“I hope I get the flu this year!” said no one ever. You do your best to avoid it. You wash your hands, you try not to touch door handles and hand rails, you may even get the flu vaccine. But no matter how hard you try, there is still a chance that viruses like the flu and the common cold may make their way into your home. However, just because the germs may get into your home doesn’t mean they have to get into your body and make you sick. There are some house cleaning precautions you can take that will eliminate the majority of the germs that find their way into your home. You can do most of these things on your own as part of your own housecleaning regiment. But if you want a deep, thorough cleaning to eliminate germs and keep your family healthy this season, hire professional house cleaning in Burlington, NC.
Prevention is your Best Defense
You’ve heard the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Well this could not be more accurate than when it comes to stopping the spread of the flu virus. When you leave your home and go out in public, you run the risk of picking up germs on your hands, shoes, and other belongings. To keep these germs from spreading all over your home, follow these steps.
Step 1. Your first step upon reentering your home should be to remove your shoes and leave your purse, book bags, and jackets at the door. Everywhere you walk, all day, your shoes and other belongings could be picking up unwanted germs. When you drag those items through the house, those germs can spread to every part of your home, increasing the chances of someone getting sick.
Step 2. Wash your hands before touching anything. Go straight to the nearest sink, whether it’s your bathroom or a utility room sink and have everyone wash their hands. This will eliminate a significant amount of outside germs and stop them from being spread around your home.
Step 3. Use a disinfectant that is safe for any material and spray over shoes and other belongings. This will go a long way toward killing the germs that may have hitched a ride with you during your busy day.
Simply following these 3 steps goes a long way toward making your home a safe haven from illness. Add monthly maid services in Greensboro, NC, and you can be sure any germs that do get in will be eliminated.
Disinfect Commonly Touched Areas Daily
When you think of the dirtiest places in your home, you probably think of your kitchen floor or your bathrooms and toilets. While keeping bacteria at bay in these areas is important, there are others that are more likely to harbor the flu virus. The highest risk areas of your home are those places that receive a lot of hand traffic. These areas include:
- Light switches
- Door knobs
- Stair handrails
- Faucet handles
- Refrigerator door handle
The best way to clean these areas is with disinfecting wipes or spray. On a daily basis you should wipe down all areas of your home that are commonly touched by hand. This practice can go a long way toward keeping you and your family healthy during cold and flu season.
Get a Germ-Killing Deep Clean with Monthly Maid Services in Greensboro, NC
Doing your daily diligence to keep your family from getting sick is truly a labor of love. It requires a lot of thought and effort to remember. Take some of the burden off of yourself and get an even more thorough cleaning when you hire monthly maid services in Greensboro, NC. On top of what you do daily, a monthly deep clean will eliminate germs in places you haven’t gotten to and may not think to touch. Professional housecleaners follow a regiment that ensures they don’t miss a single corner of your home. The Maids of the Triad apply a 22 Step Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System to eliminate germs as well as allergens that can cause illnesses. An allergy attack can weaken your immune system and leave you susceptible to catching a cold or the flu more readily, thus eliminating allergens like dust mites is equally as important as killing germs.
We often forget that viruses are airborne, meaning simply disinfecting surfaces isn’t enough. HEPA (high efficiency particulate arrestance) filtered vacuum cleaners remove the finest particles from the air, including germs and allergens. The Maids use HEPA vacuums exclusively to ensure the air inside your home is as clean and fresh as your surfaces. Other vacuums can even spread dust and germs around your home, making matters worse. One of the biggest advantages to hiring professional housecleaners, such as The Maids, is the state of the art cleaning equipment used.
Handheld Electronics: The Hidden Germ Transmitter
By now you probably think you have a pretty good handle on preventing the spread of germs in your home. But there’s still an area that hasn’t been addressed: handheld electronics. This means your cell phone, cordless home phone, remote controls, tablets, and computer accessories. These items are handled more than any other possessions you have. Your cell phone goes out with you and comes back in with you, and is touched before you wash your hands and after you wash your hands. Remote controls are used daily, often while eating, and have so many small places for germs to hide between the buttons. Phones go from hand to face occasionally, though not with the frequency they once did thanks to text communication. Even so, your electronics are a germ magnet that give cold and flu viruses a place to party.
The best way to disinfect electronics is with wipes that are specifically made for this purpose. Electronic wipes are often wet with alcohol because it evaporates quickly, which protects your devices that could be damaged by too much moisture. Alcohol is also a powerful disinfectant that is not harmful on contact and dries completely clean and clear. Electronic wipes come in individual packets and in canisters like other disinfecting wipes do. Make sure you are using wipes that are marked safe for electronics to keep these valued possessions in good condition.
How the Stop the Spread if the Flu does Reach your Household
In the unfortunate event that the flu does make its way into your home by way of some member of your family, your next steps should be to prevent the spread. You can attempt to keep the flu virus contained using the same prevention methods described above. Disinfect commonly touched areas and surfaces. In addition, now is the time to focus on the bathrooms and kitchen where germs are likely to spread between family members. You may be able to contain the illness to just one person with a careful cleaning regiment.
Stay Healthy with a Green Cleaning Company in High Point, NC
There’s more to staying healthy than just preventing the flu. Cleaners with harsh chemicals can be harmful to people and pets and may make some illnesses worse. Trust your home and family to a green cleaning company in High Point, NC, like The Maids. The Maids use only safe, earth-friendly cleaning products to make your home a healthy place.