Household Cleaning & COVID-19 – What You Need to Know

We all want to keep our families safe during the coronavirus pandemic, and with so many of us confined to our homes, it’s more important than ever to ensure that where we live is as hygienic as possible.

At Worth Every Cent, we want everyone to feel comfortable in their own space, so we’ve put together this short guide to cleaning your space. Read on and feel more secure in your home during the lock-down.

How long can coronavirus live on surfaces?

Research into the coronavirus is ongoing, but the World Health Organisation has suggested that the coronavirus can survive for up to three days on some surfaces. Studies have shown coronavirus can survive:

• 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel
• Less than 4 hours on copper, and
• Less than 24 hours on cardboard

What do I need to do to keep my family safe?

More important than cleaning your home is ensuring your hands are washed. Washing your hands regularly with soap and warm water for a minimum of 20 seconds is the best way to ensure that you and your family members are safe.

Instead of obsessively cleaning your home top to bottom every day, focus on high-touch areas. Counters, door handles, cabinets, light switches and mobile phones can all be vectors of disease, offering hard, non-porous surfaces that bacteria can live on. If you have concerns about virus contact or simply need to sanitise, use diluted bleach or alcohol-based products with an ethanol content above 70 per cent to disinfect.

Cleaning Best Practices

Counters

Counters are one of the areas that needs the most attention, especially if they’re used to prep food. Clean counters at least daily until the surface is visibly clean using hot water and detergent, making sure to wipe in an S-shaped pattern to maximise coverage. For disinfection, follow up with the least toxic, most biodegradable product suitable for the job – avoid using harsh cleansers where possible, saving them for spaces such as the bathroom.

Laundry

While laundry is less likely to transmit the virus than a surface or another person, there are a few general tips you can follow to ensure you’re taking the right precautions. If you’re already in the habit of regularly washing your clothes, you shouldn’t need to change your behaviour much. One small change you might want to consider is separating out rags, towels and anything else used to clean yourself or your home and – if the fabric allows – washing it at 60°C to kill nasties – including the coronavirus if you’re concerned that an item of clothing has come into contact.

Cleaning Equipment

Germs don’t only live on surfaces – once you’ve wiped, scrubbed or mopped, take the time to clean any equipment you used to get the job done. While certain cleaners will kill germs, at least some will be transferred to the rag, mop or brush you used to apply it, so make sure to sanitise it thoroughly. Choose mops with detachable, machine-washable heads, use rags instead of sponges and machine wash both after you’re done. Store your dish brush with the bristles sitting in a jar of bleach to keep it sanitary between uses – make sure to rinse it before starting to wash!

Look after your home and it’ll look after you and your family!

In need of professional domestic cleaning services?

To ensure that your home is kept immaculately clean and free from germs, enquire about our professional house cleaning services today.