Many know that regular cleaning is needed to keep your Grandville rental home a safe haven during flu season. But it may not be enough to clean only the visible dirt. Doorknobs, light switches, computer keyboards, smartphones, tablets, television remotes, and game controllers are all easy to miss when cleaning the house. If not sanitized regularly, these things could accumulate more harmful bacteria than even your toilet seat.
Common Dirty Devices
Regular cleaning is recommended for items like your smartphone, tablet, keyboard, mouse, television remote, and gaming controller. As these electronic devices are heavily touched each day, phones, controllers, and remotes can often have ten times the amount of bacteria found on other surfaces in your home! This means that every time you touch your phone or computer keyboard after touching something else, you are transferring bacteria from one surface to the other.
Surfaces that are often touched are more likely to collect bacteria and quickly become serious health hazards. When it is flu season, it becomes easier to pick up germs and unknowingly pass them along to other people by sharing devices, controllers, and even the TV remote. This is why you should really be cleaning your devices. Not cleaning your devices every day or after every use is like increasing the chances of you or your family getting sick.
High-Touch Surfaces
Try keeping track of everything you touch around your house each day. You might be in for a surprise! High-touch surfaces are areas that are used very often yet may not make it onto our general cleaning lists. A few of these are doorknobs, cabinet handles, window blind controls, and light switches, which are all touched daily and even repeatedly throughout the day.
Not wiping these surfaces down with a germ-killing solution would mean these surfaces could be harboring high levels of harmful bacteria. One study found that light switches often have 200 bacteria per square inch, while most toilets have 20 on average.
Especially during flu season, it is important that you sanitize high-touch surfaces in your home. But a lot of these surfaces cannot just be sprayed with liquid cleaners or disinfectants. Spraying anything on your tech devices will probably damage them. However, there are wipes that are designed to clean electronic devices. These wipes usually contain alcohol, which can kill harmful bacteria.
You can then use a microfiber cloth and spray a disinfectant solution on the cloth, not directly on the light switch or doorknob, as you clean the other high-touch surfaces around the house. There are many suitable commercial cleaning solutions that state they will kill bacteria and are suited for your home’s plastic or other durable surfaces. As you clean, remember that harsh chemicals will damage painted surfaces, wood, or natural stone so take care when cleaning these.
In addition to high-touch surfaces, the CDC also recommends that everyone wash hands frequently and clean all home surfaces with a disinfectant ideal for the type of surface to be cleaned. Make sure you have adequate ventilation and follow the label directions for whatever cleaning agent you choose. These extra precautions can help keep your home as germ-free as possible, not only during the flu season but all year round.
Are you in the market for a new rental home? Contact Real Property Management Investment Solutions to speak with one of our Grandville property managers or view our listings online.
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