Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Home Part 3

Welcome to part three of our cleaning and disinfecting your home series. We are happy that you came back and we home that you are gaining some valuable knowledge from these blogs.
As the pandemic continues to move forward, it is important that you clean and disinfect your home to keep yourself and your family safe. In the previous parts of this series, we have talked about how to clean and what to clean. Let’s jump right into this series’ content so that you can learn even more.

Laundry
When it comes to laundry, it is important that you make sure that you are properly taking care of it as well as cleaning and disinfecting it. For all towels, linens, clothing, and similar items, you want to make sure that you follow these steps:

• Always wash and dry the items according to the manufacturer’s settings
• Wear disposable gloves when you touch the laundry and take them off when you are done
• Disinfect and clean all linen hampers immediately
• Use the hottest possible settings on the washer and dryer
• Dirty laundry from a sick person can go in the same load with your own clothes
• Never shake out the dirty laundry

Keep Your Hands Clean
When you should clean your hands:

• After you sneeze, cough, or blow your nose
• If you come into contact with a sick person
• After you contact pets or animals
• Before you make or eat food
• After the use of the restroom
• Immediately after you remove gloves from your hands
• Before and after you provide care to an infant or child

You want to make sure you ALWAYS wash your hands with warm water and use soap. You should wash your hands for about 20 seconds.
With the shortages going around, it is possible that you may not have soap available to you at the time. If this happens, know that you can use hand sanitizer as long as it has a minimum alcohol level of 60 percent. If your hands are visibly dirty, you want to use soap and water to clean them. On a final note, when you use hand sanitizer, keep rubbing your hands until the sanitizer is dry.

Picture: Freepik

HVAC, Filtration, and Ventilation
The filtration and ventilation systems provided by your HVAC unit can help to spread small particles and molecules in the air, which means it could spread COVID-19. It is important for you to keep your HVAC unit clean.

Here’s how to keep your HVAC system clean:

• Always run the outside fan as much as possible – many systems allow you to run it when the system is off
• Never us an ozone generator in an occupied space
• Get an air purifier for your home
• Avoid letting fans blow directly in your face, as this can help facilitate the spread of COVID-19
• Improve the ventilation in your home by:
  • Opening up the windows
  • Using the bathroom exhaust fan
  • Use a window unit with an outdoor air vent

Simply running your HVAC unit and implementing the changes that were just mentioned above are not enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but they are a start.
Want to learn more? Check out our Part IV and final series in this chapter.