Disinfecting your home after flu is a mandatory cleaning procedure for avoiding diseases of a viral or bacterial nature. Should one member of the family get sick, and the rest are also at risk. Especially vulnerable are babies, the elderly, and women during pregnancy. But even adults with strong immunity require additional precautions. Believe me, regular cleaning is definitely not enough.
There are three types of disinfection processes to carry out:
- Current. This type involves a thorough treatment. It has to be carried out every day and includes processing of the sick person’s stuff;
- Final. Should be held during the recovery period or before the patient’s discharge from the hospital. At this time, the patient’s immunity is weakened so that any virus can lead to re-infection;
- Preventive. This is a general cleaning using chemical or natural disinfectants. It is better to perform once every three months. With the cold weather forthcoming, the risk of respiratory diseases increases, so at this time, preventive cleaning is a must.
The disinfection of the apartment begins with the farthest room, ending with the bathroom. It involves careful processing of all surfaces, including corners, skirting boards, and the space behind the furniture. To learn more about how to disinfect house after flu, and prevent the spread of the infection, keep on reading the article.
How to Disinfect House After Flu: General Guide & Overall Advice
Whether you’re looking for tips on how to disinfect house after stomach flu or sanitize house after flu, you should get some universal supplies to provide the best cleaning effect.
Before proceeding to the guide itself, take a quick look at the products you might use during the cleaning process to make sure you have everything.
Follow the Step-By-Step Guide:
Be careful when using chemicals for disinfecting house after illness. Wear personal protective means and rubber cleaning gloves (it will be better if they’re latex-free), a special protective suit, goggles, or a respirator mask if needed. Also, check the instructions and make sure your pets are out of the house if it’s stated there. After you’re ready with the protection, proceed to the disinfection itself.
- Wipe the floor, other horizontal surfaces, and corners in the living rooms with Steam Mop cleaner;
- Do a thorough cleaning in the kitchen and bathrooms, don’t forget about the guestroom if you have one.
Caution! Change the solution water when moving from a room to another room.
- Use special aerosols to process padded furniture;
- Spray plastic stuff, decor, and various souvenirs with Star San high foaming sanitizer;
- Clean carpets and various soft coverings in every room by adding a special disinfectant to the water;
- Be sure to move the furniture and wash the floor and walls under it;
- Collect and wash children’s soft toys in the machine adding sanitizing treatment to it as well.
Caution! Do not forget to process everything that can be used by the whole family. Check TV remote control, the keyboard, the mouse of the computer, etc.
As you can see, it is not necessary to call the specialists of a cleaning company to sanitize house after flu. Probably every homeowner can handle this situation. Begin the disinfection process from the farthest room, approaching the exit from the apartment gradually. It is necessary to process each surface and make sure you didn’t miss any places.
When creating a plan on how to disinfect your house after the flu, there’s a basic rule that must be followed. Always follow the instructions on the packaging of the treatment you’re using. The processing of all surfaces in the room should be safe for the furniture and finishing materials. It is also forbidden to mix different cleaning products. This can lead to a chemical reaction and release hazardous gas.
You can also do the disinfection routine together with the clear-out. Do not neglect wet cleaning and airing. Their use is effective by combining the mechanical method of removing microorganisms (disinfection) with the physical (exposure to cold air, wind).
How to Disinfect House After Flu: A Checklist for Rooms
At first glance, the principles of preventing flu and other diseases at home are simple: clean and disinfect the apartment as often as possible. But the application of this rule raises many questions. It is not always clear what, where, and when to clean, and how to do it properly.
All rooms in your apartment should be cleaned according to a single algorithm. Follow this checklist not to miss anything during the cleaning and disinfecting process.
For All Rooms:
- Door handles
Home disinfecting should include cleaning of all small elements. Wash them with cleaning solution or treat with a special disinfecting product. For example, Pine-Sol All-Purpose cleaner would be perfect for this. But also don’t forget that you have to protect yourself, so put on a pair of reusable gloves.
- Switches
Wipe them carefully with the antiseptic solution. However, if you don’t have ill people in the house, you can do it just one time. Otherwise, you will need to wipe the switches after each use.
- Floors
Use the cleaning solution together with Bona Hardwood Floor Premium Spray Mop. The solution will provide full protection of the surfaces, and the mop will help to clean everything quickly and easily.
Office, Living Room, and Bedrooms:
- Cabinet handles (if you have them)
Wipe them with cleanser or with an antiseptic when cleaning the house. By the way, you can literally use one product for both treating small and big things. I recommend using Disinfecting Mildew, Virus & Mold Killer for these purposes.
- Chairs (not upholstered in fabric or other soft materials)
Again, you can use the Disinfecting Mildew for treating these objects. The product is designed for multi-purpose usage and will provide the best effect if you follow the instructions carefully.
- Worktable, coffee tables, and other surfaces (open shelves with books, chest covers, dressers)
Wipe the surface of the table using the antiseptic or cleaning solution as well. Don’t forget to treat the things that are placed on the table as well.
Kitchen and Bathrooms:
- Kitchen worktops
Wash and wipe all of the surfaces using special household chemicals or an alcohol-based antiseptic solution. If everyone in the house is healthy, it is enough to do this once a day. If there is a sick person in the house, repeat the cleaning after every meal.
- Appliances
Wipe the control panels with the alcohol-based antiseptic. Make sure you disconnected or blocked all the electric and sensor panels.
- Faucets
Wash them with household cleaning products and rinse thoroughly with hot water.
- Sinks
Clean them using a special disinfecting treatment you choose. You can both select chemicals and natural ways to disinfect your house.
- Toiletries (toothbrushes, combs, etc.)
Clean or replace them with new things.
- Toilet (bowl, bath, shower, bidet)
It is better to use chlorine-based disinfectants for these objects.
Basic Rules for Cleaning and Disinfecting
- Wear gloves
Always wear reusable or disposable gloves. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before putting them on. After cleaning is done, gloves should be discarded or cleaned if they’re reusable. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or an antiseptic solution.
- Ventilate the room
The best way to disinfect house after the flu is to open the windows 20 minutes before cleaning. Do not stop ventilating while cleaning up, and also don’t close the windows after you finished.
- Use fabric wipes only once
Cleaning house after flu requires different supplies for full disinfecting. Microfiber cloths, mop coverings, and sponges should be discarded immediately after cleaning. Therefore, I recommend stocking up with all the cleaning tools in advance. If some household items can be washed according to the instructions, do it at the maximum permissible hot temperature.
All equipment that has been used (a vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and dishwasher) must be wiped with a disinfector.
At the end of the cleaning, check the stocks and expiration dates of detergents and disinfectants to know whether you need new ones for further cleaning sessions.
Surfaces and objects that you touch during the day should be cleaned carefully as well. The first things to come to mind are the kitchen worktops and a dining table, but there are less obvious objects in your house that you touch constantly. Remember to clean and disinfect the buttons on the electric kettle and coffee machine regularly, the handles on doors and windows, as well as on kitchen cabinets and the fridge.
Natural Ways to Disinfect Your House
Let me give you some tips for disinfecting your house using natural remedies.
Ammonia solution will help you get rid of virus bacteria. Adding a few drops of ammonia to a glass of water, you will get a solution that will serve as a simple whole house disinfectant.
Vinegar is considered as the most effective natural disinfectant. It can defeat viruses and various microbes, so you can use it during stomach flu disinfecting house routines. To do this, make a solution of vinegar and water and pour it into an empty spray bottle to apply onto the surfaces in all of the rooms. Instead of vinegar, you can use the Extra Strength by Harris 30% Pure Vinegar.
Destroy the infection and microbes with a solution of sodium chloride. In addition, it does not have an unpleasant odor and will not cause allergic reactions. A solution is prepared from a pack of salt and 3 liters of water. Process various surfaces, including sinks and tables in the kitchen, or simply use the Milliard Citric Acid. Citric acid is usually combined with salt to increase the cleaning effect. Also, such treatment is added when cleaning surfaces with linseed oil.
The Handcraft tea tree essential oil is a natural antiseptic. When you process wooden and varnished parts, the oil is absorbed into the material and, for a long time, will protect against bacteria. At the same time, it gives the surface an aesthetic appearance.
I do not recommend using ethanol for disinfection. After all, it can adversely affect the appearance of many types of material. Moreover, it is unacceptable to combine alcohol with chlorine-based disinfectants and cleaning products. Instead of this, you can use the No products found..
Regular room ventilation and humidification are the processes of great importance during the disinfection routines. Bacteria and viruses like dry and warm air, and if you don’t want to give them any chances, disinfect the apartment using a quartz bactericidal lamp. Just 15 minutes every six hours will be enough to keep the air in your house clean from diseases. Remember that there should be no people in the room during the process.
Regular cleaning provides safety from viruses, bacteria, microbes, and other dangerous microorganisms that can appear and multiply in your apartment. It is also the best way to disinfect house after stomach virus. However, if you already have a sick person in the house, it’s time to equip yourself with needed supplies and think about how to disinfect the house after the flu or other illness.
The frequency of cleaning and disinfecting depends on many factors. First of all, this is the size of the apartment, the number of people living in it, and the presence of small children and animals.
A clearing out routine using disinfection treatments will nullify the possibility of viruses spreading in the room. Still, it is worth remembering that this is not a one-time action. It must be carried out at least once a week, depending on a situation. Also, during the pandemic quarantine, it is better to stay safe and not invite friends to spend time with. You can always do it later!
Do you have any advice for me and other readers regarding the disinfection process? Maybe, you have a recipe for how to disinfect house after flu naturally? Please, feel free to share your tips in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you!
