Most people indeed know and understand that habitual cleaning is an effective way to keep your Dearborn rental home a safe place to be during flu season. But actually, cleaning only the clearly evident dirt may not be enough. Doorknobs, light switches, computer keyboards, smartphones, tablets, television remotes, and game controllers are all very easy to miss in terms of cleaning the house. If you are not sanitizing them habitually, these things may have more harmful bacteria on them than, say, your toilet.
Common Dirty Devices
It is highly suggested that you often clean your smartphone, tablet, keyboard, mouse, television remote, and gaming controller. Because of how often these electronic devices are touched each day, in particular phones, controllers, and remotes, they can have ten times the amount of bacteria found on other surfaces in your home! Just think about it: every time you touch something and then touch your phone or computer keyboard, you’ve transferred bacteria from one surface to the other.
The more often you touch a particular surface, the more bacteria will accumulate there, shortly emerging as a huge health hazard. During flu season, it’s really easy to get germs and unconsciously pass them along to others by sharing devices, controllers – even the TV remote. This is what makes cleaning your dirty devices so vital. If you aren’t cleaning your devices each day or after every use, the possibilities are high that they may get you or your family sick.
High-Touch Surfaces
Have you ever tried to keep up on whatever you touch around the house each day? You may be astonished! High-touch surfaces, especially, are areas that get a lot of use but may not make it onto your general cleaning lists. To cite an instance, doorknobs, cabinet handles, window blind controls, and light switches are all touched daily, a lot of times each day.
If you haven’t wiped these surfaces down with a germ-killing solution, the potentialities are that they are harboring high levels of harmful bacteria. One study discovered that light switches often have 200 bacteria per square inch, while most toilets have 20 on average.
During flu season, it’s mainly crucial to sanitize high-touch surfaces in your home. Moreover, several of these surfaces cannot merely be sprayed with liquid cleaners or disinfectants. Spraying anything on your tech devices will perhaps ruin them. Alternatively, you can purchase wipes that are created to clean electronic devices. These wipes generally contain alcohol, which will kill the harmful bacteria.
For other high-touch surfaces around the house, choose a microfiber cloth and spray a disinfectant solution on the cloth, not directly on the light switch or doorknob. A commercial cleaning solution that in particular states it will kill bacteria will be best for your home’s plastic or other durable surfaces. Just don’t use any of the harsh chemicals on painted surfaces, wood, or natural stone, as the chemicals will cause great damage to these areas.
Along with high-touch surfaces, the CDC suggests washing your hands frequently and cleaning all surfaces in your home with a disinfectant appropriate for the type of surface you’re cleaning. Just make sure to have proper ventilation and observe the label directions irrespective of what cleaning agent you select. By taking these additional precautions, you can keep your home as germ-free as possible during flu season and all year round.
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