Slaying the germs that cause infections, and food poisoning

[canadian gardener]

without overkill and making it too sanitary or creating new superbugs that are resistent to disinfectants.

Problems range from 24 hour flu which is either a mild case of food poisoning or something like the Norwalk virus which does live on surfaces a while, ready to infect susceptible people.

You can have other problems. Oprah's expert mentioned skin infections in susceptible people. Anyone whose immune system is compromised, an allergy, auto immune disorder, on chemotherapy or fighting off an infection is susceptible.

Then on the other hand there are problems from using all the new antibacterial soaps and cleaners around. They kill off the milder bacteria (the "good" guys) leaving the field open for tougher resistent germs who are busy developing their defenses against all the antibacterial products with every generation that doesn't quite die off from the antibacterial.

Those super bugs may also have antibiotic resistant abilities and when you are attacked by one of these nasties, you don't have a defence left.

Which is why most health professionals get quite cranky and oppose the use of antibacterial products for home use. We are busy breeding super germs, thinking we are protecting ourselves.

Then there is the cost factor involved in disposable single use products that really aren't necessary. For example the clorox site will tell you why you need a disposable toilet brush but you don't. You disinfect that thing each time you use it with a product like Comet or other toilet cleaner disinfectant. If you store it rinsed and dry and NOT in a puddle of water or even a puddle of disinfectant that rapidly loses it's ooomph, you will be fine.

So what CAN you use that is safe, will kill the germs and won't cause super germs to develop?

3 weapons in your arsenal:

Bleach. Good old fashioned bleach in a 1 to 10 dilution. Here is the Chlorox site with the info for how to sanitize things like floors, sinks toys etc. http://www.cloroxlaundry.com/healthy_doctor.shtml
http://www.cloroxlaundry.com/healthy_disinfect.shtml
http://www.cloroxchildcare.com/childcare/
And you don't have to use clorox brand. Bleach is one of those things that is mandated to have a certain percentage so you can use the no name stuff just fine. The clorox site has good dilution recipes and explains it better than I can though.

The other thing is plain ordinary cleaning. Clean dry surfaces lack food and moisture for germs to breed on. Keep it clean, and keep it dry. You will stop germs, mold, and mildew in its' tracks.

AND HOT WATER washing. Which kills more than germs btw. Lice eggs and some intestinal parasites have a waxy coating that bleach can't penetrate. I stopped having lice problems with the kids at the school they attended as elementary grade kids, when I started washing in hot, rinsing in cold routinely. The epidemics kept happening but my kid's stayed free.

Where do you have to clean, and what is sort of optional?

There are a couple of hot spots in your home. Your kitchen-- and the sink and the garbage can are the hottest of the hot spots, especially around the drain opening in the sink

and the bathroom, particularly the rim of the toilet where the seat is attached, and the base where it meets the floor. Both zones are prone to bacteria laden "splashes" when people use the facilities, and when they flush. (flush with the lid down, it helps prevent a lot of fine droplet spray)

The good news is, you don't really need chemical warfare.

By keeping these surfaces clean and dry, you prevent a lot of germ growth.

more in a minute.

[canadian gardener]

Here's what I like to do:

First the kitchen.

Daily:
I use a dish brush and Comet to scour and disinfect the sink, and that dish brush scrubs right down to the drain hole. Let it sit a few minutes and rinse clean with a fresh dish cloth. Wring the dishcloth out and let it dry hanging over the wall of the sink.

Daily Dishcloth management:
Daily or oftener, I toss my dishcloth to the laundry. (I don't just toss in a wet heap, I take it to the washer and often hang it to dry down there so germs won't continue to grow or mildew start.

I wash dishcloths in HOT water wash (cold rinse to save $). This kills the germs.

When that dishcloth contacts a "hot" surface such as meat juice, or drippy garbage it should be boiled. I simply rinse in lukewarm water to release the proteins (like cleaning bloodstains ok) without making them coagulate onto the fibre of the dishcloth.

After rinsing don't wring out. Take the SOPPING WET cloth and microwave for about 5 minutes on high.

CAUTION: you do have to watch it doesn't dry out and catch fire, but if it's wet enough, it won't. It will boil itself nearly dry. And become almost sterile.

BUY LOTS OF DISHCLOTHS. It takes tons to fill up a wash so if you do your laundry every other day or so, you can toss 5 or 6 in without a problem. Wash them often in hot water washes and you keep them pretty germ free.

Whatever you do, DON'T keep longer than 12 to 24 hours without tossing in the wash. CHANGE them daily or oftener.

My rules? If it hits the floor, it's gone (I use it as a floor rag to wipe the floor when it's on it's way down). If it touches meat juice, it's gone (and nuked first). If it's been 24 hours it's definitely gone. If I don't like it anymore, it's gone. If I want a fresh one, the old one goes.

When I comet the sink, I change the dishcloth, using the sanitary fresh one to rinse the comet off and leave it shiny.

Cutting boards: I run mine thru the dishwasher but before I had one, I used to scrub them with Comet along with the sink and rinse well and dry off.

Floors: Often when a dishcloth hits the floor or I feel it's time to change I use it to do a fast mop up on the floor. If the floor needs more serious attention I give it a light spray with my redjuice spray and rinse mop with a wet cleaning cloth stuck in the finger holes of my dry swiffer sweeper.

If it needs deeper cleaning, I will put a hunk of nylon net for a power net cleaning in the swiffer and scrub away.

Counters I wipe down daily and oftener with the red juice. Daily as part of the wipe down at bedtime, but if meat juice spills, that red juice and a dishcloth are what I use (and nuke).

Wash dishcloths in HOT water to kill germs etc, rinse in cold and do often enough that you aren't introducing a stinky germ laden overload into the laundry system.

IF a dishcloth gets stinky its germy. Nuke and rinse BEFORE putting in the laundry.

Buy lots, change often and never use a sponge.

The insides of sponges hold crud that germs feed on, far away from the dishwashers detergent and hot water or soaking in bleach. Laundry won't do it fully either.

Those germs inside reach out and recolonize the sponge within HOURS after it's been thru the dishwasher. It's not stinky yet, but it's germ laden and pouring out germs wherever it's used.

Switch to a dishcloth, and take advantage of the fact that the normal laundry keeps the germs down, and if you use HOT water washes, it stops germs dead.

[canadian gardener]

Bathrooms:

Daily:
I use comet on toilet inside the bowl with a brush.

Take a little wad of toilet paper and GET THE FLUSH HANDLE AND AREA AROUND! I like to use rubbing alcohol here.

I keep the seat, rim and base of toilet and the floor around it clean with my "red juice" cleaner and a wad of toilet paper which I then flush. Clean and dry daily to remove the food and moisture that germs, mold and mildew thrive on.


When I brush my teeth in the mornings I use some spray cleaner (red juice concentrate diluted as per Clean Team) and a facecloth (wash in hot same as always) to clean the sink and taps and counter.

I use the old hand towel to dry it off, but if you want to be perfect, use a fresh towel.

I often hit the mirror and the chrome at the same time.

toss that HANDTOWEL DAILY OR OFTENER.

Handtowels dry hands. Hands carry germs. If you can change that thing even oftener than daily. Assign any sickies their own handtowels and change just as often.

It takes a lot of handtowels to fill up a wash load. So use them rather than the bigger bath towels. You can wash them more often without worrying about making laundry.

I have a dozen and I use them all up within the week, but I do laundry every other day or so right now.

If I have a "sickie" in the house, I wipe the door handles, taps and toilet flush handle with rubbing alcohol on a wad of toilet tissue and flush several times a day.

I keep the floors clean and dry by daily or every other day, light spray of Red juice concentrate (I use a no name equivalent) diluted as per Clean Team which I mop up with a cleaning cloth (often a wet facecloth) poked into the finger holes of my lightweight dry swiffer mop.

I clean the shower/tub when I'm in there.

[canadian gardener]

WATCH OUT FOR BLEACH and DON'T use it as a spray bottle PLEASE!

It will destroy lung tissue like it destroys germs. Later you can develop lung problems such as emphysema. You don't need that.

Bleach shouldn't ever be sprayed or misted.

Slop it on, dribble it on swish it on, just don't spray it on. You can inhale tiny particles.

AND you need to wear gloves, and protect your clothes. It drips, splashes and dribbles and destroys cloth and your skin.

Use proper dilutions.

Bleach isn't a cleaner but it's a super disinfectant and it will oxidise a lot of dirt off stuff, so people use it as a cleaner. It won't clean the protein film that bacteria secrete to protect themselves so you need to accompany bleach by mechanical wiping action with a cloth or with a paper towel OR gritty cleansers like Comet.

[captclearance]

Thanks Margery !
Here are a few tips from me.......
Keep your hands away from eyes, mouth and nose whenever possible. Wash hands frequently, especially before eating.
Keep HOT food HOT and COLD food Cold !!!!!!
Do not allow food to sit out for more than 20 minutes .......
Cold foods should be kept at 40 degrees or lower and hot foods at least 145 degree f or hotter.......
If you've ever had a foodbourne illness you'll understand how important it is.....
If reheating food in a microwave, be sure to stir often to ensure even heating.
Cool large quantities of food such as soups in shallow pans with no lid until the temperature has been brought down to a safe cool temperature.
Carry a cooler in your car to keep cold foods cold while traveling from the grocery store. especially in warm seasons.
Cook meats until they are cooked through or the juices run clear .......

[Sara Noel]

How would you clean a dish brush daily, if I were to use that instead of a dishcloth?

I'm definitely looking for something other than a sponge and am starting to think a paper towel is about the best. rofl Soon I'll be washing dishes with nothing but my hands and some soap. Get your tickets early before they sell out!

This is all I need--more ways to be anal.

I've really got to get a grip on stopping the insanity. lol

[SewCrafty]

Sara, I'm with you on this one. Right now I use one of those sponges with a scrubby side to wash dishes. I catch Jack using it all the time to wipe up spills. I always use a dishcloth. Ewwwww It is going in the trash when I go downstairs.

We always used a dishcloth when I was growing up to wash dishes and it went in the laundry every night same with the dishtowels.

Thanks for this reminder Margery. I am now shocked I didn't get sick with Jack taking care of me during chemo!

[canadian gardener]

Quick check in, DISH BRUSH-- How to sanitize it daily:

I use it to scrub my steel sink daily with Comet. Leave it for a few minutes, come back and rinse.

Sink and brush are now disinfected. Comet has bleach and if you leave a few minutes, it will kill any germs.

If your dish brush gets stained say from washing spaghetti stained pots, this takes out the stains leaving snowy white nylon bristles.

I change my dish brush about every 3 to 6 months when the bristles are bending and kind of mushing together.

[canadian gardener]

Something I'm adding to my routine is a can of Lysol to spray the garbage cans with. I always use a liner, but the kitchen one leaks, and I do wash it out and dry in the sun, but I wouldn't mind spraying the can with the Lysol too. (hold my breath)

Ditto the under sink area.