Disinfectants (Sanitizers)

Disinfection Protection

Means No Bug Infection

Sanitizer Test Strips

Buy Indigo® disinfectant/sanitizers test strips, the brand you can trust for accuracy & technical support. Great unit prices with volume discounts and delivered costs that beat "free" shipping". Optional next day delivery in any quantity of most items.

Choose from 21 Indigo® disinfectant/sanitizer test strips for your specific disinfection & sanitizing needs. All come with 100 test strips/vial and a minimum guaranteed 3 year shelf life (from date of manufacture). We provide Certificates of Analysis & Stability & SDS Statements for all Indigo® test strips; Certificates of Conformance are available on request.

We're a small business that's been on-line since 1994. We've been selling top-of-line, US made test strips since 2007 (Wayback machine verified). Call us toll free at (877)746-4764 for immediate assistance (8-4 EST M-F). Emailed questions are typically answered within an hour. Still not convinced? Click on Description for details.

Indigo® Disinfectant & Sanitizer Test Strips

Why 21 Different Disinfectant/Sanitizer Test Strips? Quaternary ammonium compounds, chlorine-based disinfectants, peracetic acid, chlorine dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide each behave differently in real-world sanitation environments. Indigo® disinfectant/sanitizer test strips account for these differences by pairing chemistry-specific measurement methods with uniform documentation and compliance support across regulated applications. Most come as concentrates for economy & need to be diluted in water. Use our free on-line Dilution Calculator & confirm with Indigo® test strips.

Documentation

Different disinfectant chemistries require different verification approaches due to variations in reaction kinetics, stability, pH dependence, and regulatory acceptance. Indigo® test strips are designed to support accurate, chemistry-specific concentration verification while maintaining consistent documentation, validation, and audit readiness across mixed-chemistry sanitation programs.

If your organization uses disinfectants/sanitizers and has any one or all of these needs:

  • regulatory compliance & audits
  • occupational safety & exposure control oversight
  • GMP compliance requirements
  • contractual & safety compliance expectations
  • formal procurement rules
  • distribution & reseller networks

Indigo® disinfectant/sanitizer test strips will meet both your technical & regulatory requirements!

What our Customers Say

(Real Reviews-Not AI Generated Fakes; Click on the name to view the source at Google.)

Roberta Vigil: Indigo Instruments defines the purpose for the test strips and places them in easy to recognize categories. They are also clear about what type/state of chlorine the strips test, which most sellers don’t make clear. The BONUS is the qty of strips in each vial (100 vs the typical 50), fast and consistently accurate all for a price that beats other sellers!

Ronald Rosenberg: I purchased Indigo Chlorine Test Strips 0-300ppm. The sales person I spoke with was excellent and I received the items exactly when she said I would. Best of all the product was excellent. There was a clear delineation of the colors on the test strip so you could differentiate the different ppm. I would definitely repurchase this item.

Preston West: Prices are very reasonable. I love the selection of educational products. I actually came to this website for practical purposes... It's so nice to have niche things like this outside of Amazon.

Helen Kees The quick and prompt service on my 0 to 10 ppm chlorine test strips is much appreciated. I loved the quality at a cost less than Amazon. But the real deal that drove me to leave a review was that I called back a week or so after receiving the product and asked for spec sheets requested by my organic inspector. I was treated like I had spent a million bucks and the info was at my fingertips within a minute. This kind of service is invaluable.

GoFloat Penticton: We have used hydrogen peroxide test strips from Indigo Instruments for years and they have been extremely dependable. The price is unbeatable, ordering is super simple and the product arrives quickly. Indigo Instruments went out of their way to confirm the test strips are adequate for use within our unique industry and were absolutely amazing to work with.... Thank you Indigo Instruments for being amazing. You've earned my business for life!

Description More Information Technical Instructions/Safety
Chlorine Test Strips

Chlorine & Iodine
Hydrogen Peroxide Test Strips

Hydrogen Peroxide
Quaternary Ammonium Disinfectant Compounds

Quat Test Strips
Peracetic Acid Test Strips

Peracetic Acid
Chlorine Dioxide Test Strips

Chlorine Dioxide
More Information

Chemically Curious?

Indigo® test strips for chemical sanitizers & disinfectants are essential tools in the control of infectious microorganisms. 

Disinfectant chemical structure models

Disinfectant chemical structure models from Indigo® Instruments.
Counterclockwise, from top: benzalkonium; hypochlorite; hydrogen peroxide; chlorine dioxide; peracetic acid.

Indigo® sanitizer & disinfectant test strips are available in all ranges needed to confirm the correct dilution of typical commercially available disinfectant chemicals.

  1. Chlorine & Iodine: 6 ranges for chlorine, 1 iodine
  2. Chlorine Dioxide: 2 ranges
  3. Hydrogen Peroxide: 4 ranges
  4. Peracetic Acid: 4 ranges
  5. Quaternary Ammonium Chloride: 4 ranges

All come with a minimum guaranteed 3 year expiration so stock up & save. No one beats our 10+ price delivered to your door.

General Disinfectant/Sanitizer Test Strip Specifications

  • fast response time-immediate to 20 seconds for most
  • easy to read, accurate color charts
  • white plastic strip backed test pad ensures best contrast color chart comparisons
  • stiff plastic support for dipping into tubes, gaps, etc.
  • 3 year minimum shelf life from date of manufacture if stored properly. (Shown as expiration: yyyy/mm/dd)
  • Certificates of Conformance, Stability Statements & SDS data sheets on-line; Certificates of Analysis available on request.

Sanitizer/Disinfectant Test Strip Use Blogs

Technical

Lab Quantitative vs Semiquantitative Test Strip Results

Test strips are a fast & cheap way quick to ensure sanitizer/disinfectant chemicals are within the 10% accuracy (semiquantitative) range their intended use calls for. More expensive analytical methods such as gas & liquid chromatography, atomic absorption, mass spectrometry, cyclic voltammetry, titration, etc. are needed for accurate quantitative measurements that exceed the 0.5 mg/L to 1 mg/L (0.5 to 1 ppm) limits of the most sensitive test strips.

This limitation needs to be taken account when applied to routine field testing procedures. Regulations that call for 10ppm (10 mg/L) or less for quats & sulfites for example cannot be met with test strips. However, these guidelines are based on the amount of sulfite or quat dissolved in a 100mL sample. The amount found in a thin layer on a potato or knife or cutting board may have a sample size on the order of several µL which works out to parts per billion. Read our blog, Can 10ppm of Sulfite & Quat Really Mean Zero? which explains this further.

Another issue can be expiration dates. 0-200ppm chlorine test papers or 0-50ppm iodine use the potassium iodide method and never go bad, We do include an expiration date on these but solely for stock rotation purposes. More complex test strips are packaged in desiccant lined bottles to extend shelf life & come with a guaranteed 3 year shelf life. However, time is not the real determining factor, so we wrote Test Strip Expiration Dates; Good Today, Dead Tomorrow? to explain further. Bottom line, don't toss out what may be perfectly good test strips based on dates alone.

Most people do their dilutions based on Americans units of teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, quarts & gallons. Actual government standards for concentration-dilution are all calculated in metric units though. So, if you know that 1 part per million (1 ppm) is the same as 1 mg/L or 0.001%, you can use our calculator to dilute your disinfectant chemicals or confirm your test strips are still good, no matter how old they are. If you have access to accurate volume measuring glassware such as a graduated cylinder & your chemical supplier provides you with a dated Certificate of Analysis, you can confidently prepare a calibration solution to check your test strips against. We go into more detail in another blog: Diluting Chlorine, Peroxide or Quat Sanitizers is Easy

Pros & Cons of Popular Disinfectants/Sanitizers

Chlorine and quaternary ammonium disinfectants sanitizers are by far the most popular in food preparation & general healthcare settings. The table below lists their pros & cons. Hydrogen peroxide use is more specialized for things like hot tubs, float tanks and contact lens cleaners where skin/eye sensitivity can be an issue.

Chlorine (sodium hypochlorite)

Pros

  • Effective on a wide variety of bacteria
  • Not affected by hard water
  • Generally inexpensive

Cons

  • Can be corrosive to stainless steel & other metals
  • Can be irritating to the skin
  • Deteriorates over time
  • Loses some activity in the presence of organic matter

 

Iodine

Pros

  • Not affected by hard water
  • Less irritating to the skin than chlorine
  • Activity is not lost rapidly in the presence of organic matter

Cons

  • Effectiveness decreases greatly with increase in pH
  • Should not be used in water > 50°C
  • May also discolor equipment and surfaces

 

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QAC)

Pros

  • Nontoxic, odorless, colorless, noncorrosive, nonirritating
  • Reatively stable in the presence of organic matter
  • Active over a wide pH range

Cons

  • Slower at killing some microorganisms
  • Not compatible with some detergents
  • Not compatible with hard water

 

Hydrogen Peroxide

Pros

  • Safer than Peracidic Acid
  • No disinfection by-products - trihalomethanes
  • Excellent Oxidizer

Cons

  • Surface Residue
  • Doesn't work instantly - needs time to work properly
  • Not as good at sterilization

 

Peracetic Acid

Pros

  • no toxic residues, rinsing not needed
  • works well at freezer/cooler temperatures, good for meat processors
  • potential use with medical devices

Cons

  • corrosive to eyes, skin, respiratory tract
  • strong oxidizer reacts with metals as brass, copper, iron & zinc

 

Chlorine Dioxide

Pros

  • Used at Low Concentrations
  • Low Reactivity with Organic Matter
  • Little Disinfection Byproducts are Formed
  • Effective Bacterial Disinfectant
  • Deactivates Chlorine-resistant Pathogens

Cons

  • Unstable Substance
  • Sufficient Ventilation Required
  • Irritates eyes, skin, lungs
Instructions/Safety

Concentrated Disinfectant Handling

Properly diluted disinfectants are generally safe to handle although protective goggles & gloves are never a bad idea. However, concentrated chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite, food grade hydrogen peroxide (35%), etc. are hazardous. Wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) is recommended when diluting these concentrates.

To be effective, sanitization & disinfection require an initial cleaning to remove food residues. Organics such as oil & protein can harbor bacteria & prevent physical contact & even inactivation of your sanitizer/disinfectant.