You eventually have to go outside to buy groceries, and you’ll never know
whether the items you believe have droplets of COVID-19 or not. This is why
knowing how to disinfect and sanitize everything that you bring back with you
at home should be a priority!
Everything from your groceries to your phone and even your car. All of these
need to be properly sanitized and disinfected, or else you run the risk of
endangering you and those around you. However, you don’t have to worry.
We’re here to show you what items you should be disinfecting right now and how
you can do it!
House Keys — Home To Many Germs And Viruses
For some things such as your hands and the things that you bought from the
outside, it’s only common sense that you have to disinfect and sanitize them.
However, most people wouldn’t even think about disinfecting their house keys
or just keys in general.
Despite how menial they might seem, keys can actually host a lot of different
viruses and germs, one of them is COVID-19.
To clean keys, all you really need is a bowl, some dish soap, and a small
brush. Use the brush to scrub the keys thoroughly in the dish soap mixed with
solution and that should rid it of any remnants of viruses!
Disinfecting doorknobs and keyholes is a precaution that you should also do
just to be extra safe!
Mobile Phones—One Call Away From Infection?
We use our phones literally every day, and yet we sometimes overlook how
filthy it can be. A phone can fall on the bathroom floor, placed on a dirty
surface, or even have droplets of saliva from sneezes and coughs!
We are oblivious to the germs and viruses that sit on our phones and use them
anyway without a care in the world.
Be mindful of where your phone has been and clean it thoroughly by wiping it
with disinfectant wipes, diluted rubbing alcohol, or alcohol pads!
Carrying a few disinfectant wipes and alcohol pads around when you go out is
an extra precaution that you should practice doing. Avoid using water or soap
water to clean your phone.
Although it may seem fine to just dab on some soap water and dry it off
afterwards, it might harm the electronics inside the phone. Alcohol evaporates
a lot quicker than water which makes it the best thing to clean your phone or
electronics with.
Shoes, Sandals, And Slippers
Because SARS-CoV-2 is more stable on smooth surfaces, if you have shoes,
sandals, or slippers made out of leather or synthetic materials, you’re going
to be in trouble. The virus can stay on the surface of your footwear somewhere
between an hour to three days if left uncleaned!
Unlike our clothing, we rarely thoroughly clean our footwear after we’ve been
outside because we rarely even think of the possibility that our footwear has
droplets that have SARS-CoV-2. If you haven’t sanitized all of your footwear
yet, this is probably the time that you should do it.
Wipe the outside of your footwear with disinfectant wipes and if possible,
wash it in a washing machine with hot water and detergent. If the device has
a, sanitize or disinfecting setting, use that as well. Leave it somewhere
well-ventilated and let it dry.
Cars And Other Vehicles—Ensuring That You Drive Safely
There’s a difference between cleaning your car and disinfecting it. If you
haven’t thoroughly disinfected your car now, you should probably do it before
you run the risk of contamination.
Disinfecting the inside is crucial to remaining safe from COVID-19 because the
interior of your car has a significant risk of containing droplets of the
virus.
Some essential parts to clean in your car are the steering wheel, dashboard,
hand break, touchscreen devices, all the levers, gears, knobs, buttons, seat
belts, glove compartment handle, ignition, cup holders, and the door handles.
These parts are essentially the hot spots of where droplets may be. On the
exterior you should thoroughly disinfect the boot handle, door handles, and
the fuel cap, because these areas are the most commonly touched parts of your
car outside.
Groceries—Sanitizing The Goods
Although the virus can be housed in inanimate objects such as your groceries,
that doesn’t mean that it will be transmitted to you just because you touch
it. The primary mode of transmission is still through person to person contact
with someone who already has the virus.
This essentially means that when you go out to get groceries, you shouldn’t
panic! Although it may be difficult, stay calm and don’t be afraid of what
you’re grabbing from the store.
Avoid using gloves because those gloves may be the reason why the virus
spreads throughout the store and onto your car! When you finally get home with
your groceries, try making a dedicated sanitized and unsanitized area outside
or on your kitchen counter top.
Use disinfectant wipes and wipe down the items in the unsanitized area and
when they’re done being sanitized, move them to the other area. For your
veggies and fruits, rinsing them with warm running water should be enough to
clean them thoroughly.
Money And Credit Cards
You’ve sanitized everything from top to bottom. Your phone, keys, footwear,
car, groceries, and even everything inside of your house. What else is left to
sanitize and disinfect to make sure your safe from the virus?
Disinfecting and sanitizing your cash and credit cards is probably something
that almost no one thinks of doing. However, your currency, especially
banknotes and coins, are probably the dirtiest items that you possess right
now.
Money is circulated from person to person, which means the change that you
receive from your local Wendy’s right now may even have droplets of the virus!
Credit cards aren’t exempt from this either. Because credit cards are inserted
in an ATM that other people use, there’s also a high risk that your credit
card would get contaminated.
Good thing money and credit cards are a lot easier to clean than other things
that you may have. You can use sanitizing spray, disinfectant wipes, and even
soap and water to clean your banknotes and coins!
Just leave them to dry afterwards and they should be clean enough for you to
use without fear of contaminating you or the people around you.
The fear of transmitting the virus is in the minds of everyone around the
world. With more and more being affected by the pandemic every day, keeping
yourself safe from the virus should be your top priority.
However, dreading about what happens next is not going to help. In times like
this, your knowledge about the virus and how it works is what’s going to save
you and the people around you. With that being said, make sure to be safe,
wash your hands, and wear a mask to help against the fight against the
coronavirus!
