Washing your hands with soap and water upon re-entering your home can help disinfect your apartment.
You likely are not leaving your apartment very much these days. However, some trips to grocery stores or pharmacies cannot be avoided. Leaving your personal space during the COVID-19 pandemic can be risky because you are exposing yourself to other people’s germs and vice versa. If you are not vigilant about regular cleaning, you could bring those germs back into your home where they could infect you or others. Fortunately, with a few specific techniques, you can reduce the likelihood of transferring viruses or bacteria into your home. When you return to your home from a public place, take these five steps to disinfect your apartment.
Sanitize Your Hands Before Entering
Anytime you are outside your home, you should be mindful of germs. Don’t touch your face until you can wash your hands, and if possible, keep hand sanitizer with you, so you don’t leave germs on your steering wheel or your front doorknob. If you have portable hand sanitizer, apply it when you enter your car after shopping and before you re-enter your apartment.
Put Your Bags Down, and Hang up Your Belongings
Because germs can live on surfaces like bags for several hours, don’t put your grocery bags down on your countertops. Instead, place them on the floor. To help disinfect your apartment after a trip outside, you can set your bags on the floor and hang your purse or keys on a hook. Make sure not to cross-contaminate high-contact areas like countertops or tables.
Take Off Dirty Shoes and Clothes
No matter where you went, your shoes and clothes are potential germ-carriers. When you return to your apartment, you can help disinfect your apartment by taking off your shoes and jacket as soon as you arrive home and placing them in a designated area.
Wash Hands Thoroughly, Then Unpack Your Bags
You can now do your part to keep the rest of your apartment clean by removing the germs from your hands, so you don’t transfer them onto all of your home surfaces. After you’ve washed your hands thoroughly, you can put away your groceries or open up that mail.
Spot-Clean If Needed
For grocery-buyers, you should wash your hands thoroughly after you have put away your food as well. If you want to truly disinfect your apartment, you can spot-clean surfaces like cabinet handles and countertops with bleach or alcohol-based cleaner. It is also recommended that you only use hand sanitizer as an “on the go” solution. Soap and water are better, and with sanitizer in short supply, you should make it last as long as you can.
By following these tips, you can leave and return to your apartment without excessive worry about whether you are bringing in new germs to your home.
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