# Which Process Kills All Microbial Life, Including Spores?

> Sterilization is the process that destroys all microbial life, including bacterial spores — a level of decontamination that disinfecting alone doesn't reach.

Canonical: https://fadejunkie.com/practice/sanitation/sterilization-destroys-spores  
Last updated: 2026-08-11

**The answer is sterilization. It's the top tier of decontamination, the only process that wipes out all microbial life, spores included.**

Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting form a real hierarchy below it: cleaning removes visible debris, sanitizing knocks germs down to a safe level, and disinfecting kills most (but not all) pathogens on surfaces. Sterilization is the only one of the four that's built to also take out spores.

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