Due to the worldwide COVID19 outbreak, it has become more important than ever to pay close attention to our hygiene. We have been clearly informed to wash our hands regularly, to sneeze and cough in our elbows, and to avoid touching our faces. While some consider this a job well done, it is in fact not enough.
People are contaminating their homes every day without even realizing it.
Experts warn that viruses and bacteria can remain on surfaces for up to 72 hours. Yes, you read that right. This means that if you brought these back home with you after an outing, they can live inside your home for up to three days. For this reason, it is at the utmost importance that we learn about how to protect our home and our families.
We have compiled a few tips so that you can begin implementing these, and keep yourself safe during these difficult times. Here’s how to kill bacteria.
DISINFECT YOUR PHONE
Every morning, we reach over to our night table to grab our phones and check on the newest updates from our friends. Towards mid-morning, we grab our phone to organise lunch with a colleague. By mid-afternoon, we touch our phones yet again to tell our loved ones when we will be home. In the evening, we enjoy having a pleasant scroll through our feeds to catch up with the world’s events. Perhaps we use the camera feature to take a picture of the delicious meal we are enjoying. There’s no way around it. Today, our phones have become indispensable to our daily lives.
Here’s the problem: if we are grabbing our phones when our hands are full of germs, as well as just after washing our hands - we will continue to have contaminated hands. This will be the case no matter how many times we wash our hands throughout the day
TIP: Disinfect your phone regularly throughout the day, the same way you do with your hands. Make sure you carry some clean disinfecting wipes, so that this can be done on the go, wherever you are.
STERILISE YOUR CLOTHES & SHOES
All of our focus is on preventing our hands from bringing in germs, viruses and bacteria back home - but have you thought about your clothes? Think about everywhere you have sat while you were outdoors. You are now bringing back all of those germs on the bottom of your pants, skirt or dress. How about that time you used your sleeve instead of your hand to keep a door open, or to press on a dirty elevator button? Again, you are bringing these germs back into your home.
Now that we know that germs, bacteria and viruses can travel with us on our clothes, how can we kill germs? Here’s a simple hack for how to kill viruses naturally.
Hot steam kills 99.9% of bacteria, germs & viruses.
Hot steam can effectively sanitise your home and rid it of E coli, Staph bacteria, Salmonella and other microorganisms, surface molds, bacteria, and most importantly in current events - viruses. This method is highly recommended, seeing as it is 100% natural (chemical free) and extremely effective.
We know the steam needs to be hot - but how hot? What temperature kills viruses? Water that is heated at 90 degrees celsius will be a hot enough temperature to kill bacteria.
Now that we know what theoretically works, how do we apply hot steam/water to our clothes once we have been out? We have two options: using the washer, and using a handheld steam cleaner.
Washer vs. Handheld Steam Cleaner
The washer is effective to clean our clothes and kill germs. However, using a washer every single time we come home can prove to be inconvenient. A cycle can last anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, it consumes a significant amount of water and electricity, and it takes an additional day or two to leave your clothes out to dry before you can use them again. Clearly, this is not something we can be bothered to do every day, nor is it an environmentally friendly solution.
A hand steamer, on the other hand, consumes much less energy and is a quick & easy solution to sterilising clothes and even shoes! Simply fill up the container of water, plug the device in, and within seconds, you will have plenty of steam you can directly apply to your contaminated clothes. We recommend using one that is light to hold and powerful.
How to Sanitise Your Clothes Using a Hand Steamer
Shop the best clothes steamer on the market here.
CLEAN YOUR KEYS
Keys are another hot spot for contamination. Once we have been out and about, and our hands have been in contact with many dirty door knobs, benches, desks and money, but go ahead and touch our keys in order to enter into our homes. Think about how many nasty things can accumulate on your keys over time! Yet, have you ever thought of cleaning them?
TIP: Make sure you regularly clean your keys and kill viruses, kill bacteria and any other germs that could be present on them. Disinfectant wipes are handy to help keep the germs away!
DISINFECT YOUR GROCERY BAGS
Every time you pop over to the shop, carrying your reusable grocery bags with pride, you bring back a large variety of bacteria that is present outside. Think of it this way - would you really rub your face against the dirty floor of a shop, or the unsanitised grocery carts and baskets? We didn’t think so!
That is exactly what you are doing, however, when your bags get contaminated from these objects, you use your bags to shop, and then proceed to touching your face. This is where your handheld clothes steamer can come in handy! Simply use the power of the steam to remove bacteria and germs from your grocery bags for a sterilised home.
STERILISE YOUR BACKPACK & PURSE
Our backpacks and purses may be great ways to carry our valuable items around, but they are unfortunately very good at also carrying bacteria, germs, viruses, and dust mites around with you. Yet, how often do you actually wash and disinfect your purse you bring to night out, or to the park? How often do you sterilise your backpack which comes with you on trips, or on your public transport commute with you to work?
Don’t fret - your handy steamer will do the trick! It is arguably easier to use than the best steam iron around, and it will actually work on a variety of objects, such as backpacks, purses, and even upholstery.
Get your handy steamer here.
We hope these tips will help keep your home safe from any unwanted things lingering around the house. Remember to wash your hands regularly, and take good care of yourself during these difficult times and beyond. Health is the most important thing we have, and a sterilised home which promotes wellbeing is essential to achieving it.