Effective microbial decontamination of healthcare equipment, tools and surfaces is imperative in order to prevent the transmission of pathogens among patients, medical staff and visitors. The terminology used to describe microbial decontamination processes, including “sanitizing”, “sanitizing”, “antiseptic” and “sterilization”, is frequently used interchangeably, and the evaluation parameters are often misunderstood. Hence, the main objective of this review is to comprehensively explain the concepts of microbial decontamination, highlight the different types of microbial decontamination in terms of effectiveness of decontamination and how they perform with respect to microbial resistance.