How to properly clean and disinfect the house

We studied the guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and chose the main thing.

How to prepare

• Wear disposable latex gloves to protect the skin of your hands.
• Make a soap solution (warm water + a few drops of liquid soap).
• Prepare an antiseptic. If it says on the bottle that it is a concentrate, make a solution following the manufacturer's instructions.

What can be used as a home antiseptic

• Store sanitizers. These are products for washing floors and plumbing, sprays and hand gels. They can be bought with home delivery.
• Medical antiseptics. That is, those that are used for wiping floors, tools and surfaces in medical institutions.
• Bleachers. For example, the well-known "Whiteness" and other chlorine-containing products. But be careful: read the instructions and do not use a concentrated substance, otherwise you can spoil objects and surfaces. For treatment, bleach must first be diluted in a ratio of about 50-60 milliliters of the product per 1 liter of water.
• Homemade sanitizers. Here are some instructions for their preparation.
• Alcohol strength of at least 70%. Vodka and other alcohol will not work for disinfection.

How often do I need to clean up

• Wash and disinfect frequently used surfaces and objects daily: kitchen table and countertop, desk, handles of faucets, kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, door and window handles, switches and buttons, remote controls, computer keyboard and so on.
• Those surfaces that you touch less often (dressers, bedside tables, shelves, window sills) can be wiped and disinfected less often - two or three times a week.
• If a person came to you who does not live with you all the time, after he leaves, wipe and disinfect everything he touched. The same applies to the situation if one of your family is sick.

How to properly disinfect

Solid surfaces

• First, wipe the surface with a cloth or sponge soaked in soap solution. This will remove dirt, grease or dust.
• Read the instructions for the antiseptic. Pay attention to the application technique: some substances are recommended to be used on wet surfaces, others on dry ones (self-made formulations belong to this category).
• Make sure that the product can be used for surface treatment. If you have an alcohol-based antiseptic, there will be no problems with this, but with chlorine-containing substances (Domestos, "Whiteness") it is better to be careful. They can discolor the floor or furniture. Therefore, first perform the test on a small and inconspicuous area of the coating.
• It is better to dilute the thick disinfectant with water first, because it is very concentrated.
• Apply the substance to the surface with a cloth or spray gun. If you use an alcohol-based antiseptic or a chlorine-containing disinfectant diluted in water, you don't need to do anything else. But undiluted chlorine-containing products should be washed off after 5 minutes.

Carpets and textiles

• Send to the laundry everything that is possible: curtains, bedspreads, covers from furniture and sofa pillows, towels, small synthetic mats, tablecloths and so on. Wash at the maximum allowable temperatures for each type of fabric. After things dry, iron them or treat them with hot steam.
• If it is impossible to wash a thing (for example, a large carpet) - walk over it with a sponge soaked in a soap solution or a special cleaning agent. And then treat with a cloth or sponge with an antiseptic applied to it. First make sure that the disinfectant can be used on the fabric: apply it to a small inconspicuous area and wait 15-20 minutes. It is better to be careful with chlorine-containing products: they can only be used in a diluted form after a test on a fragment of tissue.

Upholstered furniture

There will be no complete disinfection here. It is no coincidence that there are no sofas, armchairs, or rugs in hospital wards, treatment rooms and operating rooms, and all soft surfaces are covered with washable upholstery. But something can still be done.

• Wipe the surface of the furniture with a sponge slightly soaked in soap solution. You should not get carried away, your task is just to wipe the upholstery, not to wet the furniture.
• Treat the woven upholstery with hot steam if you have a steamer. You can also use an iron, but be careful: there is a danger of burning through the fabric.

Technic

• If we are talking about household appliances - slow cookers, coffee makers, microwaves, humidifiers, wipe them first with a cloth with a soap solution, and then with an antiseptic.
• To process the screens, use special tools or wipes. It should be written on them that they contain antiseptic.

What to do after cleaning

• Send the rags, sponges and towels that were used to the trash or to the laundry.
• Remove and discard the disposable gloves.
• Wash your hands and face thoroughly with soap, treat your hands with a sanitizer.

How to keep clean if someone is sick at home

• If possible, place an unhealthy person in a separate room.
• Make sure that the patient uses his own towels and dishes. And he left his bedroom as little as possible.
• Wear disposable gloves when washing dishes for the patient, put his clothes and underwear in the washing machine.
• Every day, spend a wet cleaning in the sick person's room in the way described above. Pre-wear disposable gloves and a medical mask.
• Clean the bathroom every time a sick family member has been there.
• Handle all objects that the patient has touched: handles, switches, remotes, surfaces.