5 July 2021

What is a pro-biotic cleaner? 

Pro-biotic cleaners work by depositing ‘good’ bacteria onto a surface, which in turn digests the harmful bacteria, fats and dirt that may be present. The ‘good’ bacteria then continue to live on the cleaned surface. Therefore, because of the bacterial residue left behind, these cleaners cannot be identified as disinfectants.

How do you know that a pro-biotic cleaner works? 

European test methods, used to check whether a disinfectant works, are a recognised and effective way of knowing you can trust a formulated disinfectant product. As pro-biotic cleaners contain microorganisms as part of their cleaning mechanism, and the EN test methods use microorganisms to challenge the products, it means that performing these test methods, both bactericidal and virucidal, on pro-biotic cleaners is extremely difficult. 

How do the producers of pro-biotic cleaners back up their claims? 

Pro-biotic cleaners are becoming more and more popular. As they are not disinfectants, some of the claims, especially virucidal and, more importantly in the current pandemic, COVID 19 claims, must be backed up with fact. It Is therefore very important for the customer to request test details and results and always check the labels for recognised standards. For example, Evans Vanodine disinfectants pass the industry recognised bactericidal European test methods EN 1276, EN 1650 or EN 13697 and, to support COVID 19 claims, pass the viricidal European test methods EN 14476 and EN 16777.

The ingredients in most pro-biotic cleaners are slow acting and the product relies on residual action for its efficacy. In high traffic areas and areas which are constantly wet, such as bathrooms and kitchens, residual action is very difficult to maintain, as the residue is either removed by touch or washed away. 

All Evans Vanodine claims, both bactericidal and viricidal are backed up with accredited test reports, which our customers can request a copy of at any time. We also produce microbiological profiles for all our biocidal products, enabling customers to find out if our products are effective against any cleaning and disinfection issues they may come across. Our experienced technical team are always available and ready to answer any of your queries.

Evans Vanodine Technical Team
July 2021

You can download a copy of this statement HERE.