How to Clean: Tips for Flu Prevention

If someone in your home has the flu, cleaning thoroughly will prevent the germ from spreading to every member of your household. Cleaning your hands after you touch surfaces in public will help keep the flu from infecting you. A clean home and sensible hand washing is the best way to keep the flu at bay during flu season.

Surfaces

• Hard surfaces in your home should be cleaned with a disinfectant that will kill the flu germs. Look for a cleanser that has a disinfectant and detergent. Clean hard surfaces regularly even if they don't appear dirty. For tabletops and counters that are stained, clean the counter with a cleanser to remove the dirt and then rinse the soap off thoroughly. Use a disinfectant after cleaning the counter completely.
  Surfaces such as telephones, doorknobs and electronic devices should be wiped down with a disinfectant wipe often. Wipe these surfaces down even if no one in the home is sick with the flu. You can bring germs into your home without having any of the symptoms of the flu. It is especially important to clean items that are touched often when someone is sick.
  You can also use diluted bleach to disinfect your hard surfaces. One tablespoon of bleach to four cups of water is a sufficient mix for disinfection.

Dishes and Utensils

• Don't share dishes and utensils with someone who has the flu unless they have been washed thoroughly. You don't have to keep dishes separately for washing, but don't drink out of the same glass or use the same fork with a sick person. There is no need to mark the dishes that a sick person used before washing.
  Washing with hot water and soap is fine for dishes and utensils.

Towels and Bed Linens

• Wash towels and bed linens in hot water and dry with hot temperatures. The heat is an effective cleaner against the flu virus. Use care when you strip the bed or gather laundry together. If the linens are infected with the flu virus, you may pick it up on your hands. Use a hand sanitizer or wash your hands thoroughly after handling these items. You should avoid holding linens close to your body when bringing them to the washing machine. Use a laundry basket.

Hand Washing

• The flu virus can live for up to eight hours on a surface. As long as you keep the surfaces in your home thoroughly disinfected, you can eradicate it before it has a chance to make everyone in the home sick. Hand washing is a simple and effective tool to prevent the flu virus from bringing you down. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers when you are out and about to keep your hands germ free.