What to Use to Disinfect Surfaces at Home
You might think that you are safe inside the house, but there are so many surfaces in your home that could be harbouring germs. Social distancing and washing your hands frequently is one of the best steps you can take, but the virus can still cling to surfaces you carry with you into your sanctuaries, like your clothes, shoes, debit card and even your phone
Cleaning products like Clorox, Lysol, Microban, hydrogen peroxide and Maquat products to sanitize all the surfaces in your home are greatly advocated for. Make sure you focus on cleaning all the doorknobs, countertops and other high-traffic areas during your deep clean.
Here are five ways to keep your home sanitized from the coronavirus, and other areas and items you should disinfect:
· Use disinfectant wipes to quickly clean down surfaces
Think about the things you touch multiple times a day -doorknobs, sinks, cabinet handles, refrigerator doors, and remote controls – and how many germs are lingering on those surfaces that you may not think about. Since home is where you’re most relaxed, you may not be as militant about washing your hands in your own space as you are in public places.
To keep the germs at bay, use a disinfectant wipe, like Clorox Wipes, Lysol Wipes or Purell Wipes, to quickly sanitize those areas. Once or twice a day should do the trick to remove germs, but if someone in your house is sick, you may want to wipe down surfaces more frequently. After you wipe the area, let it air dry to give it time to kill any bacteria that could linger.
· Clean surfaces with a disinfectant spray
For areas like your couch and carpet that can’t be wiped down, you can use a disinfectant spray, like Lysol, to go after unseen germs. Spray in a sweeping motion to cover the entire surface, then let it completely dry before sitting down or walking on the surface.
You can also spray down countertops, mattresses and tables. If you’re out of wipes, you can also aim your disinfecting spray into a paper towel to wipe down sink handles and other smaller surfaces.
· Use a bleach mixture to clean floors
Your shoes step on a lot of gross stuff during the day and if you don’t take them off when you come into the house, you could track in viruses and other germs. To clean the floors in your kitchen and bathroom, the CDC recommends using 1 cup of bleach mixed with 5 gallons of water to mop your floors.
Note that you’ll need to use a different disinfectant for porous floors – for example, if you use bleach on hardwood, it can remove the stain colour. Instead, use a disinfecting wet mop cloth on your hardwood floors or combine half a cup of white vinegar and 1 gallon of water.
· Clean up with hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide isn’t only effective for whitening teeth — in fact, the CDC says that 3% hydrogen peroxide was able to inactivate rhinovirus within eight minutes. When you pour the substance directly on surfaces like your sink, countertops or toilets, you’ll need to let it soak for around 10 to 15 minutes. This will give it time to completely do its job. After you let it sit, scrub the area and then rinse with water.
It’s also safe to clean your toothbrush with hydrogen peroxide since the bristles can harbour bacteria.
Other household items you should consider disinfecting:
· Your computer keyboard and mouse
· Speakers
· TV remote and TV buttons
· All frequently used electronics, like tablets and phones·
Debit cards
These are crazy times. Stay safe everyone🕊
(Information found on www.cnet.com)
