In this blog post we are going to tell you what the coronavirus is and tell you the science we used to develop a deep cleaning regime to remove it.
This process is ideal for anyone looking to add a deep clean to their existing interior and exterior cleaning process. With the world starting to open up and your customers, car dealerships, vehicle rental firms and more all looking to you, their trusted vehicle preparation partner to keep surfaces clean we hope you will find this process informative and useful.
The products mentioned below can be purchased online or from your local Autoglym Franchisee, you can find your local team here.
What is Coronavirus?
Covid 19 is a novel coronavirus. It is an enveloped virus which means that it has a fatty layer protecting its protein core. Destroying an enveloped virus takes less effort than for a non-enveloped virus.
All viruses require a host in order to survive but they can survive for limited periods in open environments. Studies have shown that coronavirus can last for up to 9 days on surfaces such as plastic, metal and glass, surfaces which are commonly found in vehicles. (1)
How do you deal with it?
The coronavirus has a fatty outer layer and once this has been broken down the virus will begin to degrade. The World Health Organisation has recommended hand washing to stop the spread of the virus.(2)
The soap breaks down the fatty layer and therefore the virus itself. Studies have shown that an alkaline pH of around 13 is effective at reducing the virus. (3,4)
Which Autoglym Professional products should I use?
Clean
Clean All
Autoglym recommend the use of Clean All, which is designed to break down fats and oils, at a 1:10 dilution for cleaning both interior surfaces and exterior touchpoints. This dilution gives a pH of around 12.5.
Interior Cleaner
Interior Cleaner is recommended for the use on any leather surfaces. Clean All is not recommended for use on leather.
Sanitise
Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser
Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser is an all-purpose sanitiser with anti-bacterial and anti-viral action for deep sanitising, daily maintenance and hygiene control across all washable surfaces inside and out. You can use this on all washable surfaces inside and outside the car. That includes plastic, vinyl, glass, rubber, fabric, leather, paintwork, chrome, switch gear any where you like. The EN 1276 certified formulation provides independent reassurance that Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser has passed testing which measures bacteria eradication performance. 99,999% bacteria kill rate is a reassuring and independently validated statistic to provide peace of mind for your valeting/detailing customers and staff.
1 https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext#secsectitle0070
2 https://www.who.int/gpsc/clean_hands_protection/en/
3 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/153567600701200206
4 https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/disinfection-methods/chemical.html
The Cleaning Process
Use the products and processes below to add a decontamination clean to your existing valeting process.
Products required
Clean All @ 1:10. Interior Cleaner (Neat). Glass Spray. Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser
Tools required (per vehicle)
1 x AquaDry, 2 x Green Microfibres, 1 x Interior Sponge. 1 x bucket (with clean water) 1 x bucket (with Clean All solution @ 1:10).
To avoid cross contamination, cloths used for agitation stage with Clean All should only be used once, laundered at the end of the day and re-used once dry.
Important
- Make sure gloves, safety glasses and a mask is worn when entering the vehicle.
- Place seat cover and paper mat in driver’s cockpit before driving.
- Turn off temperature controls to prevent air movement in the vehicle.
- Sanitise key and place in zip lock bag when not in use.
- When using Anti-Bacteria Multi-Surface Sanitiser, make sure all surfaces are cool to prevent the product from drying as it requires two minutes contact time to work effectively.
- After each vehicle is completed, dispose used gloves and face mask and replace with new ones. Clean glasses with Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser.
- Clean vacuum nozzle after every use with Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser.
- Replace vacuum cleaner bags daily or sanitise vacuum dirt bucket regularly.
Wash Process:
- Wash vehicle using standard wash procedures with a slight addition. During the TFR pre- spray stage, apply product slightly higher up the vehicle than normal and make sure all door handles and bonnet catch have received an application.
- Rinse TFR.
- Continue as normal with shampoo wash, rinse and dry.
- To ensure additional decontamination to touch points, spray Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Sanitiser onto door handles, fuel filler, boot handle and bonnet catch. The product requires two minutes contact time to work effectively.
- After two minutes, use a green microfibre to wipe all surfaces. Cloth must then be stored for laundering.
Interior Clean Process:
- Vacuum interior to remove excess dirt from seats, carpets prior to clean.
- If vehicle interior has medium to heavy dirt, pre-clean first with Clean All and or Interior Cleaner. If light dirt only, proceed to step 3.
- Using Anti-Bacterial Multi Surface Sanitiser, spray directly onto all interior surfaces from highest points, working downwards paying attention to touch points such as the grab handles, vanity/rear view mirrors, steering wheel, indicator/windscreen wiper stalks gear lever, handbrake, seatbelt buckles and door handles. For sensitive touch screen infotainment, use Glass Spray.
- The product requires two minutes contact time to work effectively so once upper areas , dashboard and controls have been applied to, use a green microfibre to wipe all surfaces starting at the first point of application.
- Once the upper surfaces are completed, repeat the application on the seats and full door card.
- Repeat throughout the vehicle. Once sanitised the vehicle is now ready for valeting using standard product and methods.
- Store used microfibres and launder for further use.
