Leaning into Electrostatic Sprayers: How the Pandemic Changed the Way We Disinfect

There is no question; the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone, from how we do business to how we think about the spread of illnesses. The effects will be felt for a long time to come. For the cleaning and disinfection industry, the public’s attention on infection prevention and public health has never been greater. People are looking beyond aesthetics and while they want safe, clean spaces, they also want to use disinfectants responsibly.

How are businesses finding this balance? One example is the wide adoption of touchless surface disinfection technologies, such as electrostatic sprayers. These devices allow businesses to target specific surfaces (think high risk, high touch), or all surfaces in an area (e.g., restrooms), efficiently and effectively. Operators can disinfect surfaces in a matter of seconds while using less disinfectant overall. In fact, some electrostatic sprayers can disinfect four times faster and use up to 65% less disinfectant compared with traditional trigger sprayers. This is due to the even coating and efficiency of the charged droplets. This means fewer bottles, fewer refills, less potential surface impact, less disinfectant, lower overall cost, and less time spent disinfecting. As with most things, less is truly more.

Clorox® first launched an electrostatic device in March 2017. While the technology had previously been successfully used in industries such as agriculture and inkjet printing, electrostatics were new to the surface disinfection space. In the first two years, electrostatic devices were primarily used in the education, automotive, healthcare, and office industries.  Over the past 17 months, electrostatic sprayers have become increasingly popular. Clorox now offers devices in all shapes and sizes, to accommodate all types of usage occasions, including carts, backpacks, and handheld devices.

As the pandemic progressed, more and more businesses began adopting touchless disinfection technologies. In an effort to better understand which businesses and industries were mobilizing electrostatic devices in their surface disinfection arsenal and how use has changed since before the pandemic, we took a deep dive into our current electrostatic users. Results showed that while electrostatic devices are still very popular in schools, offices, and healthcare, they are becoming increasingly popular across a spectrum of various public spaces and facilities. In total, we found that 72 new industries began using electrostatics since the beginning of the pandemic. Businesses of all sizes, from family-owned restaurants and independent daycare centers to large companies like United, Live Nation, and the NBA have adopted electrostatic technology into their regular disinfecting practices to ensure their facilities are as safe and healthy as possible.

Here is what we found:

As highlighted recently by the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Robert R. Redfield, “when we’re talking about making sure high-touch surfaces are disinfected and actually safe to touch, I certainly recommend electrostatic sprayers over non-automated options – the improved surface coverage makes a big difference when it comes to deactivating virus particles.”¹

To learn more about which type of electrostatic devices are best for your facility, visit https://www.cloroxpro.com/products/electrostatic-technology/

^{1. Dr. Redfield interview from July 2021}