Guess what? It’s spring and my family is still getting colds. Between all 4 family members going into offices, daycares, gyms, and the park, we can’t seem to catch a break! But I’ve taken measures to make sure my home is germ free.
Keeping your home as germ-free as possible is the best way to avoid your family getting a cold this Spring. We know what to do but for some reason, we are still susceptible to these attacks. Germs are everywhere and unfortunately, even when we take the highest precautions, it can always get to us. These 3 cleaning tips will help keep your home as germ-free as much as possible and avoid anyone getting sick.
Ways to keep your home germ-free for your family
Disinfect Toys
This is important but sometimes we pay closer attention to cleaning the kitchen, bathroom and all areas in the house that we forget to actually disinfect our kids’ toys. These things get touched, played and chewed a lot so if there are germs in them, they are easily transported from one kid to another. Cleaning and disinfecting them is necessary to keep them clean for your kids. For soft toys or dolls, you can toss them into the washing machine (if the care labels indicate it’s safe to do so). For smaller and hard toys, and a more natural cleaning solution is to put them into equal parts water and white vinegar to a spray bottle. Use this to spritz the dirty toys and let them sit for about 15-20 minutes. If they do not dry down, please wipe them before giving it to your kids to play. Washing certain toys by hand and dishwashing liquid also works wonder.
Sanitize your Sponge
Our dishwashing sponge can contain so many germs and bacteria over time. Sanitizing them and replacing them once its time, are necessary. You can sanitize the sponge by mixing ¾ cup of bleach in one gallon of water and soak it for a minimum of 10 minutes. Rinse and you can start using it as normal. This will kill the bacteria that’s been sitting in the sponge after multiple use. Replace the sponges after a few weeks depending on how much you use them. I always get rid of all the water and the dishwashing liquid after each use so that they are not always damp in the container.
Replace Ventilation Filter
It is very easy to forget to change the ventilation filter in our home. I do that a little too often if I were to admit it. So I have set an alarm on my calendar once a month to replace the filter on my ventilation that acts as both my heater and air conditioner. It turns out that all I need to do is to get a replacement filter from a nearby store and change it once every 2 months. I will buy 3 of them so I will always have them in stock at home.
Besides the things above, I am sure you already know of the basic tips. Washing their hands properly or keeping some hand sanitizers for them to bring to schools would also be helpful. And if you think flu shots help with your kids, then make an appointment with your local doctors to do so.
Keep in mind though that in our battle to fight these germs, there’s a limit to how much we can do. There are things that are completely out of our control and our kids will get sick sometimes. This is just a normal step of them growing up and getting stronger against certain bacteria or viruses.