Plain and simple, church AV gear gets dirty. But is cleaning it good enough at this point in history?
Forget the old cliche: It is disinfection, not cleanliness, that is next to godliness. This is because cleanliness alone isn’t enough to protect people against COVID-19. But cleanliness married to disinfection might be.
The reason: “Cleaning removes germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces or objects ... by using soap (or detergent) and water,” according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website ‘How To Clean and Disinfect Schools To Help Slow the Spread of Flu’ (school facilities being quite similar to churches). “This process does not necessarily kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.”
In contrast, “Disinfecting works by using chemicals to kill germs on surfaces or objects,” CDC sources report. “This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.”
Disinfection options
Effective disinfection requires the use of the correct disinfectants. They include CloroxPro and other bleach-based professional products, Lemon Quat (Quaternary ammonia), and Virox 5 liquid/wipes (accelerated hydrogen peroxide).
The solutions mentioned above are harsh, requiring cleaning staff to wear gloves, face masks, eye protection, and in some cases medical-style gowns. Check the product label to see what level of personal protective equipment (PPE) is needed.
EcoloxTech’s Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water (EOW; aka, hypochlorous acid) is a safe disinfectant, which is created at the client’s premises using water, salt, and electricity. This means that EOW will not harm workers who get it in their eyes or on their skin. Still, PPE is suggested when using this product, because cleaning can dislodge COVID-19 particles into the air.
Application options
In general, the disinfectants mentioned above are applied either by manually spraying surfaces or dampening microfiber cloths/paper towels, then rubbing the targeted areas and rinsing. Either way, the disinfectant needs to be rubbed into the surface to do its job. This is why using handheld surface scrubbers saves wear-and-tear on cleaning staff.
There are less arduous ways to disinfect, too. One of these is the Clorox Total 360 System. It is a cart-mounted, compressed air hand-spraying unit that electrostatically charges the diluted bleach droplets, so that they will cling to surfaces consistently for maximum disinfection power.
According to Clorox, “Wiping is not required to ensure surface disinfection (with this system); however, you may choose to wipe specific surfaces to polish them [e.g., glass, mirrors] or to remove visible residue after the contact time is achieved.”
Other disinfection options include the use of hot steam and specialized foggers inside sealed rooms. Both of these options are best done by skilled cleaning professionals who have the right equipment.
Disinfection takes time
All disinfection products and methods have one thing in common: They all take time to kill germs.
This is why disinfectant manufacturers specify how long their products must be left on treated surfaces before being rinsed away. For instance, the free downloadable disinfection chart from one manufacturer specifies a wait time of five minutes for its bleach-based disinfectants before rinsing.
As for electronics
Obviously, spraying AV electronics with bleach is not a good idea. Thankfully, disinfecting wipes from various manufacturers like Clorox and Lysol can be used to clean sensitive products, once you have checked with individual product manufacturers to verify that this is safe to do. The same is true for rubbing alcohol, with the same warning.
Whatever you choose, be sure to power down the AV equipment before you clean/disinfect it. While that seems like a no-brainer, it's worth mentioning.
As for disinfecting microphone foam coverings? This really isn’t practical, which is why giving each person their own foam microphone cover (and even their own microphone) is a smart way to minimize the risk of viral infection. This is what radio broadcaster iHeartMedia did before eventually sending their staff home to work during the pandemic.
