Written by contributor Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship.
For a while when my son was a toddler, every time my parents were going to visit for a big holiday, he got sick right before they were scheduled to come. And not just any sick – throw-up sick.
Even doting grandparents aren’t usually willing to expose themselves to throw-up sicknesses just to see their grandchild, so I felt it was pretty important to sanitize the house before they came. I used to use bleach water to do the job, but as I’ve transformed into a more “green and crunchy” girl, I’ve learned non-toxic ways to fight the germs.
After I committed to writing on this topic and was thinking about how to organize my thoughts, guess what happened? My son woke up with a throw-up bug. I kid you not. With a 2-month-old infant in the house, you better believe I just practiced what I preach!
Some folks might feel they should sanitize their houses all the time…and maybe that’s why they use bleach-based cleaners…but most of us have probably heard that some exposure to germs is good for you.
So unless you have an immune-compromised person in your house, don’t overdo it. Embrace the dirt at times. But if you’ve got a known stomach virus floating around…unless you really enjoy nasty laundry and carpet stains, it’s time to bring out the big guns!
Choose Your Weapon
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You don’t have to go out and buy special natural cleaners just to rid your house of a nasty bug. And you really don’t need to rely on bleach. The following all have antibacterial properties:
- vinegar (straight is great, or use about 5:1 ratio with water for daily cleaning)
- hydrogen peroxide (50/50 with water in an opaque spray bottle)
- boiling water
- rubbing alcohol
I always have a bottle of vinegar and water solution and another of hydrogen peroxide and water (50/50 ratio) under my kitchen sink for daily cleaning. If you spray one, then the other, onto a hard surface, together they kill a good percentage of the germs.
Of course, if you want to buy something new, some other great options include:
- tea tree oil (mix a splash in a spray bottle of water)
- grapefruit seed extract (a few drops in a bottle of water)
- oil of oregano (diffuse into the air with a vaporizer or diffuser)
- Biokleen’s Bac-Out (mix 1:3 with water in a spray bottle)
Seek the Target
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To really have success in ousting the bad guys, you need to make sure your cleaning job is thorough. Hit some places that you wouldn’t normally clean on a daily basis:
- handrails
- light switches
- doorknobs
- backs of chairs
- cupboard handles, especially to the garbage
And of course, take some time on the obvious places:
- faucets and sinks, especially handles
- countertops
- kitchen table
- kitchen counters
- toilets
- bathroom floors
Ready, Aim, Fire!
Here’s your battle plan for making a sick house into a welcoming house:
- Run the dishwasher on “sanitize” or the hottest setting you have, with heated dry (I usually use the basics without heated dry to save energy); run the dishwasher on super hot the whole time folks are sick.
- Switch out all your hand towels regularly
- Give everyone’s toothbrush a bath in hydrogen peroxide
- Grab your spray bottles – either of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (two bottles, not mixed), tea tree oil, Bac-Out or grapefruit seed extract – and a towel and spray/wipe all the lightswitch plates, doorknobs and railings. Best to let the solution dry on the surface, but bring the rag for drips.
- Use your spray of choice on bathroom counters, especially faucets, toilets, and floors. I sanitize the bathtub, too, since that’s the staging ground for our sick clothes.
- Embrace the opportunity to really clean your kitchen counters – you know, take everything off for a rare moment, spray down the whole place, and allow to air dry. Not that I like people beings sick, but it’s good to have inspiration to deep clean my kitchen when it probably needs it anyway.
- Wipe your computer keyboard down with a paper towel and a little rubbing alcohol.
- Run the washing machine with sick clothes/clean-up rags on hot, and toss in a splash of vinegar for good measure, either right away or in the rinse cycle.
- Depending on how sick the victim was and if they share a room with other kiddos, this might be a good opportunity to wash not only their sheets, but blankets too.
- Cloth or disposables? As an eco-friendly person, you probably don’t use as many paper towels as the average Joe or Jane. Vomit is one place I often draw the line – being able to throw away the sick bugs, at least from the actual spill site and the toilet – is a good thing. Then sanitize your wastebasket!
- Tip: I use holey socks to clean my toilet regularly, then toss them.
Although no visitors have caught our bugs after I implement this battle plan, we’re no strangers to illness. Here are a few tips for the sick people in your house:
- Home remedies for ear infections
- Use garlic to keep your immune system up
- Basic natural remedies to have on hand
This will probably be one of those posts where I learn as much in the comments as I shared in the article:
What do you use to naturally fight germs?