Cleaning and disinfection. What’s the difference?

Disinfection is a common term nowadays. Proper disinfection prevents a bacteria or virus from spreading through a certain surface. But what exactly is the difference with cleaning? And when to clean or to disinfect? Time for an explanation.

What is cleaning?

Cleaning is what you do to clean a surface. For example, by removing dirt such as sand, oil residues, metal particles, tar residues, etc. This is visible dirt and the difference between cleaned and uncleaned surfaces is immediately visible. Cleaning a car is for both the interior and the exterior of a car. The car looks clean, but microorganisms that are not visible to the naked eye can still be present.

What is disinfection?

Disinfection refers to the killing or inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms. For example bacteria and viruses. There are multiple methods and measures to kill these bacteria and viruses. A proven method is the use of alcohol. The cells of such a virus or bacteria disintegrate the moment they come into contact with alcohol. Scientists have investigated what the best percentage of alcohol is for disinfectants. They consider 70 to 80 percent to be the best alcohol concentration for a disinfectant.

When to clean and when to disinfect?

Making a car shine beautifully again starts with the process of cleaning it. There are different types of pollution. Each type of pollution requires its own approach. To make a car look good, good cleaning is therefore always essential.

Want to know more about cleaning the interior? Also check out “How do you clean car upholstery?“

Partly due to the current COVID-19 virus, there is now an increasing demand for disinfecting the car. This is a logical next step. Especially in these times, extra attention is needed to disinfect the interior. Yet it is impossible to prevent bacteria from getting into the car. Spreading is mainly through the hands and these remain in contact with the steering wheel, gear lever, handles and buttons. Therefore, follow the advice to wash your hands as much as possible, even before entering the car.

Cleaning and disinfection products from Cartec

Cleaning products
Cartec has been building an extensive range of professional cleaning products since 1986. The Colorline package, for example, consists of twelve products which completely clean the exterior and interior of the car. Cartec also has its own consumer line which are available via various (online) retail shops.

Disinfection products
Cartec also has a number of solutions for disinfecting the car. New are the Handgel 80 and the Surface Clean 80. Both products contain 80 percent alcohol and can therefore completely disinfect surfaces. The hand gel has been developed for the quick and easy disinfection of hands. The formula ensures that the skin does not dry out quickly. With the alcoholic surface cleaner you can quickly and easily disinfect surfaces such as the steering wheel, gear stick but also the keys when returning them to the customer.

Air purification
Another solution is the air purification system, also called ozone generator. By means of a chemical process, this device destroys all undesirable microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and bad odour particles within a few hours.