If you have never heard the term “quat binding” before, join the club. It is actually relatively new to the professional cleaning industry as well. Quat refers to quaternary ammonium chloride, an active ingredient found in most EPA-registered disinfectants. The phenomenon of quat binding refers to the absorption of quaternary ammonium chloride into the cleaning cloth being used or, if mopping floors, into the mop head. As this happens, the disinfectant loses its effectiveness.
Looking at this situation a bit more carefully, what it is believed is happening is the quats are positively charged and many cleaning cloths and mop heads are manufactured with natural textiles such as cotton, which are negatively charged. This causes the quats to be absorbed into the cotton.
In one study, the quat level of a disinfectant on a cleaning cloth was reduced by 50 percent after soaking for ten minutes. This means that the pathogen killing benefits of the disinfectant have been cut in half.
There are different ways to prevent this. Among them are the following:
• Apply the disinfectant directly to the surface to be cleaned and allow it ample time to work effectively.
• Frequently change the cleaning cloth or mop head (and the mop water as well) used for cleaning and disinfecting.
• Avoid using standard terry cloth towels with disinfectants; microfiber is more effective at removing soils from surfaces and will not be as impacted by quat binding.
Another option is to look into other cleaning systems. While they are not designed specifically to kill germs and bacteria, what are known as aqueous ozone cleaning systems and no-touch cleaning systems will not be impacted by quat binding because no textiles are used in the cleaning process. They can also address some of the other disinfecting challenges mentioned earlier.
Finally, managers and cleaning professionals should start using ATP monitoring systems. These devices are essentially an electronic petri dish. A surface is swabbed and the swab is then put into the device, which looks like a television remote control. In about 15 seconds, it indicates if ATP is present on a surface. While it does not indicate specifically what types of pathogens are on a surface, a higher-than-usual ATP reading should always be viewed as a red flag, indicting cleaning and disinfecting are necessary.
Ron Segura, formerly Manager of Janitorial/Document Services for Walt Disney Pictures and Television, is a cleaning consultant working with corporate campuses, schools and universities. He can be reached through his company website at https://www.seguraassociates.com.
