How To Clean And Disinfect Your Home During The Coronavirus Pandemic Orange County Register

Cleaning your home with household cleaning and disinfectant products can help prevent the spread of illness including COVID-19. These surfaces in your home are prime sites for germs activity, because they are constantly being touched by lots of different hands. Alternatively, you may be able to do a 2-in-1 clean and disinfection by using a combined detergent and disinfectant. If a separate bathroom is not available, be sure to clean & disinfect the area after each us by an ill person.

Cleaning equipment including mop heads and cloths should be laundered using hot water and completely dried before re-use. If more thorough cleaning is needed, fabric surfaces may be steam cleaned. Use a diluted household bleach solution, or an alcohol-based solution with at least 70% alcohol.

The room and all hard surfaces in the room should be physically cleaned. Erica Marie Hartman, an environmental microbiologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., whose research focuses on resistance, confirms soap, bleach, and alcohol are your best bets.

The virus has been shown to live for up to three days on some items, so experts recommend cleaning and disinfecting your home house cleaning and disinfection services regularly. And an EPA spokesperson told ABC News they do not review other household products, such as vinegar or essential oil mixtures with regard to their effectiveness against viruses and bacteria.

In addition to spraying on surfaces, you can create a disinfecting soak of 3% hydrogen peroxide. In such cases, continue to clean with soap and water. Kill germs on these surfaces with a quick wipe from a Lysol® Dual Action Disinfecting Wipe. Reusable, non-washable PPE such as eye protection, should be wiped clean with a detergent solution first, then wiped over with a disinfectant, and left to air dry.

Not all items and surfaces require sanitizing or disinfecting. Always hang your towels up to dry when you have finished using them, and make sure they are washed once a week with a laundry sanitizer to kill off any bacteria. Once cleaning and disinfection is complete, place disposable cloths, PPE and covers in a plastic rubbish bag, place it inside another rubbish bag (double-bagging) and dispose of the bag in the general waste.

Whether you're using hand sanitizer or alcohol-based cleaners on your kitchen counter, you'll want to make sure the alcohol content is strong enough to kill germs "Make sure they consist of at least 70 percent alcohol in order to be effective," advises Sue.