Hi to everyone and hope all our friends and clients are staying safe during lockdown.
I want to address the idea of disinfecting or sanitizing car interiors during this time, as I see various posts on social media about companies providing this service to clients:
- Steam cleaning will not disinfect or sanitize the interior of your vehicle. Although steam is extremely hot, it is only super hot at the very tip of the tool, and to use this amount of heat in close proximity to leather or plastics would likely create damage to interior surfaces. Cleaning an interior with steam, or even using extraction as a method, will only clean but not disinfect. Waving a steam wand around the interior will do nothing other than have you spend money.
- A detailer cannot provide you with a 100% disinfected vehicle without biohazard training, proper protective equipment and the correct chemicals. Most detailers are not trained for this type of cleaning.
But what can you do to minimize virus transfer?
The virus is known to stay on some surfaces but primarily the risk is not from touching a contaminated surface, but the transfer that happens afterwards:
- wipe high transfer areas (steering wheel, knobs, handles) with alcohol or soaps
- wash your hands frequently, especially after coming in from a trip.
- avoid touching your face until washing your hands
See more info here from the Canada.ca website:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/prevention-risks.html?topic=ex-col-faq#products