Tips on How to Clean Your House after the Flu and other Sicknesses – Disinfecting Your Home!
Learn how to clean your house after the flu and other sicknesses to help prevent the disease from spreading to other members of the family.
Cleaning and disinfecting your house very well after someone in your house has had the flu or any other sickness is very important. It can help kill the germs and prevent the illness from spreading to other members of your household.
With the flu season still in full force, keeping those viruses at bay is very crucial.
So, it is important to know not only how to clean your home after the flu and other sicknesses, but also before and during any illness in your home as well.
Here are some tips that may help you clean and disinfect your home to keep the flu and other sicknesses at bay or at least keep the virus from spreading throughout your home.
Related: How to Clean a Messy House
Tips for Keeping Viruses at Bay Before Anyone in Your Home Becomes Ill
No matter how clean you keep you home, germs can make their way inside from outside especially through visitors to your home.
It may be impossible to prevent the possibility of the flu or some other sickness from coming into your home through contact with others.
However, there are some things you can do to reduce the chances of anyone in your home falling sick and these include the following.
- Start with personal care. Wash your hands often using warm water and soap and keep your hands away from your face.
- Wipe down all of your hard surfaces in every room of your home with disinfectant wipes and let the area dry for at least 4 minutes in order to give the disinfectant time to work. This should include your keyboards, cells phones, doorknobs, light switch, etc. because the flu virus can live on these surfaces for up to 24 hours.
- Take special care when cleaning and disinfecting your bathroom.
- Don’t allow damp towels and washrags to sit around, hang them up to dry and wash them after every 3 uses if not before. Also wash your bedding at least once a week. Whenever possible dry on hot since heat kills most viruses.
- Vacuum regularly and use bleach when mopping floors.
Tips for Cleaning Your Home When Someone Becomes Ill
Should someone become ill with the flu or other sicknesses in your home, there are still things you can do to help reduce the risk of the illness spreading to other household members.
Here are the tips for what to do if someone in your home contracts the virus.
- Start by isolating the sick person as soon as possible. Try to keep them to one room and one bathroom.
- Place a bagged lined trash bag next to the sick person’s bed for them to dispose of tissues.
- Empty the basket daily and spray the waste bag with disinfectant before putting a fresh bag inside.
- Disinfect and clean the rest of your house just as you would to keep the illness out of your home.
- Wear gloves and mask and clean and disinfect the room and the bathroom the sick person uses. Disinfect all surfaces in the sick room and use a disinfectant spray to spray the carpet, the curtains and everything else in the room
- Be careful when handling and washing the sick person’s bedding and night wear and be sure to wash your own clothes after cleaning their room.
- After taking the sick person’s temperature, wipe down the thermometer with peroxide to kill the virus. If possible leave the thermometer in the peroxide for several minutes and then rinse it well.
- Wash the ill person’s dishes immediately after they use them to kill the virus on the dishes and utensils they use.
How to Clean Your Home after the Flu And Other Sicknesses
If someone in your home has had the flu or some other virus and has recovered, it is still a good idea to completely clean and disinfect your home.
In fact, while it doesn’t happen often because once you catch the flu you build up antibodies to the illness it is possible to catch a different strain of the flu or some other virus.
It is best to go through each room of the house and thoroughly clean it.
Cleaning and Disinfecting the Bathroom after the Flu
Start with your bathroom, since that room is the most likely to carry both viruses and germs that can cause illness.
Take down the shower curtain and collect all the used bathroom towels and wash them in the hottest water possible with a bit of chlorine to kill any germs, bacteria or lingering virus.
Once you have removed the towels and shower curtain you should then wash down the shower wall, and even the bathroom walls, the shower, tub and toilet with a disinfectant wash.
Let everything sit damp for several minutes to give the disinfectant time to work and then rinse everything well and dry.
Mop the bathroom floor with bleach water and then after everything dries, use a disinfectant spray on all surfaces.
Soak toothbrushes in peroxide for about 10-15 minutes and rinse.
Cleaning and Disinfecting the Kitchen after the Flu Sicknesses
Wipe all of the countertops, door handles, refrigerator handle, stove handle and any other hard surfaces with bleach water and allow it to dry and then rinse everything with clear water.
Wash all dirty dishes in hot water and soap or in the dishwater and mop the floor with chlorine water.
Once everything is dry, then use the disinfectant spray liberally to kill any lingering germs or viruses. Make sure you spray the disinfectant spray on the curtains as well.
Cleaning and Disinfecting Other Main Rooms
Go through the other main rooms of your home, again cleaning all of the hard surfaces with disinfectant wipes or clean rag soaked in chlorine water including your cell phone, keyboard, all door handles etc.
Allow to sit for a few minutes then rinse and dry.
Vacuum your carpet and all upholstered furniture well and throw out the vacuum bag and replace it with a fresh one.
Use disinfectant spray throughout the main rooms including the carpeting, the curtains and drapes and the upholstered furniture.
Cleaning and Disinfecting the Bedrooms after the Flu and other Sicknesses
When cleaning the bedrooms, it is best to wash all the bedding from each bedroom and wipe down all surfaces with chlorine and warm water.
Vacuum the floor and the mattress and if possible actually steam clean the mattress at least in the rooms where the sick people recovered.
Use disinfectant spray on the bedroom curtains, carpeting and the rest of the rooms.
It may take a little more work, but keeping your home as disinfected as possible during and after the flu or some other illness can keep your family healthier and safer.
I hope you found our tips on how to clean your house after the flu and other sicknesses helpful. Feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section.
