Over the winter months when cold & flu season is rampant, you may not even be considering some of the dirtiest, germiest surfaces in your home, office and car. Today we’re sharing some of the dirtiest surfaces in your life and some tips on how to clean them naturally.
1. Your phone, tablet & keyboard
You’re touching them all day, and you’re probably not wiping them down enough. To disinfect your phone or tablet safely and naturally, create a solution of equal parts isopropyl alcohol and water, wet a cloth with it and wipe it clean. Don’t spray anything directly on your devices, because you don’t want it to drip into the ports or speakers.
Use this same solution to clean your keyboard surface. Unplug it first, shake out any dust or crumbs that might be lurking. You can use a can of compressed air, or even a vacuum to suck up/push out what might be stubbornly lodged in there. Then use your cloth to wipe down the keys.
2. Your doorknobs. All of them.
Make sure that wiping down and disinfecting the doorknobs in your house is part of your regular cleaning routine. The front door, bathroom doors, closet doors. Every single one should be disinfected regularly. Call me biased, but our Absolute Green all-purpose spray (lemon is my favorite) is perfect for this chore. Citric acid and essential oils are natural cleaning agents which will help you remove dirt without harsh chemicals and keep your home smelling fresh & clean.
3. Your reusable shopping bags
Good for you for thinking about our environment and using your reusable shopping bags! But are you keeping them clean, to keep bacteria out of your home and off your food? Those bags go on a wild ride: touching the surfaces of shopping carts and checkout counters, your kitchen floor, and all to cook away in your car’s hot trunk between uses. Make sure you’re washing and disinfecting them regularly. Cloth bags (and mesh produce bags) can be machine washed. Plastic and vinyl ones should be washed with hot, soapy water and hung to dry.
4. Your steering wheel
You’re probably touching it multiple times a day, but are you cleaning it? Is bacteria getting a free ride in your car? If you have a wood steering wheel, try Absolute Green’s natural wood polish to clean it. Spray some on a cloth and give the wheel a wipe-down. Vinyl, plastic or synthetic leather wheels can be cleaned with one of our all purpose- cleaners. If you have a leather wheel, look into specific leather cleaners so that you don’t dry out the leather.
5. Your remote controls
You’ve probably heard about people that wipe down a hotel remote control as soon as they check in. But are your home remotes any better? Make sure these are on your to-do list, cleaning them regularly. Once again, a great natural cleaner is simply alcohol and water. Take the batteries out first, dampen a cloth with your alcohol solution, and give the remote control a thorough scrub. Some people do this every day. If you’re not up for that kind of vigilance, make it a part of your weekly routine.
6. Your keys, wallet, purse, briefcase, backpack, etc.
Let me give it to you straight: your daily travel necessities are harboring bacteria. Keeping them clean can be a challenge, and some of the materials they are made from (leather!) can be tricky to clean. So be vigilant: don’t put your purse or bags on the floor. If you travel by public transportation, try to keep them on your lap and not on train or bus surfaces. Keys can be disinfected with that alcohol/water solution. Most kids’ backpacks can be machine washed and line-dried. Follow the directions that are given to you for your purses and briefcase, and just remember that these surfaces are among the dirtiest and most-handled in your day-to-life and need to be cleaned regularly.
Finally, an important reminder: take your shoes off
For some people, and certainly some cultures, this is a given. When you enter a home – yours or another person’s, you take your shoes off. Think about it: your shoes are touching all the floors, everywhere, and you do not want to track that kind of bacteria and dirt into your home.
This habit can seem uncomfortable at first, especially if you ask guests to remove their shoes, or if you take your shoes off in another person’s home. But it makes a world of difference in keeping your home surfaces clean. Just make sure you’re always wearing decent (and clean!) socks when you are going to a friend’s home!
By staying hyper-vigilant about cleaning all the surfaces that are easy to forget, you can help prevent the spread of germs among your family, to yourself, and to others!