Keeping your home clean is always important to prevent the spread of germs and mold growth. The rampant spread of COVID-19 at the tail end of flu season has only served to highlight just how critical it can be to maintain our homes’ cleanliness.
Here are three ways you can improve hygiene and sanitation in two of the average home’s germiest and “highest-traffic” rooms: the kitchen and bathroom.
Wash Hands Frequently and Correctly
According to health experts, washing your hands with soap and water is a primary way to avoid spreading COVID-19 and other diseases. However, a quick wash will not destroy pathogens.
To make handwashing effective, you must wash for at least 20 seconds, lathering the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. To make sure you wash for the correct amount of time, count slowly to 20 or just sing “Happy Birthday” in your head twice in a row. Rinse your hands under running tap water to remove all the suds. Dry your hands on a clean towel. You can also air-dry them.
The coronavirus breaks down quickly when you wash for the correct amount of time with plain soap and water. Antibacterial soap, while effective against many germs, does not affect viruses, so exercising proper handwashing is crucial.
Change Towels Often
We think of bathrooms as the place in our homes where we get clean. However, bathrooms harbor mold, mildew, bacteria, and other pathogens. After a bath, we often hang a wet towel back on the rack. Body oils, dead skin, hair, and bodily secretions are transferred onto towels, which are kept in a warm, humid room and are often hung near a toilet.
When you flush the toilet with the lid up, thousands of germs, including fecal material, spray up to 15 feet in the air and spread over nearby surfaces and objects, including towels and toothbrushes. Germs, including bacteria and viruses, that land on wet towels grow and multiply between uses. Change your towel after approximately five uses. Also, don’t forget to put your toilet’s lid down before flushing!
Improve Ventilation
Good ventilation helps prevent airborne infections. Exchanging stale, polluted indoor air with fresh air is essential for overall health. During times of illness, it is even more important to keep air fresh circulating throughout your home.
In kitchens and bathrooms, airborne pollutants and humidity accumulate from the activities in these rooms. Using single-point exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms helps clear out excess moisture, heat, and germs. Fans help towels and surfaces to dry, slowing the growth of harmful biocontaminants.
Install an Air Scrubber
The best way to keep up your home’s hygiene is to take a two-pronged approach: make sure surfaces are clean, but also make sure the air is clean. An air scrubber works in tandem with your heating and cooling system to remove dust and dangerous microorganisms (including germs, allergens, and mold spores) from your indoor air. The Air Scrubber Plus by Aerus can even rid surfaces of viruses and bacteria (bird flu and E. Coli, for example).
The licensed technicians at Dial One Sonshine are trained in evaluating indoor air quality and recommending ways to improve the air you breathe. HEPA air filters and air scrubbers are a few of the products that work with HVAC systems to keep indoor air clean. We will be happy to answer any questions about removing airborne contaminants in your home: (714) 613-1016.