During these trying times, home and office sanitation has become a top priority. But, this doesn’t just involve cleaning the flooring, windows, or furniture alone. We sometimes forget to clean high-touch areas, fridges, gadgets, and furniture.
“Most-touched area” refers to a surface that’s touched by most people regularly throughout the day. Office cleaning and disinfecting office areas will keep the employees healthy. It also prevents the spread of germs and other harmful bacteria.
So, how do you sanitize these areas? This post will give you tips on how to clean common high-touch areas in your home or office.
Excellent Practices to Consider Before Cleaning
- Always wear your gloves while cleaning
- Consider using disposable wipes
- Rotate the wipe or cloth when cleaning
- Dispose of the waste or wipes in lined trash cans
- Clean your hands after each cleaning exercise
7 Top High-Touch Areas You Must Prioritize
Working Table
Aside from working, most people keep many things like keys, phones, wallets on their tables. It concerns everyone who is working from home or shared workspaces in an office. It’s advisable to clean the table surfaces every day, preferably before you start your work.
How to Clean:
Spray a disinfectant on the desktop or tabletop. Next, wipe every part of the surface with wipes or a damp cloth. You may use any DIY alcohol solution or distilled bleach solution when cleaning because it kills germs and bacteria.
Doorknobs and Handles
Appliance handles and doorknobs are frequently touched surfaces that require cleaning and disinfecting. Public doorknobs and handles are filthy. The dirt and microscopic germs from one hand to another can contaminate the surface. At home, you also need to disinfect knobs to protect your family from sickness.
How to Clean:
Buy some trusted disinfectant wipes to clean the doorknobs and handles all around your office and house. Regular water can’t kill germs. So always use disinfecting wipes or put alcohol in your solution. Wait for about ten minutes before you dry the knobs; that’ll be enough to eliminate dirt.
Once you finish wiping, be sure to let them dry before anyone can touch them again. Focus on the main entrance doors, bathroom doors, microwave doors, and refrigerator doors.
Switchboards
Another most-touched area in your home or office is the switchboards. Most people invariably touch switchboards whenever they enter or leave a room, so you can be sure germs will have accumulated on the surfaces by the end of the day. Add cleaning the switchboard to your daily cleaning routine.
How to Clean:
Get a soft clean cloth and spray some disinfectant solution on it. Start wiping the switches one by one, covering all the sides. If you don’t like wiping, you can spray it with disinfecting solution directly. Just make sure to focus on the switchboards and not the wires.
You can wipe them down right away. However, you have to exercise caution while using this second method. Avoid spraying the excess solution on the switchboard and ensure the liquid doesn’t get into the sockets.
Kitchen Counters
Kitchen counters are one of the busiest areas in the house. You cook and prepare your food every single day. Sure! It’s easy to transfer Salmonella from raw food to other surfaces like kitchen equipment and countertops through improper handling.
But did you know that Australia was hit by a large Salmonella outbreak year 2019? According to the report, it affected at least 171 residents in New South Wales.
The said outbreak was from 11 New South Wales poultry facilities, affected and contaminated egg farms around the neighbourhood. The poultry farms were decontaminated. For this reason, you should clean your kitchen countertop every time you need to prepare raw food like eggs, meat, and dairy products.
How to Clean:
Wipe the counters with a cloth containing the disinfectant solution or wipes. Remember to clean the entire surface and don’t overlook the cabinet handles too – you might touch them while preparing the raw food.
Phones
Office telephones and mobile phones have become irreplaceable today. We need these gadgets for productive communication. Let’s admit it, we all spend a lot of time on phones, especially on mobile phones.
Imagine how many times you touch other contaminated surfaces, then you hold your phone right after without sanitizing. Viruses attack without you knowing. You use your phone in close contact with your face. Moreover, you hold it in your hand. So, sanitize it always.
How to Clean:
Place a wipeable or washable cover on the phone and wipe it frequently. Be sure to use an alcohol-based spray solution or wipes with at least 70% alcohol, and allow the surface to dry properly before touching it.
PC or Laptop Keyboards
The desktop computer and laptop keyboards are also a hotbed for bacteria. The contamination occurs when you touch other surfaces and transfer the bacteria to your keyboard.
Get things how to store things away effectively at your office. So other than washing your hands regularly to avoid transferring bacteria to the keyboard, you should wipe the area clean every day.
How to Clean:
Dip wipes in a disinfectant solution. Start by wiping the computer or laptop thoroughly before you begin your day. Be sure to focus on the keyboard area and mouse.
You may opt to unplug the keyboard to remove the loose debris on the cracks and crevices or use a compressed air can to clear the keys. Most manufacturers also offer guidelines on cleaning the device, so be sure to check them out before you start.
Remote Controls
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t keep your hands off the air conditioner or television remote. The chances are other people in your home or office like to do the same.
There is a high possibility of spreading bacteria from one remote to another. To minimize infection risks, you have to disinfect all remote controls daily.
How to Clean:
Use disinfectant wipes or homemade disinfectant solution with alcohol to clean the remotes. Also, avoid touching your face until you clean your hands.
It’s essential to follow these guidelines to ensure all the most-touched areas in your home and office cleaning every day. Make sure the bacteria don’t spread in your home or office so you can prevent all the viral infections.
Frequently touched areas like door handles and water faucets can contribute a lot to spreading the infection. Regular cleaning of these most touched areas and high-traffic surfaces is important, especially in commercial facilities with high foot traffic.
Disinfection along with regular cleaning is the best way to keep your premises safe from virus infection and protect your people from germs and bacteria.
Clean Group’s electrostatic disinfection technique can help keep the most touched surfaces in your workplace clean and germ-free by removing up to 99.99% of bacteria. Call us today to know more.
About the Author
Stephen Matthews
Hi, my name is Steve. I have been working as a Regional Operations Manager in Sydney Clean Group for almost four years now and manage a team of 10. I have more than three decades of experience in the commercial cleaning industry. My responsibilities include the day-to-day management of cleaning operations, planning, online quotation to clients, managing cleaners’ performance, collecting clients' feedback, and ensuring proper & regular maintenance of cleaning equipment. Get in touch for a quick chat about your cleaning needs.
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