How To Sanitize Your Home During Cold and Flu Season

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Each year cold and flu season takes its toll on families. It’s super important to take precautions to protect yourself and stop the spread of the disease, but unfortunately people still get sick. No matter if your family experienced illness or not, keeping your home sanitized is easy, if you follow some of these tips to rid your home of any viruses, germs, or bacteria lingering around. While bleach may seem like the first choice, you would be surprised to know that soap and water can be just as effective to eliminate the flu virus.

The seasonal flu virus can live on the surface for 24 hours. If you or your loved ones do end up contracting the flu, quarantine that person to their own space to limit exposure. Give them their own separate trash can and supplies, as well as handling their dirty laundry and trash carefully. The key to eliminating the flu virus is to sanitize commonly used surfaces daily, or even several times a day, especially if you have a person who is already sick in your home. These areas you need to pay attention to include, but are not limited to:

Door handles
Stair railings
Table tops
Countertops
Light switches
Faucet handles
Toilet handles
Toilet seats
Sinks
Refrigerator handles
Drawer/ door pulls

Wipe the surface so it is visibly wet and let it air dry. Be sure to use a cloth and not a sponge as sponges can hold in the virus. Use a new cloth as you clean each surface so as to not transfer the virus between surfaces.

Consider opening the windows, even for a little bit, and airing out the space with some fresh air. If you have little ones, you’ll want to sanitize their toys very thoroughly as well, especially if they have a tendency to put the toys in their mouths. You can put the plastic toys in a sink or a bathtub and let them soak with soap and hot water. For school age children it would be a good idea to wash lunch boxes and book bags.

In the bathroom, keep tooth brushes away from other toothbrushes and keep any caps off. This would also be a good time to say try not to share any personal items including drinking cups and eating utensils. Another thing to consider is keeping your electronics sanitized as well, especially if you have a phone or a laptop that you take into public places. Use an electronic safe cleaning pad to wipe down those surfaces.

First and foremost, practicing good personal hygiene not only lessens the risk of contracting, but helps to stop the spread of the flu virus. Extending good sanitizing habits in our homes also helps to keep the flu virus at bay. Taking a few extra steps, especially if someone in our home becomes sick, is important to help eliminate spreading the virus to other people. Our homes need to be a safe and healthy space for our loved ones.

Brooke Cribbs

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Brooke has a lifestyle blog called Cribbs Style and currently lives in Charleston, SC. This wife, mom of two almost tweens, and mom of three fur children enjoys all things DIY and organizing. When she’s not helping others tackle the chaos of life, she’s either working out, at the beach, or just enjoying time with family and friends.