Cleaning vs. Disinfecting - It's not what you think

By Melinda Wenner Moyer

May 5, 2022

The Well newsletter

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One of my first memories is the pungent smell of rubbing alcohol. Every evening, my mother sprayed the kitchen sink and counters with isopropyl alcohol to disinfect them. And no wonder: She’d cared for me for months when I caught a nasty salmonella infection as a toddler. Bacteria were her nemesis. “I became a real nut about it,” she admitted recently. “I really became a germaphobe.”

It’s no surprise, then, that I grew up to be a germaphobe too. I keep a dizzying array of antimicrobial wipes in the basement, have at least seven bottles of hand sanitizer stashed around my house and car, and keep an emergency bag tucked away in my closet stuffed with bleach wipes and other strong disinfecting paraphernalia should the

dreaded stomach bug strike our household. (I should add: There’s a difference between cleaning and tidying. I’m a zealot with the former, but lazy with the latter.)

Today, because of the pandemic, I’m not alone in my germ paranoia. In a 2021 survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, 42 percent of respondents said they now identified as germaphobes . But our fears aren’t always well-founded, I learned this week when I interviewed chemists and cleaning experts. It turns out, many popular cleaning practices aren’t effective, and some are just unnecessary.

Focus on the bad bugs.

I’m often guilty of thinking that viruses and bacteria are unequivocally “bad,” but many bacteria do good things — like those in our gut that help us digest food and build our immunity. “Microbes are absolutely everywhere,” said Erica Hartmann, an environmental engineer at Northwestern University. “And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Research suggests  that children who grow up on farms, surrounded by microbes, have a lower risk of developing asthma and allergies than other kids.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let me explain the scientific difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning removes things — dirt, crumbs, germs, dog hair — from surfaces. Disinfecting, on the other hand, kills things — typically viruses and bacteria. Cleaning is something we may want to do regularly, Dr. Hartmann said, but we need to worry about killing (disinfecting) only dangerous, disease-causing germs. And we can often predict where they’ll be.

For instance, you probably don’t need to disinfect your kitchen counters every day, unless you’ve handled raw meat. You also don’t need to obsessively disinfect your bathroom unless someone in your home has an infection that spreads through stools, like salmonella or norovirus.

For standard messes — like when my 11-year-old drips maple syrup all over the kitchen table at breakfast — you don’t need to reach for a disinfectant wipe when soap and water will remove the sticky residue just fine. (Soap is also great for removing germs from your hands, but you need to build a good lather and wash for 20 seconds .)

Why not disinfect everything anyway, you ask? There are long-term risks associated with the overuse of certain disinfectants, such as quaternary ammonium compounds. These “quats,” as they’re called, are found in many popular household cleaning products, including sprays and wipes made by Lysol and Clorox. These cleaners may increase the risk of antibiotic resistance, Dr. Hartmann said. Plus — although experts I spoke to disagreed on just how much to worry about this — disinfectants like bleach, ammonia and quats release fumes that can be harmful, said Pawel Misztal, a chemist who studies disinfectants at the University of Texas at Austin. So use disinfectants when you need to disinfect, but not when you want to just clean.

Choose and use disinfectants wisely.

When you do have reason to worry about bad germs, heck yes, kill them all with a disinfectant, but keep in mind that some chemicals will work better than others. Plain soap and water can kill germs when lathered, but it’s not going to be as foolproof as other, stronger options if you’re trying to eliminate microbes on surfaces, said Bill Wuest, a chemist at Emory University. Far more effective are disinfectants like bleach, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide and quat-based cleaners.

If you’re using a disinfectant that releases fumes, such as bleach or ammonia, ventilate the area first by opening doors or windows, or wear a disposable face mask and throw it away afterward, Dr. Misztal suggested.

And I hate to tell you, but you’re probably disinfecting all wrong. Many people spray or spread disinfectants on a surface and then immediately wipe the cleaner off with a paper towel or sponge, Dr. Wuest said, but this removes the chemical before it has had a chance to disinfect.

If you’re using a store-bought product, the disinfection time should be on the label. Lysol disinfectant spray, for instance, needs to sit on a surface for three minutes . Recommendations for bleach solutions vary between letting it sit for one  to 10 minutes . Alcohol-based solutions don’t need to be wiped at all, since they eventually evaporate, said Cassandra Quave, an ethnobotanist at Emory University. And some botanical disinfectants may need to be left on for a long time, even 15 or 30 minutes, Dr. Hartmann said.

Wondering about other disinfectant options? Here’s some more information:

• You can make disinfectants at home to save money. For a disinfecting bleach solution , mix one-third cup of household bleach with one gallon of water. (Note that bleach breaks down rapidly in water, so you’ll need to make a new solution  each day. And never mix bleach with chemicals other than water.)
• Sprays containing 70 percent ethanol or isopropyl alcohol and 30 percent water are also effective, Dr. Quave said. She emphasized that you should mix alcohol with water because otherwise it will evaporate before it has a chance to disinfect.
• You can also make or buy plant-based disinfectants, some of which are less toxic and more environmentally friendly than conventional options. But note that botanical disinfectants may not work as quickly or thoroughly as bleach, quats or alcohol. Household vinegar, for instance, is a popular botanical disinfectant, but it’s not nearly as effective at killing germs as bleach or alcohol. One study found, for instance, that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, was not inactivated  even after soaking in a potent vinegar solution for five minutes. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains a list of disinfectants  that meet certain environmental and health safety standards.
• If you want to know which disinfectants are effective against which pathogens, check out this E.P.A. webpage . Note, for instance, that norovirus, which causes stomach bugs, is an especially hardy virus, and that bleach solutions are most effective against them, Dr. Hartmann said.

The bottom line: We germaphobes can still delight in killing germs, but perhaps not all of them. When I need to clean a spill, I’ll use soap and water or a gentle cleaning spray, not a disinfectant. But after handling raw meat, or when a family member is ill, I’ll reach for the stronger stuff to clean contaminated surfaces, and I’ll make sure to let it sit long enough to work, with the windows open. And while I wait, maybe I’ll have the chance to tidy my house, too.

Yeah, right.