Rooms, homes and vehicles
Disinfection after illness or infection
After a serious illness, a death from an infection or a mess of bodily fluids, you may want a room properly disinfected before anyone uses it again. A cleanup company can do that and explain what it used.
Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
What disinfecting actually involves
Surfaces are cleaned first, because dirt and fluids stop a disinfectant from working. Then the product goes on and has to stay wet for its full contact time.
The EPA registers disinfectants and checks that they work as their labels say. A label lists the germs the product is approved against. For anything not listed, the EPA has not reviewed whether it works (EPA).
Questions to ask
- Which product will you use, and what does its label say it kills?
- What is the contact time, and how will you keep surfaces wet for it?
- What happens to soft things like mattresses, curtains and upholstery?
- When can people and pets use the room again?
A company should be able to answer these plainly. If the answer is that one product kills everything, ask to see the label.
What this page does not cover
Public health questions about a disease, such as who else may have been exposed, belong with a doctor or the health department. A cleanup company cleans and disinfects. It does not give medical advice.
Other situations
- Crime scene cleanupAfter an assault, a shooting or a homicide, once the police have released the home.Read more
- Unattended deathA death at home that went unnoticed for days.Read more
- After a suicideCleanup handled by people outside the family, at a pace you set.Read more
- Blood and bodily fluidsInjuries, falls and accidents that left blood on floors or furniture.Read more
- Hoarding with biohazardsHomes where waste, spoiled food or animal mess has built up.Read more
- Vehicle cleanupBlood or bodily fluids in a car, truck or van.Read more
When you are ready, call
You will speak with an independent cleanup company that works in and around Minneapolis. Describe what happened in your own words and ask what they would do. You decide whether to go ahead.
Talk to a cleanup company
Call (612) 493-4397Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Calls may be recorded. More in the referral disclosure and privacy policy.