Is it safe to use hydro-alcoholic products? Which is the best disinfectant to sanitize without damaging surfaces? If you have a car rental business, car-sharing business, a workshop or a dealership, you may have already asked yourself these questions. At ISTOBAL we have carried out a detailed study on the compatibility of 4 types of disinfectant product with the different materials found inside a car. Read on if you would like to know the result.
At ISTOBAL we work hard to offer you the most effective and safe chemical products for complete cleaning and sanitization of car interiors. If you have a business related to the automotive industry, such as a car rental business, car-sharing business, VTC (chauffeur-driven cars), workshop or dealer, you know that the sanitation of car interiors has become a fundamental process for the safety of your customers and also for the safety of your workers more than ever as a result of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19. For this reason, our R&D team in the chemical department has carried out a study to find out which disinfectant product is the most effective and safe for eliminating micro-organisms without damaging surfaces.
The aim of this study is to analyze the compatibility of different materials inside a vehicle with 4 disinfectants, 2 alcohol-based and 2 quaternary ammonium-based disinfectants. Our team has carried out several tests on real elements of the car: dashboards, screens, leather and faux-leather seats, and also on different plastic elements (PVC, polycarbonate, polypropylene, acrylic, etc.), and in different environmental conditions. The main conclusions have been that:
- Hydro-alcoholic products are NOT the best option for sanitizing the interior of the car, since they can dry out the dashboard material and affect screens or plastics if the surface temperature is high.
- We recommend the use of quaternary ammonium-based disinfectants which are suitable for surfaces and listed in a large number of European countries as disinfectant products according to the regulations of each country. These products, applied in the concentrations and actuation time indicated in their technical data sheet, sanitize the car interior, without damaging its surfaces or upholstery.
Contact our sales team to purchase these recommended products.
Remember, interior sanitization is now more important than ever, since the cabin interior is the area where there is the greatest interaction and contact between people, so there is a greater probability of contagion. In the case of car rental businesses, car-sharing businesses, workshops or dealers, our advice is to clean the interior every time you change users.
Although the products we use at ISTOBAL for indoor sanitization do not pose any danger to people as long as they are used properly, we also recommend the use of gloves, mask and goggles as this is good practice when treating potentially contaminated surfaces.