Cleaning Routines - Are Your Surfaces Really Germ-Free?

The short answer - probably not.  This may be a scary thought...your diligent wiping and disinfecting, all for nothing?  We think we are killing 99.9% of germs like the bottle says, but in reality, most people are missing a key component that makes the difference between cleaning and just wiping germs around. This is called contact time.  

Germ-Free Surfaces

A little known fact: disinfectants only work when wet.  Most products dry quite quickly, especially cleaning products that contain alcohol.  Most sprays that are wiped on will dry in a matter of seconds, maybe a minute at most.  However, the recommended contact time for disinfecting is actually 4-10 minutes!  What most people do is simply wet the surface, and mix the microbes around with a cloth or sponge.  The surface dries quickly and we move on, feeling like we have safely sanitized.  The satisfying feeling of being in a "clean" space, however, may just all be in our heads. 

Even hospitals and care-homes with strict cleaning protocols may be missing the mark. Strong disinfectants are applied regularly, with little thought given to the the actual process of cleaning.  All of the surfaces around us are covered with a microscopic layer of materials that is the ideal environment for all types of microorganisms to exist.  This biofilm layer must be either physically scrubbed or attacked on an enzymatic level using probiotic cleaners.  Most hospital cleaning protocols do not take into account the presence of biofilm, and the disinfectant protocols simply do not have enough contact time to be effective.  Once the cleaner dries, microorganisms carry on living on the biofilm layer, completely invisible to us.

So, What Can We Do?

How can we be more effective in cleaning our homes, offices, health care facilities and schools?  To really address this, we have to completely shift the way we think about cleaning.  We can no longer consider killing bacteria to be a viable method.  To achieve the level of cleaning we "think" we are getting, we would have to wet surfaces for 4-10 minutes for the required contact time.  The biofilm needs to be physically scrubbed from the surface.  The process needs to be repeated frequently, because a sanitized surface can be re-populated by bacteria immediately after drying.  We need a paradigm shift in our thinking about cleaning.  We need sustainable cleaning. 

Probiotic cleaners offer a unique and elegant solution. The shift in our thinking is the key to implementing a change in our cleaning routines.  We can no longer aim to disinfect and kill bacteria.  Sandor Katz, an American food writer, puts it simply:

"The problem with killing 99.9% of bacteria is that most of them protect us from the few that can make us sick."

We are afraid of bacteria.  This is the root of the cleaning dilemma.  We will never be able to eradicate bacteria in our environment, and we shouldn't even be trying.  Bacteria are a necessary and healthy part of the microbiomes on our bodies and in our living spaces.

Biom products contain 50 million probiotics per mL.  We know the power that these tiny superheros have. What happens when you spray a Biom cleaner onto a surface? Millions of bacteria are activated. There is no required contact time, these microbes live on the surface for 3-5 days.  Millions of tiny cleaning probiotics produce enzymes that break apart the biofilm matrix.  This removes the environment where pathogenic bacteria and viruses may live.  This amazingly simple concept eliminates the need to re-apply disinfectants multiples times a day, and actually produces a truly clean surface.  Not a microbe free-surface, but a healthy surface, full of good microbes.