This past month, FP Property Restoration has devoted our blog entirely to home disinfecting. After covering all the main rooms in your house, our final installment will go over general home disinfecting tips that every American should practice. Our cleaning and restoration pros understand that this is a difficult time for our country and the world at large. However, we are proud to be able to provide useful advice to homeowners and professional disinfecting service to keep your property as germ-free as possible during this national crisis. Make sure to continue practicing social distancing until the spread of COVID-19 has slowed, and feel free to contact us 24/7 for emergency cleaning and restoration services.
Wipe Down Groceries & Anything You Bring Inside
By now, most people across the U.S. have heard the government recommendations to wear gloves and masks while shopping (in addition to staying six feet apart from anyone in the store.) However, proper grocery shopping hygiene doesn’t end when you leave the store. Once you get home, after you throw away (or wash) those masks and gloves, and thoroughly wash your hands, you should also disinfect your groceries. Start by throwing away the bags that you brought everything home in, and then wipe down the packaging of individual items with an EPA-approved disinfectant. While you do not need to disinfect fruits and vegetables, it is a good idea to wash all produce with soap and water. Keep in mind that any grocery items you touch you should buy, and you shouldn’t be touching too many items at the grocery store to begin with (especially since you don’t know how many people touched those items before you.)
Once you have disinfected the grocery items themselves, clean and disinfect the surface you put them on. While your most frequent trips these days may be to the grocery store, this advice also applies to any outside items you purchase and bring into your home.
Vacuum & Deep Clean Your Carpets
Research indicates that the Coronavirus can survive up to 24 hours on cardboard, and up to two days or more on other surfaces. However, while no one is exactly sure how long it can survive on carpets or upholstery, it is thought that it may be harder to remove the virus from these areas than from flat surfaces. This is why it is a good idea to regularly vacuum and deep clean your carpets. What does “deep clean” mean in this context?
While there is no one standard protocol, steaming carpeting, rugs, and other fibers, as well as spraying them with disinfectant is thought to be effective on top of a normal vacuum-cleaning. You should also disinfectant your vacuum once the job is done, wiping it down inside and out. Beyond that, you may want to call our experts for professional carpet cleaning. We offer advanced technology and effective cleaning agents to thoroughly sanitize your carpets, without even making direct contact with you.
Clean & Disinfect Your Air Ducts
You’ve probably been spending a lot of time (read: almost all your time) at home lately. While you’re already aware of the importance of cleaning and disinfecting throughout your household, there is another important home health factor you need to consider: air quality. If you have dirty air ducts, your HVAC system is just going to end up spreading more dirt and germs around the house. This can greatly affect those in your home with allergies, asthma, or other respiratory issues, in addition to making everyone more vulnerable to sickness. That’s why you should have your ducts professionally cleaned. By thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting your ductwork, you may not only be able to cut down on dirt and dust, you may actually be able to stop certain viruses from spreading through your indoor air.
Spray Down Items Throughout Your Household
Here’s the thing: we touch hundreds of items throughout our house every day. Door handles, furniture, computers, phones; the unfortunate reality is that there are thousands of ways to spread germs and bacteria in modern households. This includes through items like the remote, which everybody in your family probably touches. There are also objects like silverware, which go from one person’s mouth to another. Or consider your children’s toys, which can be the perfect vessel for spreading germs.
Of course, fear of this virus is no reason to stop living your life, or go around spraying everything in sight, like some crazy person. Just remember to clean and sanitize common household items as much as possible. And while you’re at it, consider disinfecting and wiping down your car the next time you need to drive somewhere.
When In Doubt, Trust the CDC
Ultimately, the best way to get through this is to trust the advice of qualified medical professionals. That means when in doubt, go back to the household cleaning and disinfection guidelines set by the CDC. With a little patience, and a lot of common sense, it is not hard to take daily steps to ensure your household remains as clean as possible.
We hope you have found this weekly blog series on home disinfecting useful, and that it has helped you and your family remain safe and comfortable throughout this trying month. FP Property Restoration continues to be available for homeowners and business owners as we face this national crisis, and is committed to doing everything we can to maintain the health of our customers and employees.
To reach FP Property Restoration for 24/7 emergency service, call (888) 408-2335, or request a free, on-site inspection online.