How to disinfect your home properly to prevent coronavirus infection?
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The spread of the coronavirus disease, or COVID-19 virus, is becoming an increasingly global problem. Most of us are staying home and the real question is how to disinfect your home properly to prevent coronavirus infection? Cleaning and proper disinfection of the surfaces in your household, can prevent you and your family members from getting Covid-19. With the growing concerns about the spread of corona viruses, experts are announcing how often you should clean your home and which products are best for protecting your family. Many disease control centers recommend that people take every precaution to keep touch-sensitive surfaces in homes clean.
You have already heard it a million times – wash your hands with soap and water, wear a mask and gloves if you need to go out, avoid communication with many people, reduce or stop any social contacts and stay at home, if you can. As reasonable as it sounds, how can we isolate ourselves from the world? Some of us still need to go to work, we all need to buy food or go to the pharmacy. Due to the fact that Covid-19 is spread by droplets caused by coughing or sneezing, by saliva, by close contact and contaminated surfaces, the fear remains that we may touch infected objects and surfaces. We will give you some household cleaning tips that you may know, but it is not useless to remind them again, because in this case, they are extremely important for us to protect our health and that of our loved ones.
20 second hand washing is truly important. Make sure you wash your hand or use disinfectant frequently, when leaving and returning from the grocery store, pharmacy or work. Dry and cracked skin is at higher risk for all types of infections so apply a moisturizer after washing. Most moisturizing lotions contain similar ingredients, starting with water and glycerin, so the brand doesn’t matter. If your hands are particularly dry, look for a dermatologist who can recommend a suitable remedy.
According to epidemiologists, the coronavirus can be effectively destroyed using cleaning products containing chemical compounds such as: ethanol (between 65 and 70%), hydrogen peroxide (0.5%) or sodium hypochlorite (0.1%). As far as ethyl alcohol is concerned, it is a very effective product for disinfection against viruses and bacteria. It is important to remember that alcohol at 70° is preferable to alcohol at 90°. So, if you want to know how to disinfect the house in case of flu and coronavirus, ethyl alcohol or ethanol is an excellent disinfection product that should not be underestimated.
Of course, you have to be careful because not all surfaces should be cleaned with ethanol. For example, it is not suitable for cleaning electronic devices. You can use ethanol on the toilet seat, all handles and knobs, keys, trash cans, sink, furniture, doors and windows. Remember the precautions when you use these products:
- Ethyl alcohol is highly flammable and should never be used near an open flame;
- The bottle must be carefully closed after use to avoid possible evaporation;
- Store in a safe place and of the reach of children and pets;
- Wear gloves;
- After using it, ventilate the room well;
- Household alcohol and bleach must never be mixed!
How to disinfect your home properly – Clean and disinfect surfaces
It is important to realize that cleaning and disinfecting are two very different things. Clean and then disinfect – this is a simple but efficient 2-step cleaning method – first clean and then go over the surfaces with disinfectant. Health experts recommend that people do both regularly during the pandemic, even when no one is sick in their home. Cleaning removes dirt and contaminants from surfaces while disinfection is aimed to protect you from pathogens by killing them.
It is best if you do both daily when someone has entered or left your home. As per current researches, the novel corona virus can live on surfaces such as cardboard for at least 16 hours, but up to five days on plastic and stainless steel. To clean the surface, you can use vinegar and a microfiber cloth or just hot water. You must then use an alcohol / alcohol based disinfectant with at least 60% alcohol content. You can also use detergents with bleach in them, they are also excellent disinfectants.
What surfaces do you need to clean and disinfect? You need to clean and disinfect all exposed surfaces such as the bathroom and kitchen countertops but we also need to clean those we frequently touch without realizing. Doorknobs, light switches, door handles, handrails, taps, sinks, as well as computer keyboards and mouse pads are included. Use wet wipes, soapy water or a detergent and towel to clean from dust and dirt and then apply a disinfectant. It is important that you do not spray anything directly onto the light switches for your safety! First, spray disinfectant on a cloth and then wipe the surface. Disinfect your smartphone, mobile devices or other items.
Disinfect the floors in your home. The floor areas in an apartment or house are heavily used every day. If you do not take off your shoes or you have pets, there is an additional risk that bacteria and viruses will be introduced from the outside. It is essential that you not only clean your floor surfaces as usual, but also disinfect them properly. Clean and disinfect your surfaces at least once a day and more often when they are used heavily. It is important not to wipe off the disinfectant immediately. Let it work long enough to be able to kill viruses. Make sure that you do not mix household chemicals as they can produce dangerous and toxic gases. Non-porous items such as plastic toys can be dipped in bleach for 30 seconds.
The list of surface and objects that must be disinfected includes:
Remote controls, computer keyboard and mobile phones – these devices are used by the whole family and must be meticulously cleaned and disinfected, especially between buttons.
Towels – hand towels can are real nests for bacteria. In the coronavirus pandemic conditions, it is essential that you change them every day to avoid getting sick. Clean and disinfect laundry baskets as well. If you have a sick person at home, use paper towels and disposable tissues that must be thrown in the trash immediately after use and wash your hands.
Staircase railings – We do not realize that this smooth surface is among the most contaminated in the home and therefore, its disinfection deserves special attention. Generally, just spray it with 70% alcohol.
Window handles and doorknobs, the flush button, the fridge door and the microwave door can transmit many microbes, as well as viruses like the flu. Make sure to disinfect them regularly with a spray of water and white vinegar.
It is very important to regularly disinfect the handle of the toothbrush, either electric or conventional. This is particularly necessary in cases where you share the handle of the electric brush with your partner.
If you have young children, you should be very careful about toys. Clean the toys regularly and don’t let your children share them if one of them is sick.
When disinfecting your household, you should wear disposable gloves and throw them away after each use. The same applies when you remove garbage bags. Wash your hands immediately after removing the gloves.
Use a steam cleaner – steam is an excellent ally in killing germs and removing dust and dirt. Steam cleaners can be used on any waterproof home surface and are a great way to freshen up and protect against germs.
Wash the towels that you use for cleaning and change them frequently. When trying to protect your home from viruses and germs, it is not a good idea to use one cloth to clean all surfaces. You must take a new cloth, sponge or cloth for each surface. If you think the towel can be reused, you can do so, but wash it thoroughly with warm water beforehand.