---
title: "ULV Fogging — Commercial Cleaning Glossary"
description: "ULV fogging atomizes disinfectant into droplets small enough to settle on every surface in a room. Used for medical, school, and post-outbreak sanitization."
canonical: https://www.commercialcleaningsd.com/glossary/ulv-fogging/
---

 GLOSSARY · Methods & Equipment 

#  ULV Fogging ULV 

 Ultra-low-volume fogging — a sanitization method that atomizes disinfectant into a fine aerosol so it coats every surface in a room, including overhead and behind-equipment areas. 

## Detailed definition

Ultra-low-volume (ULV) fogging is a delivery method, not a chemical. A ULV fogger pushes liquid disinfectant through a nozzle that breaks it into droplets between 5 and 50 microns — small enough to behave like an aerosol and drift through a room, coating every horizontal, vertical, and overhead surface, but large enough to settle within a few minutes instead of hanging indefinitely.

The reason ULV exists is coverage. A spray bottle and microfiber towel disinfects what the tech can see and reach; a ULV fog reaches the top of the cubicle walls, the underside of desk overhangs, the back of the cooler, the dispatch console wiring, the ceiling-mounted IT gear. For a room recovering from a flu outbreak, a norovirus event, or a post-construction cleanup, that coverage is the entire point.

The chemistry CCSD typically loads into the fogger is one of three families: a quaternary ammonium compound (food-service safe at the right dilution), a hydrogen peroxide / accelerated peroxide blend (faster contact kill, no residue), or a hypochlorite solution (highest kill claim, but corrosive to electronics and metals — used selectively). The product has to appear on [EPA List N (opens in new tab)](https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/about-list-n-disinfectants-coronavirus-covid-19-0)to be a credible disinfectant claim against viral pathogens.

Dwell time matters more with fogging than with manual wiping. The label on every disinfectant specifies a contact time — 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes — during which the surface must stay visibly wet. ULV fogging gets the chemical onto the surface; the dwell time is what actually kills the pathogens.

We use ULV after construction cleanups, in medical and dental offices on a scheduled cadence, in schools after outbreaks, and in restaurants on a programmable interval as part of pest and pathogen control.

HOW WE HELP

## Related Commercial Cleaning of San Diego services

* [ Sanitization & Disinfection Electrostatic spray + EPA-approved disinfectants. Medical, restaurant, school, public spaces.](/services/sanitization/)

RELATED TERMS

## See also

* [ EPA List N ](/glossary/epa-list-n/)
* [ Quats ](/glossary/quaternary-ammonium-compounds/)
* [ NaOCl ](/glossary/sodium-hypochlorite/)
* [ 29 CFR 1910.1030 ](/glossary/osha-bloodborne-pathogen-standard/)

AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES

## External references

* [ EPA List N (disinfectants for SARS-CoV-2)  (opens in new tab) ](https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/about-list-n-disinfectants-coronavirus-covid-19-0)

##  Need help applying ULV to your business? 

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