Tennant Company is dedicated to providing information and insights to help facilities make informed decisions about cleaning and disinfecting floors.
While floors have traditionally been considered a non-critical environmental surface, the COVID-19 pandemic is requiring all facilities to consider taking extra precautions against the virus that causes the disease.
A New England Journal of Medicine study1 published in March 2020 shows that this virus can live for up to 72 hours on some non-porous surfaces. In order to reduce the potential for virus transmission, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that floors are regularly cleaned and then disinfected with chemicals that have been registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are listed for use to control the virus.
Cleaning and Disinfecting: Know the Difference
Floor cleaning is the physical removal of soil, debris, and organic substances from a surface. Cleaning is an important step in the disinfection process. Auto-scrubbers can be used to perform this important task between disinfection processes while people are present, since cleaning solution is applied to the floor and quickly removed to prevent slip-fall accidents.
Floor disinfecting is the use of chemical solutions that eliminate pathogens and disease-causing microorganisms. These chemicals require a dwell time of up to 10 minutes (times vary) to do their job. This task is performed after cleaning and when an area can be closed off as the floor remains wet for at least the required dwell time
Tips for Disinfecting Floors to protect against COVID-19
*Before cleaning the floor, remove loose soil, debris and other substances.
Tips for Cleaning & Disinfecting Tennant Auto-Scrubbers
*Cleaning floors may result in contamination of Tennant auto-scrubbers with the virus that causes COVID-19. Tennant recommends routine cleaning and disinfecting of equipment surfaces and parts.