Coronavirus Cleanup: 9 Things To Be Diligent About Disinfecting
2020-07-10
With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe, it is time to be conscious about disinfecting.
We are living in highly-stressful times, that’s for sure. With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe at an alarming rate - and countries and their residents rapidly going into lockdown - it’s understandable to feel helpless and confused. None of us have experienced such an unprecedented event before.
But, there are actions you can take within your own home to give you back a small sense of control amongst the chaos and uncertainty. First and foremost, self isolating and following up-to-date government information on protecting yourself and your family is key to staying informed, alert and socially responsible. On a more personal level, now is the time to thoroughly clean and disinfect your home to prevent any possibility of your households residents or guests becoming unwell or contaminating your space.
These nine high-traffic surfaces and items within your home should be your first port of call, as they are regularly used and handled. For the best list of the most effective household cleaners to combat the coronavirus, see this list that the Australian Department of Health is advising us all refer to. It also has a lot of current COVID-19 information you should regularly check in with. Not all household cleaners and sprays kill all germs and fully disinfect, so do your research and use the correct products suited to each item on our list. Disinfectant wipes are great (look for home cleaning products that state on the label that they kill 99% of germs in the home), but if you can’t currently get your hands on any in stores, some simple cleaning cloths or clean rags will do the job just fine. Just regularly change them, throw out or wash them.
Now - onto the list.
Mobile phones
On average, the typical mobile phone user touches their phone 2600 times a day, research company Dscout has found. At the extreme end, some phone users touch their phone over 5000 times a day. A jaw-dropping statistic - yes - and a serious eye-opener to why we need to be cleaning our phones at least once every day. Clean your phone safely without compromising it by following these instructions.
Keys
How often do you clean and disinfect your keys? Seriously, though? Ever? We use them so many times a day, and few of us ever think to clean these essential everyday items. Vigorously scrubbing your keys daily with dish soap, hot water and a (clean) toothbrush is adequate.
Your bag / wallet
Think of all of the times throughout the average day that you handle your handbag or wallet, or set either down on the ground or on a surface. At home, at the office, at the cafe grabbing your morning coffee, at the bar on a Friday night… on the top of a toilet roll holder in a public toilet. Cringe. You get the gist. Give your handbag, wallet and/or purse a thorough onceover each day. It’s also an excellent time to clean it out and throw out those receipts and business cards you don’t need!
Handles & door knobs
We reach for them instinctively multiple times a day, but door knobs and household handles so often are overlooked during a cleaning blitz. Now is the time to clean and polish those babies up - and do it often!
Lids
Your soap dispenser pump. Your hand sanitiser lid. Your various skincare and haircare product lids. Lids on jars, pantry products, herbs and spices, olive oil. You get the picture. Lids are constantly touched throughout your home and office, and need a thorough soak and clean - STAT.
Counters and sinks
You should be wiping down the counters and sinks in your home multiple times a day, depending on how much traffic they see. And the COVID-19 pandemic is high time to be diligent and strict about it. Get right into every nook and cranny of the counters and sinks in your bathroom, kitchen and laundry - three of the busiest rooms in the house - and stop possible contamination on the spot. Plus, everyone loves a glistening countertop.
Toilets
This is one you shouldn’t be forgetting to clean regardless of the current pandemic, and experts suggest express cleaning your toilet once per day and your entire bathroom at least once per week. YouTube cleaning sensation Clean My Space has a great 3 minute toilet cleaning tutorial you should watch to polish up on your porcelain throne cleaning skills.
Light and power switches
Much like handles and doorknobs, light and power switches are flicked many times throughout the day and night. Now’s the perfect time to do a stocktake of the many items throughout your household that operate with a switch, and to get busy thoroughly disinfecting them. It should go without saying that you need to turn off and unplug them first.
Remote controls
We’re all spending a lot more time at home these days for the universal health and wellbeing of others, and our remote controls are probably seeing even more traffic than usual. Clean your TV, game console, heating and air conditioner remotes - and any others you have lying around. You’ll feel all the better for it and won’t believe what comes off them!
We are staying up to date with ongoing COVID-19 news as it evolves, and we always recommend you defer to your local government websites and departments for the most factual, up-to-the-minute information.
Stay safe out there, friends. We’re all in this together
