We advertise our product using a lot of “non” prefixes. Non-irritating. Non-caustic. Non-corrosive. Non-reactive. In other words, it won’t irritate your skin, it won’t harm you, it won’t corrode your metal pipes, but what does “non-reactive” really mean?

The simplest definition is to say that it will not react chemically with surfaces or other ingredients because it is neither acidic nor alkaline.

When cooking, have you ever come across a recipe that calls for you to use a nonreactive bowl or saucepan? That is because acidic ingredients such as red wine or vinegar can cause the pan or bowl to discolor or pit. Stainless steel is often used in cookware, because of its nonreactive qualities. Aluminum, tin or copper are examples of cookware that reacts poorly with acidic ingredients.

Another place in your home that it’s good to know whether a cleaning chemical is nonreactive are your countertops, mantles and floors. Many cleaning chemicals react poorly with marble, granite and other stone.

Cleaning chemicals that are highly reactive include bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and hydrogen peroxide as well as certain botanicals. Read your labels. Do not use these chemicals on hard and soft surfaces for which they are not intended.

by Autumn Ryan, Founder and CEO, Aseptic Health

What does it mean to have a neutral pH? Neutral solutions have a pH of 7.0. Water is an excellent example of a neutral solution. Add a solution to water and the pH (or potential of hydrogen) changes. Your lemonade becomes acidic. Your bicarbonate of soda becomes alkaline or basic.

The pH Scale

The pH scale goes from 1 to 14 with 7 being neutral. Anything below 7 is considered to be acidic. Anything above 7 is considered to be basic. Because it is a logarithmic scale, each number is 10 times more powerful or less powerful than the next number. A pH of 8 is 10 times more basic than water and a pH of 9 is 100 times more basic and so on.

Extreme pH on either end can cause severe harm. Alkali burns to the eye are worse than acidic burns because substances that cause alkali burns contain lye, lime or ammonia. Think liquid drain cleaner. But you can also get severe burns from acidic chemicals. Vinegar, which is a weak acid, wouldn’t do much harm, but car battery acid, which is a strong acid, will.

Buffer Solutions

Buffer solutions are often used in the cleaning industry to manage the pH of water to resist change upon adding the acidic or basic ingredients necessary for adequate cleaning.

Why Know The pH Of Cleaning Solutions?

The reason it is important to know the pH level of the cleaner you’re using is that the pH can have an effect on the material you’re cleaning. Strong acidic or strong basic cleaners can cause fabric dye to run or its sheen to be affected. Cleaners that work effectively that are closer to the neutral scale are considered safer to use with all materials. [For those in the soft surface cleaning industry, Cleanfax magazine published an excellent article in April, 2020 on The Role of pH in Cleaning.

For household cleaning, remember basic solutions are used for cutting through dirt, grease, proteins, oils and other organic items. Acids are typically used for removing calcium, rust and other minerals. But there are some very effective cleaners that come closer to neutral. Dish soaps, for example, are usually in the pH range of 7 to 8.

Let’s take a look at some other common household cleaners and their pH levels.

Chlorine Bleach, pH 11 to 13

Ammonia, pH 11 to 12

Borax, pH 10

Baking Soda, pH 8 to 9

Vinegar, pH 3

Because chlorine bleach and ammonia are highly basic, we know that they are corrosive and should be used in a well-ventilated room. Also bleach and ammonia are not safe to be mixed with other ingredients.

Borax is often used as a laundry booster to break down oils and organic dirt. At a 10 on the pH scale it is still corrosive, but not as much as bleach. Baking soda may be a better alternative as it is still alkaline, but with a pH of 8 to 9 is not considered corrosive.

On the other end of the pH scale at a pH of 3 is vinegar, an acidic cleaner that many believe to be the perfect all-purpose cleaner. While it’s great at removing mineral deposits, it can corrode surfaces. Do not use vinegar on wood, stone, waxed surfaces, plants, your dishwasher, knives, washing machine, small appliances or electronic screens.

For more information contact us!

by Autumn Ryan, Founder and CEO, Aseptic Health

I feel like I should disclaim this article as not suitable for all audiences. If you’re squeamish, you might be grossed out, and you’ll definitely be more careful about what you touch from now on. The subject is biofilm on hard, non-porous surfaces. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms that are attached to surfaces and play a significant role in bacterial infections.

There are either four or five stages of biofilm development. First the initial attachment—free-floating microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus—a hard-to-kill bacteria that causes all types of nasty infections from skin to heart to bone. The bacteria attaches to a surface, for example a table top in a hospital room or dentist office. At this stage the cells are readily able to detach and with regular cleaning can be interrupted or removed.

In the second stage the microcolony grows on the surface and enters an irreversible attachment where the cells lay flat against the surface and resist attempts to physically dislodge them. These cells then start creating a sticky, gooey slime.

In the third stage, the biofilm is formed. Dangerous biomaterial matures into muiti-layered clusters.

Stage four—for those who claim there is a five-stage development— is a further maturation of the biofilm where the biomaterial can become antibiotic resistant.

Stage five is where the biofilm reaches critical mass and begins dispersing to colonize other surfaces. Boom! A quick, infectious spread of disease.

More bad news: bacteria that form biofilms are much more resistant to antibiotics and antimicrobial solutions. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) more than 80% of all microbial infections are biofilm related and can be hard to diagnose and treat.

What do you need to know about cleaning biofilms?

First, let’s discuss where you’re likely to find biofilms in your home or workplace. Plaque buildup on your teeth is a biofilm. Scum covering a rock in a creek or clogged pipes and drains are biofilms. The pink ring in your dirty toilet is a biofilm. Same for the pink slime in your pet’s water bowl. (Please clean your pet’s water bowl often if not daily.)

Biofilms act as the glue that holds bacteria to a surface and makes it easier for bacteria to live in a colony and therefore easier to cause of an infection. That’s why it is so important to break through and remove the biofilm during cleaning. It takes, for lack of a better term, elbow grease to cut through the biofilm. With regular cleaning you’re less likely to incur biofilm because you’re often interrupting the first phase of biofilm development (where cells can be readily detached from the surface they are attempting to cling to).

Once clean, your surface is ready for disinfecting to kill any remaining germs. Just like when you use a toothbrush to scrub the plaque from your teeth then use a mouthwash to kill the odor causing bacteria.

There are a few disinfecting processes that can actually penetrate the biofilm, killing the bacteria living there.  This one-step cleaning process is very efficient. It can also be very toxic. Read the label. You’ll want to use products with a close to neutral pH and a category 4 toxicity level on the EPA chart, such as products containing stabilized chlorine dioxide or sodium chlorite. Also note the kill log which describes how effectively the product kills bacterial. (See my article on kill logs to read about the importance of killing germs quickly.)

Remember, regular cleaning reduces biofilm buildup.

by Dana Ryan, Certified Clinically Clean® Specialist

Learn how to clean! Fox News broke a story last week that “amid coronavirus, more than a third of US adults are using cleaning products incorrectly.” The story cited a recent study commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and claimed “these practices pose a risk of severe tissue damage and corrosive injury and should be strictly avoided.”

The survey was conducted in May 2020. There were 502 respondents and questions ranged from what respondents knew about adequate ventilation when using cleaners to keeping household cleaners out of the reach of children and the don’ts of mixing cleaners with other household ingredients, among other topics. When asked “Have you ever heard that bleach should not be mixed with vinegar, less than 40% of the respondents answered that yes they had heard this. To be clear, mixing bleach and vinegar creates a potentially lethal chlorine gas.

MORE ON MIXING CHEMICALS

Fortunately more of the respondents had heard that bleach should not be mixed with ammonia, but still more than 30% of the respondents had not. When bleach is mixed with ammonia, toxic gases called chloramines are produced. Exposure can cause coughing, nausea, shortness of breath, watery eyes, chest pain, irritation to the throat, nose and eyes, wheezing and pneumonia and fluid in the lungs.

While we’re on the subject of mixing, when making a dilute bleach solution, only use room temperature water. Less than 25% of the respondents knew this. The reason is that hot water decomposes the active ingredient of bleach and renders it ineffective.

Also, do not mix bleach with rubbing alcohol. And, do not mix vinegar with hydrogen peroxide (this makes peracetic acid).

OTHER UNSAFE PRACTICES

Sixty percent of respondents said they cleaned their home more frequently in light of the pandemic, but according to their answers they are doing so in unsafe ways.

• 19% used bleach on food such as fruit or vegetables
• 18% reported using household cleaning products on their skin
• 10% reported misting their body with a cleaning or disinfectant spray
• 6% reported inhaling vapors from cleaning or disinfectant products
• 4% said they drank or gargled with diluted bleach, soapy water, or other cleaning or disinfectant solutions

None of the above should ever be practiced and each poses a risk of severe tissue damage and corrosive injury.

HAND SANITIZER WARNING

Another alarming statistic is that less than 40% of respondents knew that hand sanitizer should be kept away from children. In March, 2020 there were 79% more calls to the National Poison Data System related to hand sanitizer than the year before. Many calls were about children ages 5 years and younger. Swallowing just a tiny amount of hand sanitizer can cause alcohol poisoning in children. If you suspect your child has ingested hand sanitizer call 911.

The easiest way to clean the right way is to read the label on your cleaning product and follow the instructions. The label will indicate whether or not you need adequate ventilation or protective articles such as gloves or goggles, and when to keep the cleaner out of a child’s reach.

For more information contact us.

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by Dana Ryan, Certified Clinically Clean® Specialist

We are right in the middle of the two most severe weeks for ragweed pollen. If you’re allergic, you probably already know that. Ragweed blooms almost everywhere in the U.S. but especially from the East Coast to the Midwest with the highest level of blooming in early to mid-September.

Ragweed isn’t the only fall allergen, but it is the most common. It blooms and releases pollen from August to November.

CLEANING TIPS

If you’re suffering from fall allergies, here are some helpful tips for keeping your home clean and allergen free.

1. Monitor pollen counts in your area and if pollen is high, keep windows closed.
2. In the fall, allergens are at the highest level in the morning, (the opposite for spring allergens.) If you need to go out, try and plan your trips accordingly.
3. Wear an N-95 filter mask when doing yard work and wash your hair and clothes when you come back inside.
4. Also keep pets bathed more often if you’re suffering from allergies.
5. Keep your house well dusted and vacuumed. Once or twice a week during peak allergy seasons. You may also want to wear a mask while cleaning. Do you know how to dust properly? Most people don’t. Start at the top and work your way down. Use only clean microfiber cloths. Don’t use old t-shirts or dusters…they just move dust and allergens around. Microfiber cloths are electrostatically charged to find and trap dust.
6. Wash your sheets weekly in hot water (which kills dust mites).
7. Keep the entry into your home swept or vacuumed so that you’re tracking in less pollen. Better yet, take your shoes off before you go into the house.
8. Be sure and vacuum your bathroom ceiling fans and air return and change your filters often during allergy season
9. For more effective removal of allergens in your ducts, find a SanitizeIT Certified Spray Operator near you.

3 Strikes And Your Out

by Gus Scannapieco, Certified Clinically Clean® Specialist

While researching information for our Disinfection Tips, I kept running across industry leaders touting the benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide for disinfection…from veterinarians and other healthcare professionals to carpet cleaners.

While Hydrogen Peroxide has a low toxicity rating, it is acidic and highly corrosive. If you’re using the 3% hydrogen peroxide solution from the drugstore as a mouthwash, you’d best rinse well with water after using. And never drink it. Even at three percent concentration, it can cause blistering in the mouth, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Also note, hydrogen peroxide can discolor some surfaces (including your fingertips) and should be tested in an inconspicuous area before using. Wear gloves to protect your skin.

Used as a disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide is effective against a wide range of microorganisms including bacteria and viruses, yeasts, fungi, and spores as it acts as an oxidizer, pulling electrons from other molecules in the cell which kills the organism. However, it can be unstable if it comes into contact with some molecules, like organics and biofilm that hasn’t been cleaned before the disinfectant was sprayed.

So basically two strikes against hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant: It needs a two-step cleaning process to be effective; and a two-step process to finish (spray, then rinse).

There are some other problems with hydrogen peroxide.

It should never be mixed with vinegar. The combination of the two creates peracetic acid which is highly corrosive and can harm your skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs.

Wound care specialists also warn against using hydrogen peroxide on deep cuts and scrapes as it has been found to actually harm the healthy cells around the cut which delays healing. Experts recommend rinsing the cut thoroughly with water that has enough pressure to dislodge dirt or debris in the wound.

For more information contact Aseptic Health.

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by Pat Cummings, Certified Clinically Clean® Specialist

Pat is our logical Logistics and Warehouse Manager. She also holds a BA in Organic Chemistry with a minor in Physics and is a Certified Clinically Clean Specialist. Pat has such a heart for animals and helped start Paws2Help Animal Ministry which provides therapy animals to people in need. Pictured here with her boy, Mac (‘Ch. Old Drum’s Unchained CGC), Pat also has a rescue Doberman Pinscher named Lexie, a Birman cat named JJ and Laddie, a mini horse.

I’ve often mused, “What if dogs and cats could run the vacuum instead of running from it.”

Vacuuming is the best way to rid pet hair on carpets, hard surface floors and pet bedding, but there are some quick ways to clean up between vacuumings.

Wet Rubber Glove

To rid pet hair from an upholstered surface, moisten your rubber gloves and run your hands across the surface of cushions to accumulate pet hair.

Carpet Rake

Regular vacuuming, like once or twice a week, will keep pet hair from burrowing into the carpet. But if you have a rug or carpet that’s been neglected, try using a carpet rake to lift the pet hair to the surface before vacuuming.

Microfiber Mop

For quick hair removal on hard surface flooring, use a dry microfiber mop to sweep up and collect pet hair. Actually “sweeping” the surface with a broom just stirs pet hair around.

Brush Your Pet Several Times A Week

Collecting hair on the brush keeps it off the floor! Brush your pet outside if possible. Even your cat needs brushing regularly to keep down constipation and hairballs. Cats do clean themselves (unless they’re elderly or ill) so you may not need to bathe them. But dogs can use a once-a-month bath. Bathing dogs more often strips essential oils from their skin and leads to skin problems. With some dogs you may be able to bathe less often. A good rule of thumb, if you can smell a stinky dog, he or she needs a bath.

Blot Don’t Rub

When Fifi or Fido has an accident on a rug or carpet, remember “blot” it up. Don’t wipe or rub. If it’s urine, grab a roll of paper towels and keep blotting until the towel is dry. Use your foot to apply pressure to the towel. When you’ve blotted up as much as you can, put down another layer of towels and put a filled gallon jug on top of it to absorb any remaining wetness.

If vomit or feces, first remove the soil. Then use cool, clear tap water to soak the area, then blot with paper towels (as described for urine above) to remove the water along with any remaining soil.

For odor removal of any of the above use an effective oxidizer such as SoRite at full-strength. SoRite actually kills the nucleus of odor causing bacteria so that it does not return, unlike hydrogen peroxide. Spray on the area and allow to air dry. If any odor remains spray a second time.

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by Autumn Ryan, Founder and CEO

Are you using disinfectant wipes correctly? Last week Andrea did a great job explaining why “reading the fine print” on cleaning products is essential. It’s really the only way to determine if the chemical is the right fit for the job. In my experience as a janitor, it’s also the only way to know that you’re using the product correctly.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone pull a disinfecting wipe out of the package, wipe a toilet handle and then immediately flush with their fingertips.

Disinfection Takes Time

In order to disinfect, that toilet handle needs to remain wet on the surface for a certain period of time according to the package “Directions For Use.”  In many cases that means using more than one wipe.

Usage information for Clorox Disinfecting Wipes  require the surface to stay wet for 4 minutes in order to disinfect. Likewise Lysol Disinfecting Wipes require the surface to stay wet for 4 minutes to truly disinfect, which means you’ll be using more than one wipe. To prevent mold and mildew and their odors using Lysol Disinfecting Wipes, you have to use enough wipes to keep the surface wet for 10 minutes…that’s definitely a multi-wipe job!

Seventh Generation wipes require surfaces to stay wet for 10 minutes to disinfect and deodorize. You need to use as many wipes as  it takes to keep the surface wet for a full 10 minutes.

Why is keeping the surface wet so important?

In order for the cleaning product to work as claimed, it needs to stick around on the surface long enough to kill the bacteria or virus. Once the wipe dries, it has no more germ-killing power.

If you’re wondering why the recommended contact times are so different, it’s because the time it takes for a product to kill various bacteria and viruses are different. To make a disinfectant claim, a product has to go through a strict testing process set forth in the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To test a disinfectant, scientists at an EPA accredited lab cover a surface with a large dose of the organism being studied. They then douse the surface with the disinfectant and let it sit for a set amount of time before testing to determine whether any of the organisms remain viable.

Those tests are somewhat overkill using a higher number of organisms than are usually on a common surface. However, that said, when someone in the house has been sick–especially with severe gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting or diarrhea—or when you’re working in the kitchen with raw chicken on counters and cutting boards, you need to pay attention to those kill times.

Multiple Surfaces

Another no-no when using wipes is reusing them on multiple surfaces. Some say that if the wipe is thoroughly wet, there’s still enough cleaner to use on several objects in the room…say a doorknob plus a faucet handle in the bath without spreading organisms around. But every expert agrees you should not use one wipe for multiple rooms.

Been Using Wipes Wrong?

When wipes start to dry, and it doesn’t take long, their effectiveness is drying too.

If you’ve been using wipes wrong, forgive yourself and change your ways! Know the difference between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting. According to the EPA, to sanitize means to kill 99.9% of all germs within 30 seconds. The legal definition of disinfecting is to kill 99.999% of germs in 10 minutes. It really is all about the 9s…the more 9s, the better!

If you’d like more information about killing bacteria and viruses or general cleaning information visit DisinfecTips.com.

by Autumn Ryan, Founder and CEO of Aseptic Health

I think I’m seeing more homes decorated for Halloween than ever. Attribute the surge to Covid-19? Seems like the pandemic has Americans doing all kinds of unusual things. Like disinfecting for deadly viruses! Sales of our flagship hospital grade disinfectant are up. SoRiteHospital Disinfectant is a natural for germ disinfection, and believe me, there are some pretty spooky germs there.

The List

I’ve seen several lists circulating on deadly viruses and bacteria other than Covid-19. The following from our kill list are ones we have sprayed for during institutional outbreaks in the past.

H1N1 and Influenza B

Flu viruses circulate each year. And in spite of widespread vaccine use, many vaccinated people still get the flu. While not as deadly as the novel coronavirus, doctors warn that you really don’t want any of these bugs. To be clear, the flu is also one of the deadly viruses. In the 2018-19 season, over 32,000 Americans died with the flu. And like Covid, flu can also cause lingering complications to your heart, brain, muscles and other organs.

RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is another virus that we typically spray for during outbreaks, usually in schools. It’s so common that the Mayo Clinic reports most children have been infected with RSV by age 2. The infection can be severe in some people. Common symptoms are cold-like: congestion, dry cough, low grade fever, sore throat and headache. More severe symptoms include a high fever, wheezing, difficulty breathing and a bluish color to the skin due to low oxygen levels. If you or your loved one have any of these severe symptoms, it’s time to seek medical attention.

Viral Hepatitis

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) widespread outbreaks of Viral Hepatitis A are continuing to affect the U.S. Hep A can be spread by contaminated food and water, but it is more commonly spread from person to person. There is however a vaccine, and high-risk groups are urged to seek that preventative. Those at high risk include people with chronic liver disease, people who use drugs by injection or non-injection, men who have sex with men, people experiencing unstable housing or homelessness or those recently incarcerated.

Norovirus

Norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting and is sometimes called the stomach flu. However, there are several types of noroviruses and the illness itself is not related to the flu. Transmission is typically passed from person to person, but can also be passed through contaminated food or water or touching a contaminated surface then putting your unwashed hands in your mouth. If you or someone in your family have symptoms of a norovirus you want to be careful to drink water so that you do not become dehydrated. Dehydration with norovirus is what lands most people in the ER.

Rotavirus

Rotavirus is very contagious and one of the most common causes of diarrhea in infants and children resulting in over 200,000 deaths each year. There is a vaccine but there are several kinds of rotavirus so even if you’ve had the vaccine, you can get infected. Adults too.

As with Norovirus, hand-washing is the best method of defense. Dehydration is a serious complication of this bug so make sure you encourage children to drink sufficient water. Children should see the doc if diarrhea persists for more than 24 hours or has frequent episodes of vomiting or has a fever over 104 degrees F. Adults should call their doctor if you can’t keep liquids down for 24 hours or if you have diarrhea for more than two days or a fever over 103.

One Thing In Common

The one thing in common with all of these deadly viruses is that there’s no cure. Antibiotics only work against bacteria.

In fact, our disinfectant works to kill viruses and bacteria differently for that very reason. But as an oxidizer it has the ability to eliminate both pathogens from the surfaces you touch. Keeping your counters, handles and knobs disinfected during flu season is especially important. Even more so is washing your hands often with soap and warm water for a full 20-seconds. (That’s two times through “Happy Birthday.”)

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