A couple of days into lock down and many people are already going stir crazy, looking for things to do to keep them occupied other than binge watching
Netflix series.
We should all understand why it is so important to stay at home during these difficult times (other than one bout of daily exercise and for essential shopping). But what else can you do to pass the time. Well, why not clean? We’re not just talking about cleaning to keep your home virus free but also jobs you can do which you didn’t have time for before.
So to get you started (and hopefully motivated) we’ve come up with some tips and guidelines which will ensure you home is sparkling and clean as well as keeping you and your family as safe as possible.
Keeping Your Home Virus Free
Start by cleaning and then disinfecting all surfaces daily. Even though transmission from person-to-person is a much greater risk than transmission via surfaces, it is still recommended that you clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in your home at least once daily just to be safe. This is particularly important if anyone in the household has had contact with the outside world in some way.
Researchers claim that the coronavirus can live up to three days on hard surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel, so ensure you target these areas in particular.
We know that the supermarket shelves are empty of some key products including hand sanitisers and disinfectants. But don’t panic, as the medics are all saying, regular hand washing with soap and water helps and you can take the same approach when it comes to cleaning your home. You can also make your own disinfectant. Just mix four teaspoons of household bleach with a litre of water, mix in a spray bottle and shake vigorously. Spray on each surface to disinfect, leave for 10 minutes and then wipe away with a wet cloth. That should keep you busy for a good hour or so!
Cleaning Your Oven
This is one of the jobs many people put off time and time again as it is messy and time consuming. However, once cleaned, there is nothing more satisfactory than a gleaming hob or oven door. There are many highly caustic oven cleaning products available which definitely do the job and if you’re using these it’s a good idea to wear gloves and even a face mask.
But you don’t need to go to this expense (or leave your home to buy it), we can highly recommend this simple, home-made oven cleaning solution. All you’ll need is:
Baking soda
Water
Rubber gloves
Damp dish cloth
Plastic or silicone spatula
Spray bottle
White vinegar
Then just follow these simple guidelines:
Remove the oven racks and anything else you have inside the oven.
In a small bowl, mix a 1/2 cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water. Adjust the ratio of both as needed until you have a spreadable paste.
Wearing gloves, spread the paste all over the interior surfaces of your oven, steering clear of the heating elements. The baking soda will turn a brownish colour as you rub it in; it also might be chunkier in some places than others, which is fine. Just try to coat the whole oven paying extra attention to any particularly greasy areas.
Let the baking powder rest for a good few hours (so get on with your cleaning and disinfecting) or overnight if you can. (Do the same to your racks and baking trays).
Get a damp dish cloth and wipe out as much of the dried baking soda paste as you can. Use a spatula to help scrape off the paste in those hard-to-reach places.
Put a little vinegar in a spray bottle and spray everywhere you still see baking soda residue in your oven. The vinegar will react with the baking soda and gently foam.
Take your damp cloth and wipe out the remaining foamy vinegar-baking soda mixture. Repeat until all the baking soda residue is gone. Add more water or vinegar as needed while wiping to really get the oven clean and shiny.
Use the same method to clean the baking powder off your oven racks and replace these and any other trays back in the oven … and you’re done!
Cleaning Your Fridge
Your fridge is one of the most important appliances in your home. It’s where you store raw and cooked food as well as drinks, dairy products and usually salad or other veg. So, it’s important to keep your fridge clean not only to keep germs at bay but also to reduce the risk of food poisoning.
However, you shouldn’t clean your fridge in the same way as you clean the rest of the kitchen and you should avoid kitchen cleaning products in general as they contain chemicals which can contaminate food. A good tip is to use gentle surface wipes that use natural citrus oils or a combination of washing up liquid and warm water.
Disinfectants like bleach should never be used inside refrigerators. As with other kitchen cleaning products, any disinfectant that comes into contact with food could make people ill because of the strong chemicals they contain.
When it comes to the cleaning method, it may seem obvious but you should remove all food before starting. Even if you’re only using natural products, you don’t want to be reaching around objects. Having an empty fridge makes the process so much easier and removes the possibility of contamination.
Take out all removable parts, such as shelves and drawers. Fill a basin with warm water and your usual brand of washing up liquid and leave these parts to soak before wiping and rinsing.
Wipe all surface areas either with wipes or with a combination of washing up liquid and warm water. Use a microfibre cloth or a good quality sponge as these will not fall apart and leave little particles behind in the fridge.
For stubborn stains, mix a small amount of baking soda with a little water to produce a thick paste. Apply the paste to the stain and leave for an hour before wiping with a damp sponge or cloth. The baking soda should loosen the stain, making it easy to wipe away.
For the ongoing cleanliness of your fridge, here are some additional tips:
it’s a good idea to regularly check the products and throw out anything that out of date. Mouldy foods can contaminate other items, so recycle or bin them.
Clean up any spills as soon as possible. Spills can drip onto other foods and can cause bad smells – especially if a bottle of milk leaks.
Keep a small plastic box filled with baking soda at the bottom of your fridge as the soda will absorb any strong odours like strong cheese.
JDK Cleaning
We hope you found these tips helpful. Look out for more cleaning tips from JDK Cleaning coming soon.