How to Clean Your Home During A Virus
I have been asked several times over the course of the past few months How To Clean Your Home During a virus. In particular, during the COVID 19, Delta & Omnicron Virus that has become a Pandemic. But the same advice can be used for any virus that might be invading your home.
Cleaning our homes looks a little different when we are cleaning to take care of sickness and when we are just cleaning for our weekly cleaning. I have spent many hours making sure that I have answers for my clients with my cleaning company and I am happy I can share with you too.
Steps to clean your home during a virus outbreak
- Change your filter in your HVAC and turn your fan setting on to where it runs continuously. This will keep your air cleaner and make it easier to breathe.
- Wash your sheets every two-three days in hot water. I use a disinfectant during times of sickness in my laundry as well. Washing in hot water is a good start but it doesn’t kill all the germs. I like to use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer when we have sickness in the home. It is important that you wash your sheets and pillowcases often when you have a sick one.
- Don’t reuse towels while sick. I know saving on laundry is important, but when you are sick, don’t reuse towels. Have a basket in your bathroom to throw your handtowels after each use along with your bath towels. This will keep germs from spreading from one hand to another.
- Clean your doorknobs & light switches. Spray your microfiber cloth with a good disinfectant and wipe down the doorknobs and light switches. Do this often during the day if it is in a high traffic place. I suggest praying all the doorknobs before you go to bed and let the solution dry on the doorknobs.
- All Disinfectants work best if you follow the directions given specifically for each cleaner. But in general, disinfectants take time to work. When spraying your bathroom and kitchen, spray all surfaces and let them sit wet for 10 minutes. If you spray and then wipe immediately, you will be doing little disinfecting.
- Make sure your dry cycle on your dishwasher is on heat setting. Don’t leave cups laying around to let others pick up and drink out of. Put cups and other dinnerware directly into the dishwasher to be cleaned. If you don’t have a dishwasher, use Dawn dish soap in hot water to clean your dishes. If you have a tough virus in your home, you can put a 1/4 c of bleach in your dishwater to clean if needed.
- Change your toothbrushes when you are feeling better. Don’t leave your toothbrushes lying next to another while sick. As soon as you are feeling better, change your toothbrush and throw the old one out. Don’t even save it for your cleaning caddy.
Using these tips will help slow down the virus in your home and help keep your family well. If you have tips that you would like to share, leave them in the comments below.
Be safe and stay healthy.
