Buyer's Guide to Anti-Viral Disinfectants

What you need to know about anti-viral products currently on the market in order to help us make the right choice.

You need to consider:

The Working Environment

The end spaces or surfaces deemed for treatment.

The Intended Method Of Application

what are your current cleaning methods?

The Reason For The Sanitising

Is it preventative sanitising or full decontamination post covid outbreak or both?

APT provide specific infection control and safe working procedure programmes for many UK companies and business sectors.

We provide both Preventative and Post Covid infection cleaning packages to help you reduce the risk of infection in the workplace. We can do this because we have over 30 years’ experience in the producing infection control products and have our own dedicated teams of specialist who carry out both preventative and post covid decontamination cleaning. We can also tailor make programmes to incorporate your own personalised infection control programme – APPLY for more information or CALL 0800 0723 773

The Environment

What are the areas and surfaces requiring treatment?

Is it internal large communal areas such as call centre offices, theatres, church halls, sport halls or small office spaces, cottages, gymnasiums, hotels and pubs all containing lots of corridors and washrooms with food safe catering facilities. Is it large open external meeting spaces or stadia?

Intended Application

What’s our intended method of application? Hand cleaning, spray wiping or mopping, washing including for the type of the equipment to be used.

Is Fogging now being considered as the Best and only low cost and Low labour intensive choice to cover all these applications – Learn more about fogging or call one of our specialists to walk you through the confusion.

Did you know when using our FO-500 Fogging Machine and VIROKILL super concentrate disinfectant you can cover 2500m³ of area for as little as 0.13pence – Fogging Machines

The Anti-viral Disinfectants

After determining the above then there is the choice of the right Anti-viral disinfectant that is suitable for your environment and most of all safe for the intended surfaces.

With some little understanding of the typical make up and effects of the disinfectant this will help you determine the best product for your safe application.

Confused? Don’t be as APT are highly experienced in this field and unlike many companies who may sell either off the shelf anti-viral third party anti-viral products or foggers machines.

What’s The Difference Between Cleaning And Sanitising?

The food and medical sectors describes this as “Two stage cleaning“

1st Cleaning stage
To clean surfaces and remove any dirt debris, oil grease, or other visual contaminants

2nd Sanitising or Disinfection
this is to apply a sanitised solution to cover the surface to kill off harmful organisms usually Sprayed on, left to work, then wipe any surplus away if required with a clean cloth or paper wipe.

The above technique means that in the disinfection stage the product is working on a clean surface. This makes the biocide typically up to five times more effective than if applied to a dirty surface.

APT manufactures two versions of Anti-viral disinfectants. A Super Concentrate where 5 litres makes up 250 litres of sanitiser solution or a RTU Ready to use version.

We all support our clients with the correct most effective antiviral disinfectants because we manufacture these and have produced effective surface safe products to suit every internal sanitising application and our team are there to guide you to the most cost effective choices to suit your environment or task.

Our specialists can guide you quickly to the correct and simplest ways to introduce the right cleaning equipment the appropriate and regulated safety PPE personal protective equipment for the task.

We provide as a complete package – APT don’t sell third party chemicals products. All APT chemical disinfectants are approved to meet the anti covid standards of disinfection and can be used safely through all the fogging equipment.

Anti-viral Disinfectants – Myth buster

Current claims being made by some companies about long term effects or protection of anti-viral disinfectants.

Some Recent Claims To Be Aware Of Regarding – Long Term Protection Of Anti Viral Disinfectants

There are currently many claims about long term protective effects of anti-viral disinfectants – One of the longest claims even suggesting “Prolonged antimicrobial protection for between 3-5 weeks – Check this out: www.twinfm.com/article/tfl-sanitiser-supplier-withdraws-30-day-germ-protection-claim.

It should be noted that these products when tested and approved (by any responsible laboratory) are based on a very sophisticated product formula and set of atmospheric conditions. This will not be the case for most situations in daily sanitising or cleaning.

For these antiviral disinfectant to have a residual effect the biocides must “stick” to the surface and resist rinsing. A coating if you like:

If this is the case then the product cannot generally be regarded as being a “food safe” product and is limited.

For the anti viral disinfectant ingredients to be effective after treatment and after drying then it must at least be re moistened to reactivate the biocides. This is simply are not possible to be guarantee this in any non-laboratory normal site situations.

A bactericidal solution made up of a variant of – Quaternary ammonium compounds or other QUATS biocides to act to kill off harmful viral organisms and can be considered the most cost effective suitable to most surfaces.

View our Antiviral Disinfectant products

Most antiviral product disclose the basic chemical basis for disinfection sanitising not cleaning either

A bactericidal solution made up of some – Quaternary ammonium compounds or other QUATS biocides to act to kill off harmful viral organisms and can be considered the most cost effective suitable to most surfaces.

Other formulations are likely to contain more hazardous ingredients alcohols or harmful acids and these are not all surface safe and can damage furnishings or even effect some hard surfaces over the longer term.

Further information of listed anti viral disinfectants on a EPA list at www.ecri.org/components/HDJournal/Pages/Disinfectant-Concentrations-for-EPA-list-N-COVID-19.aspx?tab=2

Some Recent Claims To Be Aware Of Regarding – Long Term Protection Of Anti Viral Disinfectants

There are currently many claims about long term protective effects of anti-viral disinfectants – One of the longest claims even suggesting “Prolonged antimicrobial protection for between 3-5 weeks

For these antiviral disinfectants to have a residual effect the biocides must “stick” to the surface and resist rinsing. A coating if you like:

If this is the case then the product cannot generally be regarded as being a “food safe” product and is limited.

Claims Stated Can Refer To…

Proven to kill 99.99% etc: QUAT based biocides are not effective against non-enveloped viruses.

Sporicidal: QUATS are not effective against spores. The revised version of the sporicidal test, EN 13704:2018, confirms this.

DSHA etc: not familiar with this.

Meets EN1276 etc: might be effective against these apart from EN 13704 (spores).

By cleaning and disinfecting etc: these are very ambitious claims and it will certainly not meet EN 13704.

Conclusion

We assume that any product with claims of long term protection are based on the two QUATS being the active biocides. If other biocides are present in sufficient quantity for them to be effective, then almost certainly, they should be noted on the product SDS sheet.

Before considering buying these products
Please request full test data from the supplier to satisfy yourself before any reliance on the effectiveness of any long term claims of treatment.

What about the APT Anti-viral disinfectants
Our two Anti-viral disinfectants have a bactericidal effect for killing viral and other organisums these are both food safe and safe for all surface cleaning the are available in either a ready to use solution or our super concentrate formulation which provides up to 48 times more value than standard ready to use formula’s on the market:

1. Super Concentrated VIROKILL – Dilutes up to 50 parts water – A Single 5 Litre of Super Concentrate that makes up to 250 litres of ready to use product literally pennies in use cost of just 0.13p per litre

2. RTU (Ready to Use) – Simple and effective ready to use formula

VIROKILL Super Concentrate Q&A

How far in advance can you prepare the diluted solution of VIROKILL?
As long as the product dilution is made in a clean container with a secure closure and stored out of direct sunlight, it should be effective for several weeks.

Is there any reduction in performance after opening the VIROKILL?
As long as the container closure is replaced after use and the product is stored out of direct sunlight, then it will be effective for 2 years.

For general disinfectant surface cleaning is the dosage the same?
I would recommend 2 to 5% for hard surface cleaning. This type of product is described as a cleaner/disinfectant so the best way of using it is to break the process into two stages.