We’re a few days late posting this weeks “Cleaning Tips”… because the flu bug and strep throat invaded my husband and having 2 children, one being a medically fragile infant… he was kicked out of the house until he was better & no longer contagious (48 hours fever free and on antibiotics for 48 hours) So, this mama has had her hands full working 60+ hours a week, with 2 young kids… and not to mention the pets!
Let’s get right to the point.
Get your cleaning supplies!
- Disinfectant
- Clorox or Lysol Wipes
- Lysol laundry sanitizer
- CLOROX!
- Cleaning Cloths
- Boiling Water/Steamer
On most disinfectants you HAVE to follow the instructions on the bottle. You have to leave it sitting on the surface for at least one full minute… this is even for straight Clorox.
I am normally all for do-it-yourself homemade cleaners or organic/plant based cleaners… unless we’re sick. My medically fragile baby’s doctors have been VERY clear that they do not recommend using homemade or plant based cleaners to sanitize our home after an illness. There’s not a lot of information or enough studies completed to prove their effectiveness and safety on actually killing microbes.
Microfiber cloths are fantastic ways to clean your home. When I truly need to sanitize the home, I use Norwex cloths. They are more expensive, but they are antimicrobial. I usually use one for actually cleaning the surface, and then one for drying it. It just makes me feel a lot better.
I will also get out my steamer and go over surfaces that can’t be wiped (like our furniture and curtains!) Steam mop is great on our hardwood floors! Ours heats up within 60 seconds, so we can easily move to different rooms and not have to wait a long time for it to heat back up.
While cleaning up after the illness, I also shipped the kids off to Nana & Papa’s house, that way I can open the windows and let in fresh air, without either burning the kids alive or causing them hypothermia (depending on the season). Fresh air is SOOOO important.
I washed ALL bedding, blankets, pillows, and dirty clothes when my husband was gone this past week… ALL of them, from every room. THIRTEEN loads of laundry in 2 days was exhausting, but I refused to infect the rest of us with his gunk. You can use Hydrogen Peroxide to clean all of that off, however… I use Lysol Laundry Disinfectant, I learned about it when I worked 3rd shift at the local hospital on a med/surg unit and had to deal with CDiff and a ton of other highly contagious illnesses.
I also sprayed Lysol and a Clorox/Water mixture ALL over our mattress.
Both bathrooms received an extremely thorough deep clean. Shower curtains were washed, shower curtain liners were soaked in Lysol Disinfectant in the tubes, bathroom rugs and hand towels were washed as well. Floors with bleach, walls were wiped down with bleach, and both bathrooms were sprayed down with disinfectant afterwards, too.
Typically I would just buy us all brand new toothbrushes and toss the other ones out. But, this past year, we have ALL upgraded to Sonicare toothbrushes and I refused to buy all new attachments (they’re expensive!) so, I boiled all of our toothbrush heads separately for 8 minutes a piece.
I sanitized all stuffed animals and wiped down all toys in the house, anything our kids touch or have the potential of putting in their mouths where the coughing may have reached… I sanitized.
The jug of juice my husband keeps beside his bed for his parched throat in the middle of the night? Thrown away.
Door knobs, my goodness – THE DOORKNOBS! Refridgerator handles! Light switches! So many frequently touched surfaces by everyone in the house! I wiped them all down with Clorox and water and then went back over them with the steamer.
TV remotes, ipads, cell phones, laptops… all wiped down!
The kitchen was also thoroughly deep cleaned with A LOT of bleach and water mixtures… everything!
and it had to have worked because (so far) NO ONE else has caught it… even the baby that doesn’t have an immune system! *knocks on wood*
It took an entire day of deep cleaning to accomplish it… but I did NOT want his sickness to spread to the kids (or to me!) and it was completely worth every second spent doing it! … My house also smells wonderful now, too.
