Whenever you walk into class, you’re presented with a task, disinfect your desk, and get ready for class. However, sometimes you’re then hit with a dilemma, do you use wipes or spray? Though it wasn’t always this way, at the start of the year we only had one option, the wipes. However, as supply dwindled, the school had to change its tactics to a more abundant one, thus leaving us with the spray. This is a topic that impacts us, students, every day, no matter your grade, age, or gender, you have to disinfect your desk, which is why it is so important that we discuss this issue. However, there is a choice that stands out above the other. When cleaning your chair, wipes are unequivocally better than the spray because of their simplicity and standardization.

    First of all, the exact method of using the spray isn’t concrete, I’ve been told by some that you spray the table/chair then wipe with a dry paper towel, others have told me that you spray the paper towel and wipe it down from there. 

     Either method of using the spray has its downsides. When spraying a paper towel, half of the liquid lands on the paper towel, the over half disperses into the air around us, thus making it a bear to get enough of the solution on the paper towel to do a full wipe down of the chair and desk without going for seconds. Furthermore, when you want to go back for a second helping, someone else has already taken the spray. By that point, you’re back in line again. The second option is spraying down your desk then wiping it up with the towel, in concept it sounds good right, little to none of the liquid is wasted and you’re able to use as much as you like to fully cover your desk. However, the main issue when it comes to option two is time, it takes around 30-45 seconds per person to just spray down their desk. This rather small time gap adds up over time, and if you’re in the back of the line in a class or 5 or more, you have to wait a while before you can even touch the spray and begin cleaning. To make matters worse, the effectiveness of the spray solution could be questioned, according to the manufacturer, “Surfaces must remain wet for 1 minute to eliminate viruses” however, I know that many people, including me, just spray the solution and wipe almost immediately, making the whole process almost null and void.

   The wipes avoid all of these problems effortlessly, you just grab a cloth, wipe down your desk, and move on with your day. No wasted solution, no waiting in line for minutes at a time just to use a spray bottle, nothing. It even solves the problem of wiping the solution prematurely, without a paper towel to absorb the disinfectant, it stays on a surface longer disinfecting a surface to the best of its ability.

    In the end, one can only hope that this shortage ends soon so that we’ll be able to clean our desks efficiently once again.