Cleaning and Disinfecting Products
- Use soap and water or another detergent to clean dirty items. Then, use a disinfectant.
- Use an EPA-registered household disinfectant and follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure safe and effective use of the product. Many products recommend:
- Keeping the surface wet for a period (see the product label).
- Wearing gloves and ensuring good ventilation during use of the product.
- Use diluted household bleach solutions, if appropriate for the surface. However:
- Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date.
- Follow manufacturer's instructions for application and proper ventilation.
- Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser.
- Use eye protection or have immediate access to an eye-wash station.
- Leave solution on a surface for at least 1 minute.
How COVID-19 Spreads
The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly spread by respiratory droplets. When someone infected with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes, respiratory droplets that contain the virus are expelled and can be breathed in by someone nearby. Although the virus cannot enter the body through the skin, the respiratory droplets carrying the virus can get into your airways or mucous membranes of your eyes, nose, or mouth to infect you. The virus can also be spread if you touch a surface contaminated with virus and then touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, although this is not the primary way the virus spreads.
Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting
Routine cleaning and disinfecting is key to maintaining a safe environment.
- Cleaning removes dirt and most germs and is usually done with soap and water
- Disinfecting kills most germs, depending on the type of chemical, and only when the chemical product is used as directed on the label.
Daily Cleaning Tasks
- This means moving gum wrappers, food wrappers, yesterday's notes, your hair ties, etc. off the top of your dresser and desk.
- Put away all those tiny things you don't think about leaving out - it builds up quickly and can be avoided with a two-minute sweep of all the surfaces in your room.
Disinfect Commonly Touched Surfaces
- Clorox and Lysol wipes. Grab a wipe and rub down the most touched surfaces in your room to kill germs and keep everything clean.
- Some commonly touched surfaces would be the TV remote, light switch, doorknob and drawers
- Doorknobs and Handles
- Desk and Chairs
- Counters
- Light Switches
- Shared remote controls
- Phones
- Computers
- Keyboards and mice
- Note: Computer keyboards are difficult to clean. Shared computers should have signs posted instructing proper hand hygiene before and after using them to minimize disease transmission. To facilitate cleaning, consider using covers that protect the keys but enable use of the keys.
- It is not necessary to routinely apply disinfectants to surfaces that are not high-touch or high-risk (e.g., floors, bookcases, tops of filing cabinets). Soft surfaces such as carpets, rugs, and drapes can be cleaned using soap and water or a cleaner appropriate for the material.
Your bed takes up most of your space and, if its made nicely, it will make your room cleaner.
Weekly Cleaning Tasks
These things can be done on a weekly (or bi-weekly) basis to keep your dorm feeling extra clean! Don't forget to pick up the clutter to make your space less stressful!
Vacuum your rug, sweep your floors.
To remove crumbs, hair and dust.
Bonus: To keep your floors and carpet cleaner, try to take off your shoes while walking around your room.
At the end of each week put everything away or toss it out in order to avoid the desk from becoming blanketed in paper.
This is especially important if you have food in your garbage. Sometimes this must be done more than once a week - it all depends on how much trash you manage to have during the week.
Bonus: Spray your trash can with air freshener in order to keep your room smelling fresh.
Doing laundry on a weekly basis ensures that you'll always have clothes to wear and that your laundry won't become a daunting pile of smelly clothes.
Monthly Cleaning Tasks
These are tasks that should be done monthly or whenever you see fit!
Clean mirrors and windows.
Use Windex and scrub down the mirrors and windows in your room to remove dirt and dust.
Clean out the mini-fridge, stove and microwave
Toss anything that's expired, or you know will not be eaten. take out the contents and scrub down the fridge with a Clorox wipe - clean up those spills that have probably been in the fridge for weeks.
- Toss anything that's expired or stale and be sure to re-organize everything.
- If you have bins or totes under your beds with your snacks, this can easily become a mess when you are looking for something specific.
- Don't let anything get moldy or expired and if it is, toss it!
Wash your sheets and bedding
Just like your clothes, your sheets and bedding need washed regularly! Plus, it is always the best time to take a nap right after they get out of the dryer.
