The rapid spread of the coronavirus has many Americans in self-quarantine for an indefinite period of time. Americans prepared for the coming pandemic by clearing popular disinfectant sprays from the shelves of retail stores everywhere.

But there are still ways to deep clean your home if you missed the chance to buy hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays. Take a look at these 8 coronavirus house cleaning tips.

1. Target High Touch Surfaces

Devote most of your cleaning attention to the high touch surfaces in your home. These are the surfaces everyone in your home shares or that you’re more likely to touch with unwashed hands. 

Recent evidence shows that the virus can live on cardboard for only 24 hours, but can last up to 3 days on steel or plastic. Cleaning a minimum of once daily is the best way to protect yourself from spreading the coronavirus. 

These surfaces include:

  • Doorknobs
  • Light switches
  • Appliance doors
  • Drawer handles
  • TV remotes
  • Toilet handle
  • Sink handles

If you have a big family, it might be helpful to clean these high contact areas more than once throughout the day. Children who go out to play might track unneeded germs back into the house putting your family at risk. 

If you live alone, opt to clean these surfaces each time you leave the home or have any guests over. 

2. Make Your Own Disinfectant

The grocery store frenzy left many homeowners without disinfectants to clean their homes. Disinfecting is a necessary step to your coronavirus cleaning regimen.

Cleaning can remove dirt, but disinfecting removes pathogens from your home. If you didn’t get a chance to stock up on cleaner weeks ago, you can make your own.

Use a combination of 5 tablespoons of bleach to 1 gallon of water to disinfect your household surfaces. Leave the bleach solution on your high contact areas for at least 10 seconds before wiping away. 

Be careful when using bleach instead of traditional disinfectant spray. Bleach can be dangerous when mixed with other chemicals.

Always use gloves when handling and remember to ventilate the room by cracking a window. 

3. Electronics

Wipe down your phone and other electronics to rid your home of potential coronavirus invasion. Use at least 70 percent alcohol wipes to clean phone or tablet.

Pay close attention to buttons and screens where you have the most contact. To be on the safe side, clean out crevices where dust can be trapped potentially locking pathogens inside. 

Follow the same process on your computer. The screen of a laptop usually isn’t glass which means the plastic surface is at risk of carrying coronavirus. 

4. Packages and Mail

Packages and mail should be kept away from furniture and commonly used surfaces. Cardboard boxes are a low risk after a day, but plastic bubble mailers can carry coronavirus into your home. 

Keep packages near the front door or in the garage until you can throw them out. Wash your hands after opening your mail to be on the safe side. 

5. Kitchen Countertops

Keep kitchen countertops and table surfaces wiped down and disinfected. The CDC recommends keeping your hands away from your face especially while in public.

Though you might wash your hands before you eat, touching an infected surface in the kitchen puts you back at risk. Keep a kitchen cleaner handy to spray and wipe down surfaces between uses. 

6. Wash Your Gloves

It’s important to keep washing your hands throughout the day to prevent the spread of coronavirus. But you also need to make sure to wash your cleaning gloves.

Cleaning gloves touch the dirtiest surfaces in your home but don’t always come in direct contact with the cleaner. At the end of each cleaning session, wash your gloves with soap or disinfectant cleaner. 

Once your gloves are off, be sure to wash your hands again. With the viral outbreak, you washing your hands is one of the best ways to make sure you aren’t contaminating surfaces in your home through touch. 

7. Take Off Your Shoes

Stop the unnecessary spread of dirt in your home by removing your shoes at the door. Removing shoes isn’t always convenient but it can help you maintain a home that is free of viruses and dirt.

Many shoes have plastic embellishments that could carry pathogens into your home. Whether you know what your shoes are made from or not, it’s important to keep them clean. 

Keep a space next to the door for your shoes. Wipe down the exterior of your shoes at the end of each day using disinfecting wipes. 

8. Stay Home

You are one of the biggest reasons your home is at risk of coronavirus contamination. Staying home lowers your risk of contracting the virus from other people.

CDC reports advise that sneezing, coughing or simply coming in close contact with an infected person increases your chances of getting coronavirus. This can happen whether they have symptoms or not.

Practice self-isolation with your whole family. Don’t let your children play outside with friends or have neighbors come to visit. 

Any contact with others is an opportunity for the virus to infect your home and family. 

Stop the Spread of Coronavirus

There is no easy solution to stopping the spread of coronavirus. Social distancing and self-isolation are just the first steps to avoiding the outbreak.

Take action to keep your home safe with a deep clean each time you risk exposure to the coronavirus. If you live alone, this might be less frequently than someone with a family of 6. 

For more information and household tips, check our blog for updates.