One of the key parts of protecting yourself and your family from getting sick, is to regularly clean your home and disinfect against viruses.
You might not be aware of this, but bacteria and viruses can live on frequently touched surfaces and in high-traffic areas. This way we ensure that the residence is safe and low risk.
Now, even though some people that come and go into your household, might not appear sick (asymptomatic carriers or bacteria and viruses) but they can still spread disease to your family or anyone living with you.
Bacteria can remain on surfaces for hours and even days. And while the majority of viruses die outside of the human body, there are types that can live for a long time, under the right circumstances. So staying on top of germs and disinfecting your home is critical.
Clean and disinfect against viruses – What’s the difference?
Both cleaning and disinfecting against viruses are key parts in maintaining your home/workspace safe. But there are differences between the two.
Cleaning usually involves soap and water to remove dirt which can be an ideal place for germs. Now, even though soap and water doesn’t always kill all the germs, but it can significantly reduce their numbers, this lowering the risk of transmission.
On the other hand, disinfecting kills germs but doesn’t remove them. So they remain on the surface but they are no longer “active” or alive.
Routine cleaning and disinfecting against viruses work best together – something like a one-two punch. With cleaning you will remove some part of the germs and the dirt where they hide. Following by disinfection, you will kill the remaining germs (bacteria and viruses) and keeping your home clean and safe.
Cleaning together with disinfecting, can help prevent the spread of diseases.
Where should you disinfect in your home?
We usually recommend that you should regularly disinfect areas that are “high-touch” e.g.:
- Light switches
- Doorknobs
- Phones
- Chairs
- Toilets
- Countertops
- Desks
- Sinks
- Toilets etc.
This of course doesn’t mean that you should neglect the lower-touched items and surfaces in your home. The should also be disinfected but not as often. So the more often a surface is touched, the more often it should be cleaned.
Even if some germs can last only a few hours outside a human body, that is enough time to spread from one person to another or from one person to a doorknob and so on.
Surface that are frequently touched might not always be obvious maybe because you consider them bot part of your household or they are a seamless part of your life. For example, you hold your cellphone very often but you might not disinfect against viruses. You may clean and disinfect doorknobs regularly but you neglect the toilet handles.
If someone in your household is sick, then they should remain in a separate room that shouldn’t be cleaned often in order to minimize exposure. You should change the bedding and sheet frequently and in case of airborne germs, you should ventilate it every day. That can make a huge difference.
In case you need professional sanitization and maybe even decontamination, done according to CDC guidelines and with CDC-approved disinfectants (which eliminate 99% of germs) contact ASAP Restoration today and let us help you make your home a safe place.
