Helpful Tips for Minimizing the Spread of Germs in Your Home

It’s in everyone’s best interest to minimize the spread of germs in their homes, especially with an active pandemic in its third year. Unfortunately, even those of us who think we’re doing our utmost to curb the spread of germs often make a variety of mistakes on this front. Certain behaviors that we engage in without a second thought can contribute to the spread of germs in our respective residences. Luckily, with the following tips at the ready, you should be well-equipped to send germs packing.

Regularly Disinfect Surfaces

Since germs can readily spread through surfaces, it’s in your best interest to disinfect various surfaces in your home on a regular basis. Although sanitizing kitchen and bathroom surfaces is particularly important, any surface that regularly comes into contact with people’s hands, feet or food should be disinfected regularly.

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Of course, some surfaces will need to be disinfected more frequently than others. For example, any surface upon which food is served or prepared should be disinfected on a daily basis. Furthermore, depending on how much food prep you engage in, your kitchen surfaces may need to be disinfected multiple times per day. Surfaces that come into contact with raw eggs, meat and other potentially germy ingredients should be paid special attention.

Fortunately, keeping such surfaces disinfected doesn’t have to be a costly or time-consuming exercise. There are a multitude of disinfectant sprays and wipes that are affordable on virtually any budget, and wiping down germy surfaces shouldn’t eat up more than a few minutes per day. You can also help prevent the spread of harmful bacteria by investing in convenient antimicrobial products.

Engage in Proper Handwashing

Many of us fail to engage in proper handwashing practices. Even if you think you’re keeping your hands clean, there’s a good chance you aren’t washing them in the proper manner. For maximum effectiveness, you’ll need to thoroughly scrub your hands with soap and warm water for a minimum of 20 seconds. Furthermore, you’ll need to wash your hands every time they come into contact with potentially germ-laden items, surfaces or people.

In the interest of minimizing the spread of germs in your home, you should also encourage the people with whom you cohabitate to embrace proper handwashing practices. Unfortunately, when dealing with children, this is often easier said than done. The younger the child, the less likely they are to fully appreciate the dangers posed by improper handwashing practices. So, if you’re a parent, make a point of instilling how important proper handwashing is in your children. In addition to helping protect them from germs, this will enable them to pay it forward and pass this useful knowledge along to friends and acquaintances.

Furthermore, when it comes to such matters, it behooves parents to lead by example. So, if your own handwashing practices could stand to see some improvement, make sure to get on top of this. If your kids see you disregarding proper handwashing, there’s no reason to expect that they won’t do the same.

Of course, this isn’t to say that the ideal handwashing tools – i.e., soap and warm water – will always be readily accessible. So, whenever venturing out into public, make a point of keeping a travel-sized bottle on-hand sanitizer handy – and make sure your children do the same. Again, proper soap-and-water washings are ideal, but in a pinch, sanitizer is certainly better than nothing.

Avoid Contact with Contagiously Sick Individuals

Avoiding contact with contagiously sick individuals can be a boon to your germ-prevention efforts, especially when dealing with viruses as contagious as COVID-19. So, if you’re aware of any friends, relatives or coworkers being sick, make a point of avoiding in-person contact with them until such time as they’re no longer contagious, regardless of how much they attempt to downplay the effects of their illnesses.

We should all seek to minimize the spread of germs in our homes. With COVID-19 entering its third year as an active threat, caution and cleanliness continue to be important, especially with new variants popping up left and right. Fortunately, a commitment to changing learned behaviors and being mindful of bad habits can go a surprisingly long way when it comes to keeping germs at bay. Of course, having the pointers discussed above at your disposal won’t hurt, either.