Quality BY BRUCE WRIGHT
HOW CLEAN IS CLEAN ENOUGH? > You already have a well-established routine for disinfecting buckets, tools and work surfaces, right? All for the sake of reducing shrink and providing custom- ers with the best-looking, longest-lasting, fresh flowers possible. Now, you need an additional level
of sanitary vigilance to protect yourself, your staff and your clientele against COVID-19. Will it be expensive? Time- consuming? Even scary? Quite the opposite, says Vonda
LaFever AIFD, PFCI, CEO of Flower Clique, a provider of business tools and
services for floral professionals: “More than anything it’s a matter of changing our habits. As florists, how often are we used to washing our hands during the day? Not very often.” And yet, it takes just 20 seconds of hand washing to kill the virus. Hand washing alone, of course, is not
enough. But the additional measures you take not only will protect you and others but will reassure them that your flower operation is safe and responsible. “Most of our clients are very nervous about the virus,” said Chris Norwood, AAF, AIFD,
PFCI, of Tipton & Hurst Florist in Little Rock, Arkansas. “So, we are constantly communicating with them about what we’re doing to keep them safe. As long as you’re doing that, that’s what they will gravitate towards.”
Cleaning, Sanitizing, Disinfecting Vigorous hand washing with soap works because it physically destroys the outer coating or “envelope” that the virus needs to invade a host cell. An alco- hol-based hand sanitizer does the same thing in a different way, through chemi- cal action (hand washing does it better). What you need to keep hard surfaces
in the shop virus-free, however, is not just soap or sanitizer but disinfectant. As defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a sanitizer merely reduces the number of microbes on a surface; a disinfectant actually kills the microbes. Note, however, that the same active
ingredient can function as a sanitizer or a disinfectant, depending on the concen- tration. The alcohol in hand sanitizer is in fact a disinfectant. And while cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting technically are three different operations, they work together: A surface needs to be clean before it can be thoroughly disinfected. Cleaning products that do the best job of fighting COVID-19 typically contain surfactants and detergents along with disinfectants.
Staying Power In the past, many florists have used chlo- rine bleach to disinfect buckets, tools and countertops. It’s inexpensive, and the powerful smell seems like persuasive evidence that it’s working. Far more effective as a disinfectant,
CAPTION STAYING POWER Disinfectants with quaternary ammonium compounds as the active ingredient can have a long-lasting, residual effect.
44 FLORAL MANAGEMENT | June 2020 |
WWW.SAFNOW.ORG
however, are the quaternary ammonium compounds, also called quats. While bleach quickly dissipates when exposed to air, quats have a residual effect. They do not need to be rinsed (unless applied to a surface that will be used for prepar- ing food); they can be allowed to dry, leaving a very faint coating. Quats are found in a number of household cleaners, but also, con-
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