Cleaning your home when someone has been sick is important, particularly if the illness was contagious. Germs have a way of staying around, especially on surfaces of furniture and decorative items such as pillows. Hopefully, the sick person was confined to a bedroom but often coming into the living room to watch TV or into the kitchen to eat takes place. So, if someone in your home has been sick, it is best to give the bedroom of the sick person and all common areas of the home a thorough cleaning. Ideally, it is nice to have a professional cleaning service do the cleaning as they can use industrial-strength cleaning products and their workers are trained in the latest cleaning practices.
However, often a, homemaker must do their own cleaning. So here are some tips to help get the job done quickly and thoroughly. A quick note before listing the tips: there is a difference between sanitizing and disinfecting, and cleaning products will reference what they will do. Sanitizing gets rid of only bacteria, while disinfecting gets rid of both bacteria and viruses. Be sure to check the labels of the cleaning products you will be using to make sure the products will disinfect.
- Wear disposable gloves while cleaning
- Before beginning to clean, gather all linens, towels, and washable blankets and quilts used by the sick person. Be especially sure to get towels from the bathrooms and kitchen. Wash these items in hot water with bleach if possible and dry them in a hot dryer or hang them outside in the sunshine.
- Clean from the top down. In other words, clean counters, tops of furniture, and shelves first and then move down to items near the floor and lastly the floor. Use cleaning products designed to disinfect but are safe for the fabric or wood you will be cleaning. Check cleaning warnings on furniture. Use clean cloths and wring them out well. Also, rinse the cleaning cloths frequently and apply a fresh spray of disinfectant to the cloth.
- Try to get into the corners of shelves, cabinets, and counters, especially in bathrooms.
- If the person who was sick is a child, hopefully, you can wash and dry in a dryer any stuffed animals they have. Sometimes all you can do is wipe stuffed animals with a cloth sprayed with disinfectant.
- Empty and disinfect all waste containers and clothes hampers.
- Vacuum all floors, carpets, and rugs. When possible, clean all floors and their coverings. After cleaning, spray lightly with a disinfectant spray.
- Before putting the linens back on the bed, vacuum the mattress and spray it lightly with disinfectant spray. Wipe down the head and footboard with a disinfectant solution.
- Disinfect all light switches, including those on lamps, and all door knobs.
- When you have finished cleaning and disinfecting, spray all rooms lightly with a disinfectant spray.
Yes, it is a big job to correctly clean and disinfect after someone has been sick, but it is important to do so to avoid the spreading of germs. If you live in Ocala, Florida, or surrounding areas of The Villages, Gainesville, or Orlando, Cassie’s Meticulous Touch is a professional cleaning service with over 20 years of experience helping homes get rid of germs. Check their website https://cleaningservicesocalafl.com to learn more about Cassie’s services. You can call the office at (352) 216-0513 to make an appointment for a free estimate.
