Due to the unprecedented coronavirus epidemic, there is more urgency for cleaning than ever before. More people are looking to heed the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by deep cleaning their homes and offices knowing that their ability to thwart the virus depends on it.
While COVID-19 is well known by now to spread primarily through droplets, there is sufficient evidence that it can spread through the touch of contaminated surfaces. Because we are constantly touching the same surfaces throughout the day, that threat is only amplified. These common surfaces include door handles, knobs, remote controls, dimmers, and even mobile phones. A new study showed that the virus is capable of surviving surfaces made of steel and plastic for days. Because of this, the CDC is recommending everyone take a two-step measure to prevent the transmission through contaminated surfaces by cleaning visibly dirty surfaces and following the cleaning with full disinfection.
A lot of people are going a step further and taking even more precautions due to the severity of the spreading of the virus.
A lot of professional cleaning services are being requested to provide deep cleaning services to both commercial and residential properties. This is a process that involves thoroughly cleaning everything from the corners to the crevices of a room to ensure the virus is killed off if present.
Compared to the normal standard cleaning procedures, a deep clean is much more aggressive. It can mean hunting down dust mites hiding under the furniture and appliances, getting rid of built-up mineral deposits on the shower heads and faucets, and even scrubbing the internals of the oven and cleaning the floor underneath rarely moved rugs. It can be a very time-consuming task as it can add around an extra hour per room. Even when there is no life-threatening virus present, it is still recommended to pay for a professional deep cleaning every year.
The pandemic has significantly impacted the cleaning business in a variety of ways.
For one, it has increased some client’s service requests and the number of clients that opted for deep-cleaning services.
Due to the virus, it is more important than ever before for cleaning staff to utilize proper disposable shoe covers and gloves while cleaning. They are also taking extra precautions by disinfecting their vacuum cleaners in between appointments and they have been requiring their employees to utilize hand sanitizers as much as possible. While the housekeepers aren’t required to go as far as to wear hazmat suits, they are required to wear N95 respirators. There is no such thing as being overly careful. After all, it is our duty to keep everyone healthy including our employees not only because we care about them, but because it can negatively impact our business at the same time.
Cleaning is only one of the aspects of curbing the spreading of the virus.
The CDC recommends spraying various surfaces with either household bleach that has been diluted or with cleaning products that feature a minimum of 70% alcohol. The US Environmental Protection Agency has offered up a list of different antimicrobial chemicals that have been proven to effectively get rid of germs that can lead to viral respiratory illnesses. For some workplaces, the crews use an electrostatically-charged mist to spray these cleaners in order to get better adhesion to the various surfaces that need to be disinfected.
A lot of effective chemical disinfectants have become in short supply throughout the entire country. You can find some 3rd-party sellers on Amazon gouging various chemical cleaning supplies due to the high demand.
Luckily, according to Consumer Reports, COVID-19 is actually among one of the easiest viruses to destroy with cleaning products.
Various chemicals and products have been proven to be effective ranging from regular soap and water, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and even household bleach.
