A lot of people are now aware that disinfecting your home regularly is as good at keeping the Coronavirus at bay as washing your hands frequently. This is because while the confirmed CoViD-19 cases are continually rising in Canada and everywhere else in the world, the virus itself is not quite robust at all and can actually be combatted with the use of disinfectants.
In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a list of disinfectants that can effectively fight the virus. Meanwhile, experts at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Consumer Reports, among others, have given out recommendations on which of these products can efficiently help protect yourself and your home against the Coronavirus.
According to these organizations, the best thing you can do is to clean your home before disinfecting frequently touched surfaces daily. It has been suggested that you make a checklist of these “high-touch” areas so you don’t leave out anything. These include, but are not limited to, railings, doorknobs, sinks, faucet handles, and counter tops.
However, a lot of the cleaning and disinfecting products on EPA’s list are not at all safe and natural for use, especially in homes. Even the disinfectant wipes and sprays (Is Lysol Effective against Coronavirus?), supplies of which are now at a low, are not known to be fast-acting at all.
Consumer Reports stated that there are a lot of other products that are safer for you to use in protecting your home from the Coronavirus. In fact, these are common household supplies that you may already have in your sink cabinet.
You might turn your nose up at the sheer simplicity of combo this, but it actually works. Soap is good at removing airborne droplets that may be on any surface and trapping them in water, which can then be washed off. This is regardless of whether the surface is your face and your hands or kitchen counters and doorknobs. In fact, a good old detergent can not only remove virus particles from surfaces, it can actually kill them.
Alcohol formulations, like isopropyl alcohol, that contain at least 70 percent alcohol have the capacity to eradicate the coronavirus. It is less harsh than bleach, so it won’t cause as much damage. Just make sure that you don’t dilute this product when you use it to disinfect anything. Also take note that while alcohol is basically safe for all surfaces, it can change the colour of some plastics.
If you cleaned using vinegar before, then it is time that you stop counting on this to still be a thing. Vinegar is natural and cheap, yes, but there has never been any evidence that it is effective at eliminating the coronavirus.
Contrary to what has been posted on social media, vodka and other distilled spirits will not work at sanitizing anything against the CoViD-19. The alcohol concentration in vodka is only 40 percent. This is not high enough to get rid of any viruses. In fact, for hand sanitizers to be any help at all, it has to have at least 60 percent of alcohol in its formulation.
It takes a really good scrub to decontaminate any surface. You just don’t do a quick swipe and think that is already enough. You need to clean off any grime or dirt off before you can disinfect.
As mentioned earlier, the Coronavirus may not be quite hardy, but it still needs an effective disinfecting product and some use of force to be eradicated. Now that you already know of disinfectants that are safer for you, your home, and the environment, then you can be responsible in doing this as well.
