Good To Know: Cleaning
I think it’s fair to say that keeping our homes clean is at the top of our minds. As stressful as everything is right now, there are a few simple things that you can be doing daily to help protect you and your loved ones from contracting COVID-19. Today for Good to Know, we’re sharing some insight into keeping your home as clean as possible, our favorite cleaning products, and some quick tutorials for making natural disinfectants at home.
Even if no one in your home is sick, it’s important to both clean and disinfect regularly. Clean first to remove any contaminants or debris, and then disinfect to remove pathogens. First, wipe down all surfaces with soapy water or a cleaning spray, and then utilize a surface-appropriate disinfectant (more on that later). If items or people are moving in and out of your home, it’s a good idea to do this daily for all high-traffic areas.
This is especially true for any packages that might come into your home, as the novel coronavirus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours, and on plastic and stainless steel for up to three days. Doing this process on a daily basis can help reduce the risk of infection for you and the rest of your household, as any people or objects coming into your home could be sources of disease.
CLEANING TIPS
The CDC recommends routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces throughout your home, including doorknobs, tables, light switches, faucets, and sinks. Consider the spaces that you are interacting with the most, and then give them the most attention when it comes to cleaning.
Make sure that you’re sanitizing your phone and TV remote with alcohol wipes.
Disinfect bags that come into your home (purses, backpacks, grocery bags, etc.).
Wipe down all boxed deliveries
Wash your laundry at a slightly higher temperature than normal to help disinfect your clothes. After removing your dirty clothes, make sure to disinfect the hamper that they were in and wash your hands.
For more general cleaning tips, click here to read our blog post on all of our favorite tricks for cleaning and freshening up tricky areas of your home.
OUR FAVORITE CLEANING PRODUCTS
We asked our team to round up all of their favorite cleaning products. Here are our absolute favorites, and the products that we have been reaching for the most during this quarantine.
Anything Mrs. Meyer’s! This brand is a favorite among our staff.
Grove Collaborative - This is where I get 90% of my cleaning supplies, and I love the selection. I especially love their Hydrating Hand Sanitizer Spray. It’s sold out right now, but be on the lookout for a restock!
Dyson V8 Absolute Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner - My friends all recommended this for my wood floors and it's changed my life. I use it every day and I love it. It also works great on carpets and it pulls up a ton of pet hair. Even thought it’s on the pricier side for a vacuum, it’s absolutely worth every penny.
Since we’ve been trying to make fewer trips to the store, some of our team members have been working on cutting down on paper towel usage. We love these ribbed kitchen towels from Target, and these Buffalo Check dishcloths from Santa Barbara Design Studio.
NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR HOME DISINFECTING
It’s very possible that, in the current state of things, it might be difficult to get your hands on new disinfectants. If that’s the case, or if you want to take the more natural route, we wanted to share some tips and recipes for natural disinfectants.
NATURAL DISINFECTANT TIPS
If you’re specifically worried about combatting coronavirus in your home, make sure to use rubbing alcohol based cleaners instead of vinegar. Vinegar has no affect against the coronavirus, so alcohol is the way to go. Make sure to use alcohol solutions that have a concentration of 70% or higher, and do not dilute them with water.
Additionally, do not use a vinegar based solution if you have granite or marble countertops. Instead, use granite cleaner specifically, or wash with dishwashing detergent and rinse well.
Natural cleaners tend to be milder than chemical ones. It's important to let the disinfectant sit for 10 or more minutes so that the cleaner can do its job.
If you’re looking to use essential oils to add fragrance to your homemade cleaning products, make sure to store them in glass spray bottles, as some essential oils can react with plastic.
These recipes are completely safe for people and pets, unless you use essential oils that are not pet-safe.
RECIPES
WikiHow has shared recipes for simple, natural disinfectants, and has even labeled them according to which ones help combat the coronavirus. Click here for those recipes.
Greener Homemade Disinfectant Wipes from Delicious Obsessions.
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