Deep cleaning your home after being sick
How to disinfect your space after flu, strep or other illnesses
Just because you or someone in your household gets sick, it doesn’t mean everyone has to get sick. Deep cleaning your house after a bout of illness, such as flu or strep throat, is key to killing viruses and germs and keeping your family well.
“Certain types of viruses, including the flu, can live on hard surfaces like counters for up to 48 hours, and on soft surfaces like pillows for up to 12 hours,” says Susan Werner, MD, a family medicine provider at Geisinger Nanticoke. “Bacteria, like the one that causes strep throat, can live on surfaces for months.”
The good news? Getting your house disinfected is easier than you’d think.
How to disinfect your home after an illness
Sanitizing your entire home doesn’t have to be overwhelming — just take it one step at a time:
Wipe down hard surfaces
Use disinfectant spray or mix 1 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water to wipe down and sanitize the hard surfaces (especially the high-traffic ones) in your home. This includes countertops, tables, doorknobs, faucets and even the remote. Clean everything, even if the person who was sick may not have touched it.
Wash your bedding
Change your pillowcases and wash your sheets and comforter in hot water. Do this for every bed, not just the one used by the person who was sick.
Clean toys
Toys are notorious germ magnets. Wipe down all the hard-surface toys in your home with a good disinfecting spray or use the 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water mixture. Wash stuffed animals in hot water.
Clean your phone screen
Constantly touched, your smartphone or tablet might be the germiest surface in your house. To clean the phone screen and case, turn off your phone and unplug it. Use a cleaner with 70% to 80% isopropyl alcohol in it.
“That’s enough alcohol to kill the germs, but not so much it damages the phone surface,” says Dr. Werner.
Using the cleaner, moisten a soft, non-abrasive cloth until it’s just damp, not wet. Swipe over the phone and case, avoiding the ports. You can also use a disinfecting wipe. Let it dry a few minutes, making sure no liquid is in the ports, then turn it back on.
Use disposable dishes
When someone in your household is sick, using paper plates and disposable cups can reduce the spread of germs. Rather than leaving dishes in the kitchen after you’re done eating, you can simply throw them away.
“This not only limits the spread of illness, but it also removes some chores when you or a loved one are sick and exhausted,” says Dr. Werner.
Disinfect the air
Norovirus and other common germs can live in the air long after you or your family has been sick. Open the windows in your home to let sunlight and fresh air in. You can also spray the rooms in your home with a disinfecting spray to kill any viruses and germs lingering in the air.
Don’t forget the bed or couch
If you have gloves, put them on. You can spritz with cleaning spray, but don’t use anything with bleach. Then, steam clean the couch or rugs to avoid contamination and destroy all bacteria. Steam-cleaning tools use steam heat to kill the germs, unlike shampooing tools that just remove stains — but you can buy or rent a combination tool that does both. Before using cleaner or a cleaning tool, test a small, hidden area to make sure it won’t ruin the fabric.
Wash your hands
After you use the bathroom, before you eat, after you eat, if you clean up after someone who’s sick, and when you pet your fur babies — wash your hands. Spend a minimum of 20 seconds washing your hands, lathering up with soap and hot water. No soap around? You can also use hand sanitizer in between washes.
Next steps:
Learn about family medicine at Geisinger
Have a runny nose? Find out what it could be.
Learn if that sore throat is just a cold or strep.
