As we muddle through another flu season, keeping things clean remains an effective way to stay healthy. But cleaning alone isnt always enough when it comes to the microscopic germs that can make us sicksometimes you have to sanitize and disinfect, as well.Theres a defined difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting, and a right and wrong way to go about them. Here are the highlights, with guidance from the CDC.Cleaning vs. sanitizing vs. disinfectingFirst, let's discuss the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting, as defined by the CDC:Cleaning involves physically removing dirt, debris, and (some) germs from surfaces. This is typically done with soap or other cleaners, water, and a little scrubbing (hence the "physical" part). Cleaning only scrapes away some of the germs that can make you sick, but this is often sufficient to stay healthy in generalthe germs left on a dinner plate after you wash it in the sink are usually safe as long as youre in good health.Sanitizing greatly reduces the germs on a surface, leaving behind a level thats considered safe. Most sanitizers kill bacteria, but they arent necessarily intended to kill viruses (though they often can kill some).Disinfecting kills everythingboth bacteria and viruses.An important distinction to remember is that sanitizers and disinfectants dont clean very wellthat is, they will kill most or all of the germs, but might not do a very good job of removing dirt and debris. If you only use hand sanitizer, for example, your hands might be sanitized, but they might also still be dirty.When to clean, sanitize, and disinfectSince cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are different things, it makes sense that you should treat them as such. Here's when to do each:Clean everything regularlyevery day. In fact, the order of germ-killing operations always starts with cleaning (removing debris and dirt), as you cant as effectively sanitize or disinfect a dirty surface. Cleaning should always comes first when you want to sanitize or disinfect something.Sanitize surfaces and objects that touch food or might end up in your mouth after every use when you're concerned about illnesses.Disinfect surfaces if youre sick (or someone else in the house is sick), or if you or someone in the home has a compromised immune system.In other words, you normally dont need to disinfect every day, but you do need to clean and sanitize specific things every day.Check your product labelsIf you want to sanitize or disinfect a surface, youll need to use a cleaning product thats appropriate to the taskbut dont put too much faith in labels. Many sanitizing products will claim they kill 99% or even 99.9% of germs, but this is usually deceptive. What they mean is that they kill 99.9% of certain bacteria and viruses. Even then, they usually dont give you any information as to the conditions under which those tests were performed underthat is, how thoroughly the surfaces were cleaned or how the product was applied.That doesnt mean sanitizers are useless, but it does mean that you shouldnt assume your home is antiseptic and completely germ-free after you use them. If you want to really kill the most bacteria and viruses as possible, you shouldnt rely solely on a sanitizing product, even if it has that shiny 99.9% claim.If youre disinfecting, make sure you read the label and follow the instructions. Most products require you to leave the disinfectant on the surface for a prolonged period of time (sometimes as long as 20 minutes) to ensure full efficacy. If you just spray and wipe, youre probably not really disinfecting. If youre looking at a sanitizer or disinfectant that uses isopropyl alcohol, also make sure its a 70% strength mixture (as opposed to a 99% alcohol mixture)the lower strength, counterintuitively, is the sweet spot for disinfecting.