21 Things to Know About Staying Healthy in Your Home

Wash hands frequently

• It’s always a good idea to wash your hands before eating or drinking, and after getting home from work or picking the kids up from school.
• Make sure your kids are washing their hands too. Kids do nasty things.
• You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
• The CDC recommends humming happy birthday twice to reach 20 seconds.

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Upgrade your air filters

• Upgrading to a MERV 13 air filter can decrease your risk of contracting certain infectious diseases, both bacterial and viral.
• MERV 13 filters are estimated to catch up to 87% of virus-carrying particles, compared to a mere 11% by cheap fiberglass filters.
• Studies show MERV 13 filters can cut your risk of catching Influenza, Tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases by more than half compared to using a cheap MERV 4 filter.

TRY A MERV 13‍

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Use hand sanitizer

• The CDC suggests using a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.
• Just like washing your hands, you should rub your hands together for 20 seconds when using hand sanitizer.
• Remember that hand sanitizer disinfects, but does not wash away things like chemicals that could be on your hands. Always wash your hands if you have the option.

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Disinfect surfaces

• Disinfect surfaces that are most frequently touched. Things like doorknobs, phones, flush handles on toilets, remotes, and computer keyboards are massively germy places.
• Use a microfiber cloth dampened but not soaked with a mixture of distilled water and 70% isopropyl alcohol to wipe down phone screens. This combination will minimize the risk of damaging the screen during cleaning.
• Be sure to clean phone cases as well, else you’re defeating the purpose of cleaning your phone.
• You can clean the outside of your computer with a regular disinfecting wipe, but be sure to use the isopropyl alcohol solution on the keyboard.
• Check out the germiest places in your home to know what to disinfect.
• Always follow manufacturer cleaning instructions on cleaning products.

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Take your shoes off at the door

• Shoes harbor countless nasty bacteria and pathogens including disease-causing E.Coli.
• Bacteria entering your home via shoe typically remains on the floor, so while it isn’t a huge threat to adults unless it becomes aerosolized, small children that crawl on the floor are susceptible to these tiny bacteria, so best to remove your shoes and be safe.

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Create a sick room

• Avoiding interactions with sick people is pretty hard if one of your family members is sick, which is why you create a sick room for them.
• Minimize contact with the sick individual by isolating them.
• Be sure to thoroughly disinfect all surfaces in the room after it is no longer the designated “sick room.”

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