Disinfection

Disinfection does not replace cleaning — it is a separate step that follows it. Cleaning lifts soil, grease and organic residue off a surface. Disinfection then reduces the micro-organisms left behind. If soil is still present, the disinfectant meets that layer rather than the micro-organisms under it, and it will not do the job it was chosen for. So every visit starts with a look at whether the surface is genuinely clean.

Disinfection makes no claim to remove every micro-organism from a surface; it brings the number down. On the surfaces of a building, in a classroom or inside a vehicle, that is the work that can realistically be done — and done properly, it is a real addition to the daily cleaning routine.

Contact time is what makes it work

Every disinfectant label carries a dilution rate and a contact — or dwell — time. The surface has to stay visibly wet for that period for the product to work as intended. A surface that is sprayed and wiped dry straight away has not been disinfected, whatever the label says.

That is why we apply enough product to wet the surface and leave it to stand for the full time before drying off. Everything we use is a biocidal product licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Health, and we work to the rate, the dwell time and the ventilation period printed on the label.

Surface work and ULV fogging

The two methods are used together. High-touch points are treated by hand, wiped or sprayed, because these are where contamination moves around a building fastest:

• Door handles, push plates and tap levers
• Handrails and grab rails
• Light switches, sockets and keypads
• Shared worktops, desks, telephones and keyboards
• Lift buttons; steering wheels, gear levers and door handles in vehicles

ULV fogging is the space treatment. The machine disperses the product through the enclosed volume as very fine droplets, reaching surfaces that are awkward to wipe. Fogging is not a substitute for the hand work: droplets settle on exposed surfaces, not on the underside of a handle or inside a drawer. The two complement each other.

Where it is usually wanted

Typically after illness has gone through a building; in shared premises and meeting rooms; in staff transport and public-service vehicles; in schools and nurseries; and on healthcare and food premises, where a documented routine is generally expected.

It is also wanted once a rodent infestation has been cleared. Where droppings, urine and nesting material remain, the job is not finished when the rodents are — the residue has to be removed properly and the area disinfected afterwards.

On the day, and afterwards

We ask for the area to be cleared, with food, open stock and kitchen equipment removed or covered. Afterwards we tell you the ventilation period and when the area can be used again. On food-contact surfaces, where the product requires it, a clean-water rinse follows the contact time.

Disinfection is a single event and leaves no lasting barrier. What the area looks like a week later depends on how it is used and on the daily cleaning routine. For heavily used premises we recommend repeating it at set intervals.