Lately, we have all heard a lot, probably way more than we wanted to, about viruses and germs. You may have experienced some of the fallout too...stores out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, schools closing down, large-scale theme parks closed down, and events postponed. I'm a board member of the Educational Foundation in my town and every year we host a 5K run/walk to benefit teachers and students. We had 500 runners signed up and 80 volunteers. I say 'had' because it too has been postponed until further notice.

We all have to be informed and take action, of course. History has proven that we must take measures to prevent many thousand illnesses and deaths.

Chances are, like me, you've received countless emails from organizations you're affiliated with and stores you purchase from...all trying to assure us that they've implemented extra-vigilant cleaning and health-safety procedures and encouraging us to wash our hands, not touch our faces, keep a safe distance between each other, not to go into public places with large scale crowds, and keeping our own environments sanitary.

We're all hoping that, globally, we'll be able to get this under control...for everyone's health and sanity, as well as the economy. In the meantime, it's always good practice to 'clean house' so to speak...and to clean it well, especially now.

That being said, do you feel confident that your home, especially the kitchen and bathrooms, are pretty clean. Have you really disinfected them to make any 'bad stuff' disappear?

While our counters can LOOK clean, that doesn't necessary mean that they actually ARE clean. If your cat just walked across it after using his litter box, you probably don't want to put anything on that counter that comes in contact with your food. Someone sneezing without covering their nose fast enough in your kitchen could be a quick blast of germs being spread.

Most of us do clean our counters, and other kitchen and bathroom surfaces, regularly. However, there are other places we should clean (and disinfect) as well...door knobs, light switches, remotes, faucet handles...really, anything people touch.

There really is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting, and even the order in which they should be done. You should clean BEFORE you disinfect.

Cleaning consists of more or less a soap and water sort of thing. Most of us use a general-purpose spray cleaner. These cleaners get up the sticky or greasy messes like juice or butter that have gotten on the countertops, or the toothpaste in the bathroom sink. We use a clean cloth, rag, or paper towel and our preferred cleaner to take care of dirt and sticky stuff on the surfaces. And they probably do get rid of a fair number of germs, but not all. In some cases, our cleaning cloths may just move and spread those germs. Yikes!

Sanitizers and disinfectants are terms that often get used interchangeably. However, they are different. Sanitizers reduce the bacteria by significant numbers, but do not destroy or eliminate all bacteria.

Disinfectants destroy or deactivate nearly all bacteria, fungi, and viruses, although not necessarily bacterial spores.

To be called a disinfectant, a product should kill about 99.9% of the germs on a surface. Ok, so far so good. Most of us have some sort of disinfecting cleaner in our cleaning arsenal. Now the question becomes: Are you using your disinfectant correctly? To be effective, most disinfectants need to sit on the surface for 5-10 minutes before you wipe them. I hate to break the bad news, but you cannot disinfect by spraying and immediately wiping your counter or sink. I wish you could. I wish I could.

By the way, the bottle of vinegar you bought at the grocery store does not meet EPA standards for disinfecting. It will not kill 99.99% of germs, nor eliminate staph, MRSA, or salmonella on surfaces.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 'Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, meaning they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill with the appropriate disinfectant product.' In fact, the EPA has published a list of registered disinfectants authorized to help prevent and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. You can find this list on this link:

EPA Disinfectant List

Admittedly, up until the past week of media coverage, I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about disinfecting beyond the countertops, sinks, and toilet bowl, unless someone in the family was ill or I had several people over and felt an urge to clean doorknobs, etc. after so many hands have touched them.

Yes, if I have been preparing chicken, pork, fish, beef, etc., no matter how careful I feel like I have been, I disinfect the counter afterward. I can spare ten minutes to know I am not spreading any unhealthy bacteria (hopefully killed on the food by cooking).

If someone in the family has a cold or flu, I disinfect more often. I also know I will never get it all. You just cannot hit all the nooks and crannies in the house.

However, disinfecting now has moved higher on my mindfulness list and priority list.

Disinfecting does not have to be done with special cleaners, by the way. A solution of chlorine bleach and water will work. Proportions will depend on whether it is routine disinfecting or for illness. Recommendations can be found on the Internet...and definitely read up on this before you start cleaning with it. You have to be sure the room is properly ventilated, that you're not mixing it with anything dangerous, that you're protecting your skin, that what you're using is safe for the surface you're cleaning (e.g. a porous surface like marble should not be subjected to bleach) etc. etc.

This is a good source:

Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations

To boil it down to the simplest terms - clean, then disinfect, letting that disinfectant sit on the surface for 5-10 minutes before wiping.

Be organized...be safe...be healthy!

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