Cleaning vs. Sanitizing vs. Disinfecting - What’s the Difference? ✨CLEAN: Removing dirt, stains and grime. Similar to how using soap and water and washing hands removes germs and washing them down the drain, spraying a surface with a cleaner and wiping it clean is cleaning it. ✨SANITIZE: Kills bacteria on surfaces. ✨DISINFECT: Kills bacteria and viruses on surfaces. Let’s use cleaning a kitchen sink as an example – when you scrub the sink with dish soap and a sponge or scrub brush, you are CLEAN