As businesses remain closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus many of us are finding we’re spending a lot more time at home.
The coronavirus can live on different surfaces for days. Even though a lot of you are staying home, if you make a run to the grocery store, the gas station, or the ATM, there’s a chance you’re bringing back other people’s germs with you.
The Center for Disease Control recommends cleaning high-touch surfaces in your home daily; such as light switches, door knobs, refrigerator handles.
But are you cleaning them the right way?
“People clean it but they don’t sanitize it," said Jose Gamboa, owner of The Germ Eliminator, based in Robstown, TX.
Gamboa says cleaning without sanitizing defeats the purpose of cleaning in the first place.
“When you just go clean and clean and clean you’re just spreading whatever microbes or virus there are on that surface,”
Using wet wipes and then drying the surface you just cleaned is counter productive.
Every disinfecting product has a different “kill time” which tells you how long your surfaces have to stay wet with the cleaning product in order for it to kill germs.
“You spray a surface and the killing time is 4 minutes then you have to make sure that surface is wet for 4 minutes," said Gamboa.
Gamboa says If you’re using a product with bleach, rinse your surfaces with water after to avoid getting it in your bloodstream.
“There are some products that you have to rinse after you kill the germs," said Gamboa. "There are some products that you don’t have to rinse so those you just let them dry."
And when it comes to choosing the best hand sanitizer, Gamboa says to steer away from alcohol based ones.
“Water based are much better than alcohol based because they don’t go through your bloodstream,” said Gamboa.
And always read the label on the back.
“Find out that water based and oil based sanitizers kill coronavirus,” said Gamboa.
Gamboa says he recommends using oil based or water based hand sanitizers that protect your hands for 12 to 24 hours after applying.
For more information you can contact The Germ Eliminator at (361) 933-1027.