Many know that regular cleaning is needed to keep your Waldorf rental home a safe haven during flu season. But it may not be enough to clean only the visible dirt. Doorknobs, light switches, computer keyboards, smartphones, tablets, television remotes, and game controllers are all easy to miss when cleaning the house. If not sanitized regularly, these things could accumulate more harmful bacteria than even your toilet seat.
Common Dirty Devices
It is recommended that you clean the following items regularly: your smartphone, tablet, keyboard, mouse, television remote, and gaming controller. These electronic devices are touched each day– especially phones, controllers, and remotes– and they can have ten times the amount of bacteria found on other surfaces in your home! Every time you touch something and then touch your phone or computer keyboard, you are basically transferring bacteria from one surface to another.
Surfaces that are often touched are more likely to collect bacteria and quickly become serious health hazards. Flu season is usually the time when germs are easily picked up and passed along to others through shared devices and controllers, even the TV remote. This is why you should really be cleaning your devices. Chances of your family getting sick increases if you don’t clean your devices every day or after every use.
High-Touch Surfaces
Try keeping track of everything you touch around your house each day. It might surprise you! High-touch surfaces are areas that are used very often yet may not make it onto our general cleaning lists. A few of these are doorknobs, cabinet handles, window blind controls, and light switches, which are all touched daily and even repeatedly throughout the day.
If these surfaces have not been wiped down with a germ-killing solution recently, chances are, they are harboring high levels of harmful bacteria. One study found that light switches often have 200 bacteria per square inch, while most toilets have 20 on average.
During flu season, it is even more important to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces in your home. However, many of these surfaces are not ideal for direct spraying with liquid cleaners or disinfectants. Spraying anything on your tech devices will probably damage them. However, there are wipes that are designed to clean electronic devices. Since these wipes usually have some alcohol content, they are able to kill harmful bacteria.
When cleaning high-touch surfaces around the house, it is helpful to use a microfiber cloth and spray your chosen disinfectant solution on the cloth, and not directly on the light switch or doorknob. There are commercial cleaning solutions that state it will kill bacteria on your home’s plastic or other durable surfaces. As you clean, remember that harsh chemicals will damage painted surfaces, wood, or natural stone so take care when cleaning these.
Additionally, the CDC recommends washing your hands frequently and cleaning all surfaces in your home with an appropriate disinfectant in addition to cleaning high-touch surfaces. Maintain proper ventilation at all times when cleaning and make sure to follow the label directions regardless of what cleaning agent you choose. With these extra precautions, your home can be germ-free, not only during flu season but all year round.
Are you in the market for a new rental home? Contact Real Property Management Gold to speak with one of our Waldorf property managers or view our listings online.
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