Santa’s After-Christmas Sanitizing Tips

Did Santa bring more than presents to your home this season? If a cold or flu made its way down the chimney (or through your front door), your holiday might have been a little less than ideal. Instead of sipping hot cocoa and enjoying your Christmas gifts, once your  family and friends went home you were left with coughing, aches, and not enough tissues. Sanitizing after Santa (or your sniffling out of town guests) is important as it will not only protect your remaining family from whatever germs came into your house, but it will also kick the germs to the curb faster and help you get well. So where should you focus on cleaning, and how should you do it?

Bedrooms. Did your holiday guests come into town with a touch of a cold that quickly turned into a full-blown flu before they left? Have your kids been coughing since Christmas Eve? Taking time to sanitize the bedrooms in your house is important in keeping your home healthy! Wash all bed linens on hot wash if possible, and spray down mattresses, mattress toppers, drapes, and other fabric surfaces that can’t be washed with a disinfectant of your choice. Wipe down hard surfaces like bedside tables, headboards, tv remotes, curtain and blind cords/rods, light switches, doorknobs, etc. Pretty much any surface that could have been touched should be sanitized. Finally, open windows for a while if you can to air out the room, and vacuum the space with a HEPA filter to take care of any remaining particles.

Bathrooms. Much like the bedroom, all hard surfaces should be cleaned with sanitizing wipes or cleaners, and don’t forget inside the shower or tub! In addition, steam mopping or mopping the floor with an antibacterial cleaner is a good way to take care of any residual viruses hanging around and give you a fresh start to work with.

Extras! Do you keep throws and blankets on chairs and sofas around your home? Wash those for sure! Television remotes are a major hot spot for germs, so cleaning them thoroughly is key when sanitizing after a bout of sickness has hit your household. Other commonly used items that should be thoroughly cleaned include: