Pure Maintenance Patented Equipment VS Backpack or Handheld Sprayers and the Stuff They Use

At the recent Directors Club meeting, it was requested that the licensees have access to a document to list the pros and cons of the Pure Maintenance dry fog equipment vs a Company that simply purchased a backpack sprayer, then purchased a disinfectant, and began disinfection. It is important to understand the distinction of whole house mold remediation vs disinfecting surfaces.
A true or legitimate “dry-fog” is defined by industry standard as less than 10 microns droplet/particle size. Very few claim to be smaller than 10 microns, and even fewer of them can produce a sub 10 droplet. A typical backpack sprayer or handheld sprayer is in the range of 30-50 (minimum) microns.

It is important to understand that we are not attempting to get our PAA (peracetic acid) to “land” on anything. We do not spray PAA, we Fog PAA. It is a completely different approach than, for example, spraying things with Lysol.

Advantages of our equipment vs competitors:

Our dry fog system was built for “whole house” treatment. (not for spot treatment). It is very important to understand that you cannot successfully return home to healthy status by spot treating mold. A traditional mold remediator wants or needs to go into a customer's home and find where it is Wet and Black (or brown or white or green). They will remove the wet, sometimes remove the black, and sometimes treat, with a sprayer, the remaining skeleton of the area before rebuilding. All this was performed under the contained plastic, duct tape, and doubled-up twisty ties. Pure Maintenance maintains that the entire home needs to be addressed and cannot return to healthy status until this occurs. It would be very difficult if not impossible to treat a whole home with a backpack sprayer.

Certainly, it would be ineffective for the following reasons:

• PM Dry fog creates a Vapor State, which is critically important for “whole home disinfection” This cannot be achieved with a backpack sprayer.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA offers better dispersion which equates to much more surface contact. A sprayer will treat horizontal surfaces, and whatever else you can make wet with the spray. The dry fog treatment disinfects the air, the furnishings, and all surfaces in the home. 90 percent of which cannot be reached or should not be wetted by a spray.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA creates vapor pressure which evens out the coverage, additionally, it pushes the AI into all areas of the home. Cannot be achieved with a backpack sprayer.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA can contact hard-to-reach places that people and sprayers cannot reach. i.e. light fixtures, ceiling lights, under tables, behind appliances and cabinetry, crawl spaces, and attics. Cannot be achieved with a sprayer.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA produces much less moisture on surfaces. I recently was at a bid in the Southern States, at a school, in which the competitor had the school cover all keyboards, computers, TVs, sound equipment, and electronics before they came in and sprayed a thymol based disinfectant. Incidentally, Thymol has been recently linked to nervous system disorders. I am curious what the Company would have told the School when they reported that there was still mold on the keyboards, computers, TVs, sound equipment, and electronics. And for that matter, all surfaces that could not be reached with the wet backpack sprayer.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA is safe! It is not a phenol, chlorine, or benzyl (containing a benzyl ring) It does not create formaldehyde, or off-gas poisons, or heavy metals.
• PM Dry Fogging PAA has Superior biocidal/fungicidal activity (in the range of 4-5 log kill, meaning 99.999 percent,) Products that are used in sprayers are far less effective.
• Peracetic acid decomposes to water, and oxygen, quickly. Although some studies show it is a respiratory irritator, the fact that the home is vacant, and the technicians use proper PPE makes this argument completely moot. This is not the case for the products used in backpack sprayers. A pine oil-based disinfectant has been shown to break down to formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen. Chlorine bleach is an asthma sensitizer, and phenols or ortho- phenyl phenol OPP are known to cause cancer.
• Dry fogging PAA particles float in the air for an extended amount of time due to a few things, one of which is the Brownian Motion concept. Brownian motion is the random movement of particles suspended in a liquid or gas. Other physics at work are dispersion, evaporation, and vapor pressure. This simply cannot be achieved with a backpack sprayer.
• Dry Fogging PAA system disrupts sulfhydrl and sulfur bonds in proteins and enzymes. This is one of the only things that will come close to reducing mycotoxins.
• Dry Fogging PAA system penetrates the outer cell membrane of all micro-organisms in the entire space. Sprayers using disinfectants either off-gas to kill the membrane, or cause the micro-organism to mutate. Both of which can lead to the “super bug” concern in society.
• Other methods of disinfection include surface wiping, which does not come into contact with all surfaces, thus micro-organisms growth occurs after wipe down. Additionally, “Quat Binding” has been proven as a real downside of spraying and wiping. The Quarternary compound is literally attracted to the microfiber, or terry cloth, so when someone surface sprays, then wipes, they are literally wiping the Active Ingredient off of the surface. Look up quat binding for an interesting afternoon.

Hopefully, all can see the inherent weaknesses of subpar equipment, and subpar products, and subpar processes. Pure Maintenance is recommended by hundreds of healthcare practitioners around the world, and that number is increasing daily. Be proud that you are an important part of a Company that was the First and is the Best at whole home mold remediation.