There's a whole lot of research and information available online about cleaning vs sanitizing. We encourage you to take a look for yourself. 


If I could sum it up, the general consensus is that you need to clean first which removes dirt, debris and therefore the places that most of the bacteria live. Pink Solution is a cleaner, which does a great job at cleaning. In addition to removing the places where bacteria live, cleaning is generally thought to kill 'most' of the bacteria on a surface through friction and the ingredients of the cleaner, but not 100%. In most cases,cleaning is sufficient, but not for things like raw chicken or meat on a cutting board. 


The next step for some is disinfecting. Disinfecting can kill most (many say 99%) of the bacteria, but only if done properly. The key to good disinfecting - other than making sure the surface is clean first - is to use the right disinfectant and to let it sit on the surface for enough time to kill the bacteria. The most common choice, but not necessarily best for the planet, is to use a mix of bleach with water (about 5ml/1teaspoon per 500ml of room temperature water). If you put this in a spray bottle, spray the surface and let it sit for 10 minutes, it works to kill about 99% of bacteria. According to the research, bleach left in a water bottle is only effective for about 24 hours so you can't mix it and keep using it for weeks.


The next option for disinfecting is to use vinegar and water followed by hydrogen peroxide. This is somewhat better for the planet than bleach, but is a 2-step process that takes time and energy.