Without a doubt, most people take into account that regular cleaning is an effective way to keep your rental home safe during flu season. Be that as it may, cleaning just the obvious dirt may not be adequate enough. Doorknobs, light switches, computer keyboards, smartphones, tablets, television remotes, and game controllers are easy to miss when cleaning the house. If you are not sanitizing them regularly, they may store more harmful bacteria than your toilet.
How dirty are standard handheld devices?
It is firmly suggested that you regularly clean your smartphone, tablet, keyboard, mouse, television remote, and gaming controller. Due to the fact that these electronic devices are touched so often each day, namely phones, controllers, and remotes, they can have ten times the amount of bacteria found on other surfaces in your home!
Mull it over: whenever you touch something and then touch your phone or computer keyboard, you’ve transferred bacteria from one surface to the other.
The more often you touch a particular surface, the more bacteria will collect there, immediately becoming a serious health hazard. Throughout flu season, it’s easy to pick up germs and unwittingly pass them along to others by sharing devices, controllers – even the TV remote. This is what makes cleaning your dirty devices vital. If you aren’t cleaning your devices every day or after every use, the chances are huge that they might get you or your family sick.
Surfaces you touch every day
Have you ever tried to closely track everything you touch around the house daily? You may be astounded! High-touch surfaces, specifically, get a lot of use but, certainly, may not make it onto your general cleaning lists. As an example, doorknobs, cabinet handles, window blind controls, and light switches are all touched daily, perhaps lots of times daily.
If you haven’t wiped these surfaces down with a germ-killing solution, they are more likely than not harboring high levels of harmful bacteria. Studies have found these surfaces usually contain far more bacteria per square inch than your toilet.
Sanitizing high-touch surfaces in your home is especially critical during the time of flu season. But, be that as it may, these surfaces cannot directly be sprayed with liquid cleaners or disinfectants. Spraying anything on your tech devices will wreck them. Rather, you can purchase and use wipes designed to clean electronic devices. These wipes actually contain alcohol, which kills harmful bacteria.
For other high-touch surfaces around the house, utilize a microfiber cloth and spray a disinfectant solution on the cloth, not directly on the light switch or doorknob. A commercial cleaning solution that clearly specifies it will kill bacteria will work for your home’s plastic or other durable surfaces. Just don’t use harsh chemicals on painted surfaces, wood, or natural stone, as the chemicals will damage these areas.
Along with high-touch surfaces, the CDC recommends washing your hands frequently and cleaning all surfaces in your home with a disinfectant more appropriate for the type of surface you’re cleaning. Just be watchful to have proper ventilation and adhere to the label directions regardless of what cleaning agent you settle on. By taking these extra preventive steps, you can keep your home as germ-free as possible during flu season and throughout the year.
Are you in the market for a new rental home? Contact Real Property Management Elevate to talk with one of our property managers servicing Edmond and nearby or examine our available listings.
Originally Published on November 26, 2021
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