Milk is spilled on the kitchen counter. kitchen and we pass the cloth. Splash the tomato that you are cooking and we clean it with the same cloth. Water falls on the floor and what do you do?: you also take the cloth and clean it. And, in addition, you also take it to clean the crumbs from the table where you just finished eating.
ring a bell? It is also likely that, between one act and another, you do not even rinse the precious cloth. and it passes wet days and days in the sink from the kitchen without you barely remembering him. The worst thing about this situation is that day after day, silently and without you knowing it, the germs and in reality, what you do is clean with a dirty cloth , distributing the accumulated germs to all corners of your home.
Luckily, there is a remedy to break this "germ spread" string and what is essential for prevent an infection . It is enough to carry out some good practices.
"While we think of cleaning cloths as tools to help us clean surfaces hygienically, research clearly shows that these tools easily pick up dirt and germs and can actually act as a means of spreading them." to hands and other surfaces if we don't take care of them and use them properly," explains the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene ( IFH ).
In fact, experts say that Cloths become heavily contaminated during use , so if left wet for several hours and not decontaminated, bacteria can grow on their surface. Yes indeed, It is not the same to disinfect a rag as to clean it . According to the experts, the second does not imply the first, so do not think that by throwing the cloth into the washing machine you will be leaving it spotless.
First disinfect and then clean
"Bacteria strongly adhere to the fibers of the fabric, with the result that the cleaning detergent-based alone is not enough », warns the agency. Therefore, to clean the cloth well, it first requires disinfecting it. This step must be done immediately after each use with an effective disinfectant (eg bleach, whiteners...) or drying at 80 degrees for 2 hours.
In this sense, the microwave is your great ally. "Studies suggest that microwaving at full power for at least 2 minutes can also be used to disinfect cloths," the entity says. If you are going to disinfect with this small appliance, you must take into account: that the cloth must be wet or it can burn and that it is advisable to place the contaminated cloths inside a covered container.
Once you know how and when to define, How to keep the cloths clean? Take note of the IFH advice:
In addition to all this, and the most important thing, is that the rags dried immediately after decontamination and stored dry until further use.
Leave a comment