The coronavirus has presented many challenges across the United States, impacting every business and profession in unique ways – ours included. During the time of mandatory shut down we used our time to investigate safe methods of reopening and what was working for other similar large scale industries. Clearly, the method that was the hands down winner was a method using electrostatic disinfecting.

Electrostatic spraying involves creating positive charged particles to adhere tighter to surfaces all around. In the case of a door knob, it does not just spray the contact surface, it also “wraps” around the backside and into the crevices. Same for faucets, remote controls, door pulls, etc. It is the #1 method currently used by airlines, schools, manufacturing, etc. The process has been used for years in painting with the common knowledge term “powder coating”. Recently, technology has now brought this electronic marvel to the hospitality sector and we are proud to provide this as a service to our guests.

Because we jumped in on this so quickly, we were able to procure one for ourselves in the anticipation of a market shortage. Sure enough, the same system we paid $1500 for now is sold out and being sold on eBay for $5 – 9,000. Waiting on backlogs puts delivery sometime out in Sept or Oct. 2020.

Our guests can relax knowing that we were ahead of the curve and took immediate steps to protect them as well as our staff. If you are debating on where to stay for your vacation – make sure you ask the hotel/motel/resort “What do you use to decontaminate your rooms in between stays?” If they simply tell you they wipe down surfaces with Lysol or some other method do yourself a favor, hang up and call us. If a business is not willing to invest in your safety – do you really want to stay with them and put your family at risk?

Additionally, you may hear other comforting solutions given as an answer and we will now show you why those are not sufficient.
Starting with the ozone machine.

Will an Ozone Generator protect us from COVID-19?

No, do not use ozone generators in occupied spaces. When used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants. Combine this with the fact that ozone in concentration can be dangerous to humans. They are handy for removing cigarette smoke, fish fryer smell, etc. but beyond that they are fairly useless when used for viruses.

What about UVC?

At this point in time (11 May 2020) there is no evidence that UVC will kill Covid 19 although it is strongly believed to do so as it is effective against other coronaviruses. Having said that, here is what is known. It is horribly dangerous to human skin and can pose a great danger to personnel not familiar in the safe handling of using it. According to the BBC:

In a recent study – which looked at whether UVC could be used to disinfect PPE – the authors found that, while it is possible to kill the virus this way, in one experiment it needed the highest exposure out of hundreds of viruses that have been looked at so far. The amount of ultraviolet required varied widely, depending on factors such as the shape and type of material the virus was on.  

“UVC is really nasty stuff – you shouldn’t be exposed to it,” says Arnold. “It can take hours to get sunburn from UVB, but with UVC it takes seconds. If your eyes are exposed… you know that gritty feeling you get if you look at the sun? It’s like that times 10, just after a few seconds.”

We are so committed to our guests safety and to the success of our business, we did not hesitate to purchase an electrostatic disinfector.

When combined with an FDA certified N type disinfectant the kill rate for coronavirus is less than 5 seconds. It is inert and safe for all guests and pets, harmless to fabrics and surfaces and does what it is supposed to do. Kill the coronavirus.

So when you are deciding on where to book your next vacation ask yourself a simple question. “Do I want to take a chance on making my family sick on our next trip or do we want to stay some place where they put the customers and their staff first?”

Hunter’s Friend is the obvious choice. Call us at 800 338 2842 to book your next stress free vacation.