Public spaces, even those we think should be the cleanest, like hotel rooms and care home resident rooms, can harbor unsafe bacteria and mold growth. Even with consistent housekeeping schedules, some surfaces just can’t be easily sanitized. The culprit; “un-washable” soft surfaces like upholstered furniture, curtains, mattresses, duvets, throw pillows, and rugs. Research has shown that nearly three-quarters of nursing homes have been cited for lapses in infection control, more than any other type of health violation1. In addition, travel experts often warn against touching hotel carpets because the number of germs harbored there can be up to 200,000 bacteria per square inch, which is thousands of times more than what lives on the average toilet seat.

That’s why P&G Professional, the away-from-home division of Procter & Gamble, developed its new Febreze® Professional Concentrated Sanitizing Fabric Refresher, the first formula to sanitize, prevent mold and mildew growth and remove odors from soft surfaces leaving nothing behind but the fresh scent of Febreze. It also kills 99.9 percent of bacteria, and when used as directed, is effective against 16 types of bacteria providing a sanitizing solution for high-touch, but little washed soft surfaces.

“Soft surfaces have always presented a challenge for our customers, who want to eliminate germs to help protect their guests, but do not want to damage the surfaces or leave behind a harsh scent. Until now there has not been a soft surface solution that kills 99.9 percent of bacteria and provides odor eliminating technology with the freshness of Febreze,” said Paul Edmondson, Commercial Director, North America, P&G Professional. “Nearly half of Healthcare surfaces alone are soft surfaces, harboring harmful bacteria. Now, professionals can safely sanitize those surfaces while leaving behind the fresh scent of Febreze.”

The EPA-registered formula is ideal for healthcare, hospitality, educational, and even office settings that have public spaces and high concentrations of people and are filled with ‘un-washable’ soft surfaces like sofas and chairs, rugs, duvets, bedspreads, and decorative pillows - all of which can harbor harmful bacteria.

About Febreze Professional Sanitizing Fabric Refresher

Febreze Professional Concentrated Sanitizing Fabric Refresher has a dwell time of five minutes and is available in a one (1) gallon concentrate (case of 2), one (1) gallon ready-to-use (case of 3) and 32 oz ready-to-use spray (case of 8). The product is sold through distributors and is available online. When used as directed, Febreze Professional Concentrated Sanitizing Fabric Refresher kills 16 types of soft surface bacteria, including: Staphylococcus aureus; Enterobacter aerogenes; Community Acquired Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); Hospital Acquired Staphylococcus aureus; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Salmonella enterica; Staphylococcus epidermidis; Proteus mirabilis; Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus faecalis; Vancomycin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRS1); Klebsiella pneumoniae; MDR Acinetobacter baumannii; Enterococcus faecalis; NDM-1Escherichia coli; NDM-1 Klebsiella pneumoniae; NDM-1 Enterobacter cloaca.

About Procter & Gamble Professional

P&G Professional is the away-from-home division of Procter & Gamble, serving the foodservice, building cleaning and maintenance, healthcare, hospitality, food/drug/mass, and convenience store industries. P&G Professional offers complete solutions utilizing its parent company's scale, trusted brands and strengths in market and consumer understanding. P&G Professional features such brands as Tide Professional®, Dawn Professional®, Cascade Professional®, Mr. Clean Professional®, Febreze® Professional, Swiffer® Professional, Comet®, Spic and Span®, Bounty®, Safeguard®, and its own brand, P&G Pro Line®. Please visit www.pgpro.com for the latest information about P&G Professional's solutions and services.

About Procter & Gamble

P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.