Lots of people discover that regular cleaning is an effective way to keep your rental home safe during flu season. But really, cleaning just the clear dirt may not be adequate. Doorknobs, light switches, computer keyboards, smartphones, tablets, television remotes, and game controllers are easy to miss when cleaning the house. If you are not sanitizing them regularly, they may collect more harmful bacteria than your toilet.
How dirty are standard handheld devices?
It is very much recommended that you regularly clean your smartphone, tablet, keyboard, mouse, television remote, and gaming controller. Since these electronic devices are touched so often each day, particularly phones, controllers, and remotes, they can have ten times the amount of bacteria found on other surfaces in your home! Think of it: if you touch something and then touch your phone or computer keyboard, you’ve transferred bacteria from one surface to the other.
The more frequently you touch a particular surface, the more bacteria will collect there, speedily becoming a serious health hazard. Throughout flu season, it’s easy to pick up germs and unconsciously or unknowingly pass them along to others by sharing devices, controllers – even the TV remote. This is what makes cleaning your dirty devices significant. If you aren’t cleaning your devices every day or after every use, the chances are that they might get you or your family sick.
Surfaces you touch every day
Have you ever tried to follow and keep track of everything you touch around the house daily? You may be astonished! High-touch surfaces, particularly, get a lot of use yet may not make it onto your general cleaning lists. For instance, doorknobs, cabinet handles, window blind controls, and light switches are all touched daily, and occasionally, lots of times daily.
If you haven’t wiped these surfaces down with a germ-killing solution, they are possibly harboring high levels of harmful bacteria. Studies have found these surfaces constantly contain far more bacteria per square inch than your toilet.
Sanitizing high-touch surfaces in your home is especially crucial throughout flu season. On the other hand, these surfaces cannot straightforwardly be sprayed with liquid cleaners or disinfectants. Spraying anything on your tech devices will harm them. On the contrary, you can pay for wipes designed to clean electronic devices. These wipes frequently contain alcohol, which kills harmful bacteria.
For other high-touch surfaces around the house, take advantage of a microfiber cloth and spray a disinfectant solution on the cloth, not directly on the light switch or doorknob. A commercial cleaning solution that specifically states it will kill bacteria will work for your home’s plastic or other durable surfaces. Just don’t use harsh chemicals on painted surfaces, wood, or natural stone, as the chemicals will damage these areas.
Together with high-touch surfaces, the CDC recommends washing your hands frequently and cleaning all surfaces in your home with a disinfectant perfect for the type of surface you’re cleaning. Just be prudent to have proper ventilation and observe the label directions regardless of what cleaning agent you select. By taking these extra guards and precautions, you can keep your home as germ-free as possible during flu season and year-round.
Are you in the market for a new rental home? Contact Real Property Management Excellence to converse with one of our property managers servicing Fuquay-Varina and nearby or view our available listings.
Originally Published on November 26, 2021
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