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Things That Are Now Being Cleaned More Than Ever
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Things That Are Now Being Cleaned More Than Ever

Nov 17, 2021

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Lifestyle

Disinfection is one of the best ways to fight the novel coronavirus in your daily life. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends using 70 percent alcohol solutions, EPA-registered household disinfectant spray or homemade diluted household bleach solutions to clean and disinfect so-called “high touch surfaces” daily in household common areas. These “high-touch surfaces” include tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, remotes, handles, desks, toilets and sinks, among other things. Though the CDC’s list is a great start, there are a number of high-touch surfaces that may have slipped your mind. In fact, some of the dirtiest spots in your house are hiding in the most unlikely places. Here are spots you should start disinfecting now if you haven’t been already. 

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Say goodbye to the days of light dusting and hello to the days of deep scrubbing—every little bit of elbow grease counts when it comes to COVID-19 with some tips above.
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Overview
Disinfection is one of the best ways to fight the novel coronavirus in your daily life. The Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) recommends using 70 percent alcohol solutions, EPA-registered household
disinfectant spray or homemade diluted household bleach solutions to clean and disinfect so-called “high-
touch surfaces” daily in household common areas. These “high-touch surfaces” include tables, hard-backed
chairs, doorknobs, light switches, remotes, handles, desks, toilets and sinks, among other things.
Though the CDC’s list is a great start, there are a number of high-touch surfaces that may have slipped
your mind. In fact, some of the dirtiest spots in your house are hiding in the most unlikely places. Here are
spots you should start disinfecting now if you haven’t been already.
Pens
writing utensil in the past, businesses everywhere
have been scrubbing down the pens used to sign
receipts, forms, and other pieces of paper
necessary for everyday business. While this
occurrence is most common in restaurants and
retail shops, it really is necessary in any place in
which you may end up touching a communal pen
or pencil.
Door handles
coronavirus! While in the past businesses would get
the outside of their storefront cleaned professionally
every so often, now it’s likely for employees
themselves to wipe down the door handles on both
the outside and the inside of their shops as often as
with the arrival of every new customer.
Cellphones
alcohol-based disinfectant directly on a soft lint-free
cloth and wipe down the device — front, sides and
back — while it is powered down and unplugged.
Do not use bleach. Wipe down your device and let
it dry before turning it back on.
Keyboards
now than ever now that many of us are working
from home — same goes for a mouse, if you use
one. A 2016 study from IT training company CBT
Nuggets found that computer or laptop keyboards
can be 20,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat.
Take disinfectant wipe or a soft, linen-free cloth
dipped in isopropyl alcohol and wipe on the top
and sides of each key. Then clean the surface and
bottom of the keyboard thoroughly. Use a new
disinfectant wipe or cloth to clean the mouse.
Glasses
You’re not supposed to be touching your face, but
odds are, you’re still touching your glasses. The
grime from your fingers, face and exposure to the
outside world can build up on the frames and
lenses — plus, it’s a good idea to keep your vision
clear, anyway.
can use a drop of dishwashing liquid and a clean,
lint-free towel to clean the lenses if you don’t have
lens cleaner and a microfiber cloth, too.
Credit cards
So while cell phones have more germs than a toilet
seat, credit cards have more germs than urinals in a
train station, according to azcentral.com.
Comforting, no? This is why credit cards are another
item that are now getting more of a deep clean than
ever before. Think about it: You hand the cashier at
your local coffee shop your card, she swipes it, and
hands it back to you. Repeat this process for every
monetary transaction you have throughout the day.
See how many germs pile up? A quick swipe with a
Lysol wipe after each purchase will keep you that
much cleaner and safer.
This is another big one for restaurants. In the pre-
coronavirus world, it was very normal to see
restaurant staff wiping down the tabletop in
between groups of diners. But the seats? Not so
much. Nowadays, however, it’s much more common
to have both the table and seats wiped down
before sliding into your favorite comfy booth.
Although the CDC says that coronavirus is more
commonly spread through respiratory droplets
than through objects and surfaces, they emphasize
that it’s still essential to wipe down any potentially
dirty surfaces.
What else do these three essential items have in
common? You guessed it–they’re all covered in
germs! While keys aren’t quite as dirty as your cell
phone or credit card, you’re still touching them an
awful lot in many different places. For peace of mind,
disinfect your keys every once in a while to make
sure they stay sparkling and safe.
Menus
usual paper menu, opting instead to place QR
codes at each table which can then be scanned by
any device to launch an online menu. However,
those restaurants that still do provide diners with
physical menus are now giving those laminated
papers a real hosing down. Whether using
disinfectant wipes or the classic soap and water
combination, restaurant staff everywhere are
making sure that diners still have access to all of
the options without any of the illness.
Bathrooms
cleaning routine. The CDC recommends that
restaurants and bars clean their bathrooms at the
very least once a day. Certain rest stops and service
areas that contain public restrooms with many stalls
have implemented new precautions, such as putting
caution tape over every other sink to prevent
people from being too close to one another while
washing their hands.
We all know there’s nothing worse than a haircut
gone wrong…especially when “going wrong” can
now mean putting your health at risk. While
hairstylists were always supposed to clean their
tools in between each new client even before
coronavirus hit, the rules and regulations for
cleaning items in salons just got even stricter. While
in the past a stylist may have just dipped his or her
tools in Barbicide disinfectant and called it a day,
many salons are now doing multi-step processes to
make sure their tools are as clean as possible. In
some cases, this may include scrubbing with soap
and water, rinsing, and then applying a disinfectant.
Steering wheel
steering wheel? If you were answering pre-
coronavirus, the answer would probably be no. But
when answering that question now, hopefully, the
response would be the last time you were in the car
after going out in a public place. People are now
disinfecting their steering wheel after being at the
grocery store, a restaurant, or a retail shop to add an
extra level of cleanliness to their everyday lives.
Think about it: The germs that got on your hands
while inside the store can easily be transferred to
your steering wheel.
reheat food every day during the quarantine.
Give that touchpad — and the microwave door
handle, while you’re at it — a quick wipedown with a
disinfectant spray when you are doing your daily
kitchen cleaning. This also goes for any other
touchpad surfaces around the house you may have
neglected.
holders are the third-most germy household items,
behind dish sponges and kitchen sinks. In fact,
bacteria from the toilet can flick up onto your
toothbrush holder with every flush, depending on
where it is in your bathroom.
Make sure you thoroughly disinfect it when you
are cleaning your bathroom. You should also
replace toothbrushes and electric toothbrush
heads regularly as well.
Society for Microbiology links the bacteria
commonly found on shower heads to an increased
risk of respiratory illnesses.
plastic shopping bag with a bleach solution, tying it
around your showerhead and leaving overnight.
Rinse away any leftover solution before using it to
rinse off for yourself.
around you will hitch a ride on your clothes and
end up in your laundry basket. Especially if you are
cleaning linens and towels from someone who is
sick (which the CDC also recommends that you do
regularly), you should give your laundry basket a
thorough wipe down with a disinfectant wipe or
spray.
Purses
To clean a leather or even “pleather” bag, use a pea-
sized amount of hand sanitizing gel applied to the
surface of the purse with a tissue or a rag. To clean a
fabric bag, dampen a microfiber towel with isopropyl
alcohol and blot the bottom of the purse and the
handles with the alcohol. Let the bag dry overnight
in a cool place before
Mailbox handles
showed that 68 percent of mailbox handles are
germy enough to spread disease.
Make sure you disinfect your mailbox handle every
time you go outside to pick up that day’s mail. Your
mailman — who can’t work from home — will
probably thank you, too.
dressing rooms to open back up, those that have are
putting a big emphasis on cleaning them.
Furthermore, many stores have implemented a new
policy in which if you try on an item and decide you
don’t want to purchase it, the item must be put on a
special rack in the back. This gives the item time to
air out before returning it to the floor. Although
these rules complicate the usual shopping
experience, all of this cleaning allows you to continue
to shop till you drop (but thankfully, not literally).
Sponges
If you didn’t know it before, you know it now:
sponges are filthy. A 2017 study found that sponges
are the dirtiest place in your house — even dirtier
than the toilet bowl — with an average of over 54
billion bacterial cells.
To sanitize, rinse the sponge in one part bleach to
nine parts water, or microwave the sponge in a
bowl covered with water on high for about thirty
seconds. Even if you sanitize your sponge after
every use, researchers say you should swap sponges
every week in order to keep your eating surfaces
clean and sanitary.
Refrigerator door handles
standards organization NSF International found
refrigerator door handles to be among the dirtiest
places in the kitchen, despite the fact that they
don’t come into any direct contact with food. This
is probably one of the most oft-forgotten “door”
handles in the cleaning process, but don’t skip it
when you are cleaning the other high-touch
surfaces in your kitchen, like the tables and
countertops.
Our cell phones are ten times dirtier than a toilet
seat. But while in the past we may have brushed this
caution aside, now it’s time to furiously start
scrubbing all of our devices, whether they be
personal or communal. This is certainly true for
businesses such as restaurants that take orders on
iPads or other types of tablets, as well as the
keypads for credit card readers at retail shops.
Don’t make the possibly dangerous mistake of
forgetting to disinfect.
Conclusion
Say goodbye to the days of light dusting and hello to the days of deep scrubbing—every little bit of
elbow grease counts when it comes to COVID-19 with some tips above.