Cleaning after someone has been sick is vital to the health of everyone else living in the house. “Sick Germs” seem to spread at an astounding speed and if you don’t do everything in your power to slow it down, it won’t be long until the whole house is down with it.
Of course, “it” can be anything from the flu to a bad cold to covid. Depending on what type of sickness it is, will determine how and what you need to do to clean after someone has been sick.
That the CDC estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 26 million illnesses, 290,000 hospitalizations, and 18,000 deaths from flu. That’s a whole lotta flu germs that you can help your family avoid just by following some simple, yet effective preventative measures.
Cleaning after someone has been sick might not be a lot of fun, but it sure can stop a lot more germs from spreading.
So what is the best way to clean after someone has been sick? The first thing you need to understand is that cleaning is different from sanitizing and disinfecting.
Cleaning removes dirt, crumbs, germs and dust from surfaces. Sanitizing removes bacteria from surfaces, while disinfecting not only removes bacteria and viruses, it kills them as well. Although it would be overkill for cleaning after someone has been sick, the other option is sterilization, which kills all of the microorganisms on surfaces.
So what is the best way to clean after someone has been sick? The first thing you need to understand is that cleaning is different from sanitizing and disinfecting.
Some of the most important things to remember to when cleaning after someone has been sick, is to be sure to:
disinfecting these items could be your number one defense against sickness spreading throughout your whole house. Door knobs, light switches and TV remotes are some of the most used items in your home. Disinfecting them with either diluted bleach or alcohol solution, or using a hospital grade cleaner goes a long way to stopping sickness in its tracks.
When you are cleaning after someone has been sick, be sure to launder all of their bedding – pillows, blankets, sheets in HOT water and dry them in the dryer. These two steps will help to kill the bacteria that may still be lurking, waiting for its next victim.
You can ensure that your bedding is properly cleaned and disinfected after someone in your household has been sick.
It may be necessary to replace your bedding entirely if the sick person had a highly contagious illness.
This will cut down on the time you spend doing laundry and keep them from spreading the flu bug by using multiple towels and transferring those germs to towels others may use. Another good idea is to keep their towels in a separate location (like maybe a separate towel rack) to prevent cross contamination.
Finally, when they are feeling better and you are doing your last bit of cleaning after someone has had the flu, remember to clean and disinfect every surface in their room to ensure that that nasty bug won’t be making a re-appearance anytime soon!
Remember prevention is worth a pound of cure, so take action and make sure that you are doing all you can to keep the flu from taking down your whole house. Learn more about disinfecting your home in this One Organized Mom blog post.
Need us to do the cleaning after someone has been sick? Just give us a call and we will take care of it! 561-729-0834. Stay Healthy!!
HEATHER CANNING,
Head Mom at One Organized Mom
To learn more about Heather’s Story click here.
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