Disinfecting your home during flu season

[ricardo]

If a family member get sick with a cold or flu, how do

you disinfect your home?

 

Today, I used Lysol spray cleaner to clean all surfaces

that get touched on a regular basis.

 

Do you also open a window to let in fresh air everyday?

 

[Freetobeme]

Bleach, soap, and hot water. Airing out the house can help too.

[HapyGirl]

I just bought a great product called a Steam Boss. It uses steam to disinfect surfaces, even can be used on some fabrics. I also spray Lysol.

 

My grandma used bleach on everything!

[gardnmom]

That's because clorine kills all bacteria, virus and even fungus. It is the only thing that will kill mold. Other products will remove most of the mold, but only clorine kills it.

If you do not air out your home, you are effectively closing the bacteria, and virus in with you.

Which is why you feel better the minute you get fresh air.

Maybe not a lot better, but better.

[kde_batt]

I was just watching the weather channel (we're supposed to have severe storms tonight and tomorrow so I keep a close eye on this station) and they put up a flu map every so often. Right now about 1/3 of the US states are colored yellow, meaning sporadic outbreaks already reported in those states. None in my state yet.

 

[ricardo]

Will beach harm wood?

 

The bottle says 1/4 cup per quart of water.

 

How do you dilute yours? Do you put it in a spray

bottle afterwards?

 

 

 

 

[Freetobeme]

Bleach can harm the finish. Test a small hidden area first and don't leave it on for very long. You can use citrus based oils for a mild disinfectant effect. Also, if your wood is well treated with oils, it will resist damage from water based cleaning (like diluted bleach).

[gardnmom]

The health Dept told us, when we were running a restaurant, that 2 tablespoons per 3 to 4 gallons of rinse water would kill all the germs on the dishes we had to hand wash, for serving the customers.

So using about 1 or 2 tablespoon per gallon should kill everything you want it to clean.

The websites said that hot water and soap was adequate for sickroom laundry. So apparently the virus is easy to kill outside the body.

For ease of use I would have several paper towels cut in half and wet in this solution in ziplock bags, for quick wipe ups.

Here is the PDF for home health care:

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/files/ComingPandemic.pdf

[Linda]

i clean with bleach everyday... also i like to open the windows and air out the house daily don't always get to do that. but do the bathroom and bedroom. i use bleach on everything.. DH uses it to clean out any cuts or sore he gets not me that stuff stings....

[Lois]

BTTT