Most people would be surprised to discover that a liquid disinfectant generally must be applied wet to intended surfaces for at least 10 minutes to be effective. And that’s after thoroughly cleaning such surfaces with soap or detergent and rinsing them with water. Surprising? It shouldn’t be. The label directions on most EPA-registered disinfectants contain this 10-minute wet disinfection directive.




Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible, to achieve this disinfection directive on anything other than hard horizontal surfaces. For example, in order to disinfect all surfaces of an operating room in this manner, it would literally have to be filled like a swimming pool with a liquid disinfectant for 10 minutes.




The first critical step in surface disinfecting is C-L-E-A-N-I-N-G! Most people apply disinfectants improperly, if not negligently, by presuming that cleaning is not necessary and that a quick spray-and-wipe disinfectant application is sufficient. It isn’t. Without proper surface cleaning and 10-minute disinfectant exposure periods, most disinfectant applications fail to comply with label directives, and clearly such noncompliance can result in actionable negligence. It is a violation of Federal law to use EPA-registered disinfectants in a manner inconsistent with labeling.




Zimek’s Touch-Less™ Micro-Mist™ treatments consist of EPA-approved disinfectant solutions which are automatically applied without operator intervention for at least 10-minute exposure periods. Zimek’s Micro-Mist™ transmigrates within any enclosed air-volume and reaches virtually every surface exposed to free-airflow, thereby decontaminating hard-to-reach surfaces for at least a 10-minute exposure period that even the most dutiful cleaning and janitorial custodians cannot realistically achieve.

Zimek’s automatic Micro-Mist™ treatments enable best practices surface disinfection as an adjunct to appropriate surface cleaning. Click here to learn more about Zimek-approved disinfectants.