Wednesday on the Daily Grind, Amanda Smith, Sr. Manager, Business Development, Superclean Service Company Inc., presented the first of a two-part series on COVID-19 cleaning.
Superclean has been the country’s leading cleaning service provider for more than 35 years. Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Superclean serves a continuously growing range of clientele from various commercial industries across the United States, AK, HI, PR, VI, and GU, as well as Canada
Smith began by stating, “There’s a lot of information available about cleaning today. Some of it is dead on and some of it is just misinformation. To ensure you are getting the facts about cleaning processes and products you should read the manufacture’s product guidelines when disinfecting. Some may only take sixty seconds; some may take four to five minutes to read. If you are not following the approved guidelines, you’re not properly disinfecting” she continued
“If you can source them today, disposable cloths and wipes are a great cleaning tool. Microfiber cloths have always been our first choice in the cleaning industry. We use them when disinfecting for COVID-19. However, it is important to still follow the proper procedures. Cross-contamination can easily occur if you take them from site to site and they are not properly laundered between uses.
The CDC is now mandating a two-step cleaning and dis-infecting procedure. A surface must be cleaned prior to disinfecting. Sometime there’s a lot of soil and contaminates that must be removed before you can disinfect an area. If soil and contaminates are not removed prior to the dis-infection process, germs and the virus can remain after the process is completed. Therefore, always clean the area first before beginning the disinfection process.
On the proactive front, Amanda added “There are several cleaning methods available today regarding what to do when COVID-19 is discovered at a site. Everyone should follow the required CDC guidelines. Superclean has developed a three-level cleaning strategy that can be adapted based upon the type of facility to be cleaned.
Level 1) Routine, daily cleaning and disinfecting on hard surface touchpoints (multi-site staff can usually manage this process)
Level 2) Requires greater detail and focus on touch points and is typically an added precautionary cleaning when someone was ill at the facility, but COVID-19 was not confirmed.
Level 3) Confirmed COVID-19 cases include a higher degree of PPE and biohazard waste disposal. If possible, the facility should be allowed to air out for up to 24 hours. The main difference is the cleaning process is the inclusion of ‘soft surfaces’ like carpet, rugs, and upholstery.
Adopting these strategies can help your cleaning staff tackle this pandemic head on and stay ahead of the game going forward.
