Service is finished, it is 2330, you have a 0600 start and the galley is a war zone. The chef has gone to bed. You could spray everything with sanitiser, wipe it off with the cloth in your hand, and call it done. That is not a clean; that is a smear of diluted bacteria on a shiny surface.
Cleaning is not disinfection
| Term | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cleaning | Removes visible soil - food debris, grease, dirt - using a detergent. Does not kill bacteria |
| Disinfection | Reduces bacteria to a safe level, using heat or a chemical disinfectant. Does not remove soil |
| Sanitiser | A combined product that does both - but only if you clean first |
| Sterilisation | Kills all micro-organisms. Not achievable in a galley |
The key point: disinfectant does not work on a dirty surface. Organic soil deactivates it. You must clean first, then disinfect. And the disinfectant must be at the correct dilution and left for its contact time - typically 30 seconds to 5 minutes depending on the product. Wiping it straight off is the most common mistake in catering, and it achieves nothing.
The six-stage cleaning process
- Pre-clean - scrape, sweep, wipe away loose debris and gross soil.
- Main clean - hot water and detergent, agitate to lift grease and remaining soil.
- Rinse - remove detergent and loosened soil (detergent inactivates many disinfectants).
- Disinfect - apply the disinfectant at correct dilution; observe the contact time.
- Final rinse - if the product requires it, with potable water.
- Dry - air dry where possible, or use a clean, dedicated, disposable cloth. Wet surfaces breed bacteria.
Where to be strict
- Food-contact surfaces - boards, benches, knives, slicers, probes, can openers, ice scoops.
- Hand-contact surfaces - the ones people forget: fridge handles, taps, oven doors, light switches, bin lids, phones, tablets, salt and pepper mills, service trolley handles.
- Cloths - single-use or colour-coded and laundered hot. A damp cloth left on the bench overnight is an incubator.
- The dishwasher is your best disinfection tool: a proper machine wash at 82 degrees C rinse disinfects thermally. Manual washing-up in a two-sink system: wash at 50-55 degrees C in detergent, rinse/disinfect at 82 degrees C with a rack, then air dry.
Clean-as-you-go and the schedule
Clean as you go is the working discipline: clear and clean between tasks, especially between raw and ready-to-eat. Alongside it, the yacht needs a written cleaning schedule:
| Element | Example |
|---|---|
| What | Fridge interior, shelves and seals |
| When/frequency | Weekly, and after any spill |
| Who | Named crew member |
| How | Six-stage; product X at 1:100; 5 min contact |
| Chemical, dilution, PPE | Product, dose, gloves, ventilation |
| Signed and dated | Initial and date on completion |
The schedule is a due diligence record. It is also how a rotating yacht crew keeps a standard when the person who knew the standard leaves.
Verification: check the work - visual inspection, ATP swabs where the yacht uses them, and a supervisor sign-off. A schedule nobody checks decays within a month.
Onboard Notes
Galley chemicals live in a locker, and that locker must be away from and below food, clearly labelled, never decanted into drinks bottles - a bottle of degreaser in the fridge door is a real incident that has happened on real yachts. Watch ventilation when using strong disinfectants in a sealed galley at sea, and never mix products (bleach plus acid produces chlorine gas). Deep-clean the extraction filters, the ice machine and the fridge seals on schedule; they are out of sight and they are where the audit will look first.
Scope note: xplor is not an approved centre or an accredited training provider. This lesson is preparatory study only - no certificate and no regulated qualification is awarded here, and the Level 2 food safety award must be sat and assessed with an approved centre of a regulated awarding organisation.