Cleaning and disinfecting our homes has always been top-of-mind, but never as much as since the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the beginning of March, spending on general household cleaning products reportedly saw an uptick of 141%. Items like bleach, dish detergent and disinfectants in particular have been in demand.
And as Dr. Liz Scott, Professor at Simmons University & Consultant in Home and Community Hygiene and Infection Control, mentioned during Good Housekeeping‘s Discover Cleaning: Inside & Out Summit, it’s completely warranted that people are hyper-focused on surfaces in their home during this time.
“What we’ve learned during the current pandemic, is that infective agents, can be transmitted very easily via common-touch surfaces (such as doorknobs, faucets, remote controls, and digital devices),” she said. “We learned that we can get this virus on our hands … then we move around the indoor environment and we touch these surfaces, we deposit the virus onto these surfaces, and unfortunately, the next person who comes along may get it on their hands.”
But of course the topic of keeping your home safe is vast, which is why our editors and the experts in the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute put together this guide around cleaning and disinfecting your home during a pandemic to hopefully make it all a little less stressful.
