute to public health in homes, schools, healthcare settings and communities every single day. But consumers might not understand this after reading some of the commentaries in news coverage of a review article summarizing previous research on a key chemistry used in many cleaning products and disinfectants.
The news coverage and related headlines – some of which were a bit alarmist – involved a commonly used family of…
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) issued the following statement in response to speculation about the use of disinfectants in or on one’s body:
“Disinfectants are meant to kill germs or viruses on hard surfaces. Under no circumstances should they ever be used on one’s skin, ingested or injected internally.
“We remind everyone to please use all hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting products as directed in order to ensure safe, effective and intended use of those products.”…
Coverage of recent studies examining the increased use of disinfectants during COVID-19 may be sending misleading messages about the products’ safety during a time when they are playing a critical role in public health, according to the American Cleaning Institute (ACI – cleaninginstitute.org).
Among the key ingredients used in many disinfecting products are quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) – “quats” for short.
“Quats are important workhorse chemistries in disinfectant…
The best way to reduce the spread of germs, especially on frequently touched surfaces, is to clean the surface first to remove dirt and grime, then disinfect.