The cold and flu season is raging and we are well passed mid-year. You naturally want your kids to bring one home from school, not to pick one up from the workplace. Following cold and flu season cleaning tips is thus crucial to keep your house clean, lower the germs, and guard your family from disease.
Though an ounce of prevention usually equals a pound of cure, there is no known treatment for these diseases right now. Whether you live or work, today you’ll discover how to stop germs from spreading to reduce the likelihood of being sick or causing others to get sick.
Cleaning Tips for Cold and Flu Season
Make Sure To Stock Your Cleaning Cabinet
Combat the spread of the cold and flu virus with a complete cleaning kit that includes bleach as it effectively eliminates most types of viruses, bacteria and molds, making it a versatile cleaning and disinfecting agent. Advises Erica Susky, a certified infection control practitioner.
Sanjiv Shah, M.D., an attending critical care physician and chief medical officer at MetroPlusHealth in New York City mentioned that most products registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, such as disinfectant sprays and wipes serve as a solid alternative to bleach for those who need or prefer it, such as pregnant people or those with asthma.
Clifford W. Bassett, M.D., founder and medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York adds to keep hand soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, tissues, masks and trash bags readily available.
Keeping Contact Points Clean
Some of the most common touch points at home and work are:
- Door knobs, handles or locks
- Light switches
- Stair rails
- Faucet and toilet handles
- Refrigerator handles and stove knobs
- Remote controls
- Copiers and scanners
Knowing the major points of contact in your house and business can help you to determine how best to stop germs from spreading. These are those regions that several individuals often handle or contact regularly. You’ll want to wash these surfaces more often during cold and flu season. If you have one, you can destroy bacteria using a portable steamer. As a substitute, you may clean surfaces only using disinfecting wipes.
If you are worried about contact points at work, you should also urge the office manager to talk with the cleaning crew to make sure they are especially paying additional attention to typical points of contact during cold and flu season.
Be Mindful of The Items Being Shared at Home
Quarantining family members based on illness is not something you can do. You can, however, work out how to stop germs from proliferating in your house.
Here are some tips to help you do so:
- Wash communal throws or afghans weekly during cold and flu season. Wash these things right away if someone in the home is sneezing or coughing.
- Daily till the sick person recovers, keep bedding clean. Should someone develop a fever, you would want to quickly wash the bedding.
- Don’t share hand towels or bath towels; make sure toothbrushes aren’t coming into touch. Furthermore, steer clear of using toothbrush covers as, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they actually encourage bacterial growth.
- Share bath towels and hand towels; make sure toothbrushes aren’t coming into contact. Moreover, avoid using toothbrush covers as, as advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they actually promote bacterial development.
- Always have tissues close-by so that any ill family members may cover their nose or mouth while coughing or sneezing.
Practicing Good Hygiene
Frequent hand washing is especially crucial to avoid the cold and flu as hands may easily transport germs—especially viruses—to the nasal passages. Before and after cooking or eating, after using the bathroom, after coughing or sneezing, before and after caring after a sick friend—you should wash your hands regularly.
Good hand washing is spending 20 to 30 seconds carefully cleansing the hands with warm water and soap to eliminate dirt and destroy viruses. Obviously, instead of hand sanitizer, filthy hands should be washed with soap and warm water. But if soap and water are not convenient, alcohol-based sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol might be used.
Moreover very crucial for preventing the transmission of viruses is adopting proper breathing patterns. while coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow; if you have to go out in public while unwell, think about trying to reduce the potential of spreading germs by using a mask.
Clean Carefully Following an Illness
Following an illness, you should carefully clean the surfaces you come into contact with to stop people nearby from becoming sick. For instance, the flu virus may last up to 48 hours on surfaces.
Pay close attention to all high-touch surfaces, particularly in places like the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen that run great risk of viral spread. Apart from wiping hard surfaces like counters, doorknobs and bed frames, wash curtains and hoover carpets. Moreover, trash baskets can include tissues, throw-away food, and other objects that have come into touch with viruses, therefore constant emptying of them is rather vital.
If illness or time prevent you from thoroughly cleaning your property, consider hiring a professional
maid service near me to make sure your house remains pleasant, neat, and fresh free from extra hassle.
Keep the Air Clean
Clean air is especially crucial for optimal health, especially for people with allergies and asthma as the accumulation of airborne particles like mold, bacteria, and viruses in the air may worsen illness. Investing in air purifiers, switching to the highest-rated minimum efficiency reporting values (MERV) filters your heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system can handle, will help maintain appropriate airflow in your house and frequent dusting helps lower particles and impurities in the air.
Cold and Flu Season House Cleaning FAQ’s
When disinfecting, which rooms should I clean first?
Mary Gagliardi, also known as Dr. Laundry, a cleaning specialist at a well-known cleaning product firm, says a whole-house cleaning frenzy is not absolutely required. “Most people who have the flu tend to lay low, thus you can skip top to bottom cleaning of your house,” she advises. “Instead, pay especially attention to the kitchen and bathroom as well as any bedroom shared surfaces.” As you clean every area the sick person has visited, attempt to follow their path back-off. Remember to clean the surfaces, refrigerator knobs, faucet, cabinet hardware, and any other location they may have touched if they enter the kitchen looking for some soup.
What surfaces are most important to disinfect in your home?
Commonly handled hard surfaces, such TV remotes and door knobs, might provide germs with a home. According to scientist
Joe Rubino, research and development director, flu viruses may persist on these surfaces for up to 48 hours. “Disinfecting routinely-touched, non-porous surfaces and items around the home like tabletops, remote controls, light switches, and doorknobs should help prevent the spread of illness,” he advises during cold and flu season.
After an illness, is there anything else that needs to be cleaned?
After an illness, sick individuals often spend a lot of time in bed, hence it’s important to clean pillowcases, sheets, and other bedding. Additionally prone to bacterial growth are cell phones and tablets, therefore be sure to wash any electronic gadget the ill individual touched. The CDC advises another great technique to reduce the transmission of germs is regular hand washing with soap and warm water—or, if that is not an option, an alcohol-based hand massage.
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