With the COVID-19 pandemic still dominating the country, Americans are cleaning their homes more than ever, and according to the CDC, a third of them are doing it wrong. A recent CDC study conducted in May included 502 American adults questioned about their cleaning practices.
Not surprisingly, 60% of people confirmed that they cleaned their homes more often than before, but what exactly did that mean? Although more people cleaned, they also came into contact with poison control more frequently over the same period, indicating that the unsafe use of certain cleaning products was a well-known phenomenon.
As Travel + Leisure repeats , 39 percent of respondents said they implemented "non-recommended high-risk practices" to prevent the spread of the corona virus. The pandemic has not only forced Americans to adapt extreme social distancing measures , but some seem to have influenced the use of extreme and often dangerous cleanups.
Some of them include, according to the CDC, "washing food with bleach, applying household cleaners or disinfectants to bare skin, and deliberately inhaling or swallowing these products".
When it comes to the basics of cleanliness, most of the study participants understood that wearing goggles and gloves is important when using potentially harmful chemicals. However, it was concluded that many did not know how to properly make a bleach solution.
Only 23% of respondents knew that only room temperature water should be used for dilution, 35% said that chlorine should not be mixed with vinegar and 58% said that ammonia should never be mixed with chlorine.
As a useful initiative, CDC has published cleaning and disinfection guidelines for private households. For hard surfaces, cleaning the dirt with detergent or soap before disinfection is an important detail. Disposable gloves and household cleaners approved by the EPA must be used . Once the surface is clean, the gloves should be thrown away and your hands washed immediately.
Other safety measures include maintaining adequate ventilation during cleaning, mixing different chemicals, protecting your skin from splashes, labeling all diluted solutions you have prepared and storing them. where they are inaccessible to children and pets.
The CDC also contains instructions for making a whitening solution with the following measures, which are effective up to 24 hours:
- 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) of bleach per gallon of water at room temperature or
- 4 teaspoons of bleach per liter of water at room temperature
If you use this solution to clean hard surfaces, we recommend leaving it there for at least one minute, making sure that the area is well ventilated.
Practicing safe cleaning habits is not only helpful in preventing coronaviruses, but especially for the general health and well-being of your family.
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