Microfibre cloths vs disposable wipes, an age old battle in the cleaning industry, workplaces, cars, households and everywhere else we need to keep clean. Let’s find out!

There is plenty of footage surfacing lately showing cleaners using microfibre cloths on multiple surfaces in a workplace when conducting high touchpoint cleaning. Many commercial cleaners swear by using microfibre cloths as a quick solution to keeping surfaces.

Here’s the truth, this could potentially be causing more harm than good and cloths can be one of the biggest causes of cross-contamination.

Why you might ask? Let me explain.

If a cleaner is using a single microfibre cloth and it comes into contact with a contaminated area, they run the risk of spreading contamination onto several other areas.

When a microfibre cloth gets dirty, it is sent to wash with several other cloths that have potentially cleaned several spaces like your kitchen, washroom, toilet and maybe even your keyboard!

Not only does this scream of cross-contamination; washes will cause significant wear to the fibres of the cloth over time, making them less effective after every wash.

At iClean we choose to use disposable, hospital-grade disinfectant wipes everytime we do any touch-point cleaning, and we recommend that you and your cleaners do the same.

Pre-wet wipes are used only once on each surface and are disposed of after use and contain inbuilt disinfectant properties that kill germs.

By choosing to use wet wipes every-time, we know there is a reduced risk of housing germ-harbouring materials that could potentially harm your staff.

I HAVE SEEN DIRTY CLOTHS USED IN MY WORKSPACE

  • If you notice the use of dirty cloths in your workspace, remove them for cleaning immediately or ask your cleaner to throw them away.
  • If you think your staff or cleaners have used a dirty cloth; make sure to wash, disinfect and dry any equipment, work surfaces or utensils it has touched.
  • If a dirty cloth has been near food in the kitchen or lunch room, throw away any food that might have been in close range as it may be contaminated.

HOW TO ENSURE CLOTHS DON’T SPREAD GERMS IN YOUR WORKPLACE

  • Consider having disposable wipes available for your staff at a easily accessible location
  • Increase your supply of disposable/clean cloths so that they never get reused across surfaces
  • Train and educate your staff on safe methods to keep your surfaces clean
  • Improve the supervision of your commercial cleaners or consult a us and we will give you a fool proof method to ensure they are actually doing their jobs

In conclusion Disposable wipes are far safer than cloths and we recommend that you keep a good supply of disposable wipes in areas with high touchpoints such as kitchens, lunchrooms and washrooms. Staff are more likely to use disposable wipes if there are plenty and if they are readily available.

If you would like to learn more about the important of disinfecting high touchpoint areas, please use the contact box below and we will get in touch to help you.

We recommend that you keep a good supply of disposable wipes in areas with high touch points such as kitchens, lunchrooms and washrooms. Staff are more likely to use disposable wipes if there are plenty and if they are readily available.

If you would like to learn more about the important of disinfecting high touchpoint areas, please use the contact box below and we will get in touch to help you.