What are disinfectant fogging machines?

In the last few years, everyday personal hygiene and sanitation practices have reached a new level. As high traffic areas where objects touched by different people demand more attention, the need for more sophisticated cleaning and disinfection methods have arisen.

In fact, disinfection supplies like sprays, wipes, bleach and hydrogen peroxide have been in particularly high demand because of the crucial role they play in combating microbial contamination.

In this article, we discuss how disinfectant fogging can effectively disinfect an entire room or space – and even though the underlying technology has been around for years, it has gained more attention only recently due to the new demands of disinfection and sanitation.

What is disinfectant fogging, anyway?

Where ordinary over-the-counter disinfectants can only do so much to clean and disinfect a small area, disinfectant fogging or disinfection fogger machines can create a wide-reaching mist which can easily cover not just really large indoor spaces but also high traffic areas as well as hard to reach surfaces. The disinfectant fog or spray is applied in one fell swoop, making disinfectant fogging a formidable tool which can be used in areas as small as a studio apartment to larger areas like an entire office floor or shopping mall.

How does disinfection fogging work?

Disinfectant fogging is capable of saturating an entire room with a microbial substance for purifying and removing all kinds of pathogens from the air, surfaces and entire room such as flu virus or Coronavirus.

This kind of disinfection is well-suited to high risk areas but is carried out sparingly because of the inherent risks of inhaling the particles or disinfectant solution and the relative time it takes to safely clean a space. However, despite these minor drawbacks, disinfectant fogging is extremely effective at combating pathogens, specifically those which enter our respiratory systems in the form of droplets.

There are different kinds of disinfectant foggers available today, each with their own unique application and benefits. At this point, it’s important to discuss how they primarily work:

All foggers operate by filling a room with a solution containing disinfectant properties. Depending on the use case, disinfectant fogger solutions can be used for a variety of treatments including:

• Chemical fogging
• Ionization
• Ozone
• Chlorine dioxide
• vaporized hydrogen peroxide

Just to quickly give you an idea of how each might work, here are individual pros and cons to take into consideration:

Chemical Fogging

• Widest range of solutions and relatively fast method
• Lingers around and harmful for the lungs

Ionization

• Widest surface coverage with long lasting results
• Less effective compared to other methods for eliminating all bacteria

Ozone

• Very easy to produce on the fly, fast-acting and leaves no residue
• Difficult to store as it’s an unstable compound

Chlorine Dioxide

• Leaves behind no harmful residue
• Uses chlorine gas and requires very strict temperature parameters

Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide

• A highly efficient and targeting form of fogging
• Requires low humidity conditions and does not work on biofilms

Ultra Low Volume (ULV)

One of the most common types of disinfection fogger machines used today is a ULV (Ultra Low Volume) fogger which uses a liquid antimicrobial solution.

The solution is converted to a vapor and a fan disperses it to the desired space(s). With more and more vapor being dispersed into the air, a thick, mist-like fog develops in the atmosphere around the disinfection site, and this is where it gets the name “disinfectant fogging”.

This fogging application will cover anything it reaches such as floors, surfaces and even difficult-to-reach areas that often go unnoticed during disinfection procedures.

Disinfectant fogging is also highly effective at combating airborne pathogens like COVID-19 as it passes through the air first, destroying all pathogens in its path, and then lands on the floor and surrounding surfaces. No wonder hospitals, clinics and healthcare centers are now investing heavily into quality disinfectant fogger machines.

What are the benefits of disinfectant fogging?

Naturally, over time, places in your home, office or clinic can collect a fair amount of dust particles, bacteria and viruses – particularly if your office happens to be a clinic or healthcare center, or you’re tending to the ill in your home.

Even though germs are common almost everywhere, they are a key concern in high contact areas – malls, shopping centers, offices and public places are a few examples as table tops, light switches and doorknobs get used a lot by many people.

These ‘high traffic’ areas are, in fact, a germ breeding haven and very easy exposure points. The more people come into contact with surfaces, the more likely the next person is to pick up the germs left on those surfaces.

Disinfectant fogging is a highly effective way of applying an appropriate disinfectant solution to large places, particularly high contact/high traffic areas, where the risk of cross-contamination is at its highest.

There are other areas of concern as well – such as the often neglected nooks and crannies in your house or office – places which are seldom cleaned because they are difficult to access. And despite their remote or neglected location, difficult-to-access areas are a common breeding ground for germs. When they do receive contact from individuals, which is likely to happen at some point, the risk of pathogens spreading multiplies by several times.

Fogging machines eliminate the need to move any furniture around just to disinfect hard-to-reach contaminated zones. The fog-like solution is capable of passing through every crack because it literally clings to the surface it lands on, and applies a generous amount of disinfectant along its path.

Disinfectant fogging, therefore, is a great way to save time and energy too, because you don’t need to move anything around, and the hardest to clean places are safely disinfected. Think of it as a “spray and forget” way of fully disinfecting your living or working spaces.

In conclusion

Whether you’re a building owner, healthcare specialist, run a restaurant or just want to keep your loved ones safe at home, we offer a range of disinfectant fogger machines and solutions.

One of our best-selling items since the pandemic has been the nano pocket-sized disinfecting machine, which you can quickly use while making purchases to disinfect the item before bringing it home. You could even use it when people hand over items to you, including loose change.

Our portable fogger machines have also become a daily essential among smart citizens, which they can safely use on guests as they enter your home.

The handheld disinfecting steam fogger comes with a small solution carrying attachment which can be filled up with a liquid hand sanitizer. When guests come over, you can easily fog their shoes, underside and top – even their trousers and top to completely eliminate the likelihood of any germs entering your home. In fact, you can fog guests from top to bottom if you like, as long as you don’t point it towards their faces!