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Don't Use Wipes To Clean Your Toilet Without Knowing This First
By MICHELLE ROBERTS-GARCIA
Disinfectant wipes may be a convenient way to sanitize your toilet, but they aren’t effective at killing all germs because they aren’t in contact with the toilet for long enough.
The directions state that for a disinfectant to be effective, it must remain on the surface for at least four minutes while still wet, or the majority of germs won’t be eradicated.
The Lysol website advises that a wipe needs only 10 seconds to sanitize, but the solution from the wipes needs at least four minutes to disinfect — and it must remain wet to work.
Most disinfectant dries quickly when exposed to air, especially if your vent fan is on or your windows are open. As a result, your toilet won’t be disinfected, only sanitized.
Sanitizing kills only bacteria, not viruses, while disinfecting kills both. Since these germs are released with each flush, they can cause health issues if not properly eliminated.
If you do use disinfectant wipes, either wipe the surface repeatedly with one wipe or use multiple wipes to keep the toilet covered in disinfectant for the full four minutes.