Keep Your Home Healthy
COVID-19 has certainly thrown us in a tail spin and the risk to vulnerable citizens is real. Trying to stop the spread of germs has come to the forefront recently with the spread of coronavirus, with many clients asking me for strategies to minimise risk.
The important thing to remember is coronavirus is so new, there’s very little testing that’s been done to show what’s the most effective way of combatting it. For that reason, my focus is to provide general cleaning tips that can sanitise your home and keep it spotless, while also protecting you against harmful chemicals found in cleaning agents, that can compromise your resistance to bacteria, germs and viruses.
By and large, your floor attracts more grime, dirt and bacteria, than any other surface in your home and priority should be given to vacuum and hotmop at lease once each week. If you have hard surface flooring, such as timber, tile or cork, they are easier to clean and disinfect, and harbour less germs and bacteria than carpet.
Shoes are by far the worst germ, viral and bacterial offenders you can bring into your home. There’s no point in sugar-coating this pill: according to Jonathan Sexton, an environmental microbiologist and research specialist, the average shoe harbours "hundreds of thousands of bacteria per square inch."
The soles of our shoes are essentially a meet and greet for these microbes, and with each step we take, we pick up new attendants. Just imagine what you bring into the house after a visit to your public toilet. But exactly what types of bacterial communities are hanging out on our shoes, and do they pose a legitimate health threat?
Well, studies have shown that (prepare yourself) almost all shoes in some research samples were coated with fecal bacteria, including one prominent bug called Escherichia coli (E.coli), which researchers discovered was on 96 percent of shoe soles.
Shoes harbour more C. difficile than even the surface of a toilet
While many types of E.coli are harmless to humans, some strains can cause severe diarrhoea, urinary tract infections and even meningitis. "Not necessarily on every shoe, but on a good majority, you can find some type of E.coli there," Sexton said.
Apart from this ubiquitous germ, other studies have also found evidence of things like Staphylococcus aureus, which underlies a wide range of skin infections, and more worryingly, infections of the blood and the heart. Another prominent study sampled 30 households for the presence of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), a bacterium with a long lifespan that commonly causes bowel problems like diarrhoea.
If C.difficile isn’t enough to churn your stomach, researchers have found that shoes harboured more C. difficile than even the surface of a toilet — underscoring the power that grubby soles can spread nasty germs through your home.
Despite the horrifying picture this paints of microbe-infested interiors, this isn’t something a heathy adult need to be too concerned about, however, for babies and small children who literally ‘live’ on the floor, then this will increase their risk of illness and infection.
Another group of people who may need to take extra precautions are those who are immunocompromised, meaning their defences against infection are lower than usual. In a person who is at risk of infections — usually someone recently hospitalised — attention to good household cleaning should be paramount.
Bacteria exists everywhere: they're in the air, on our skin, in our hair and inside our very guts. In fact, we live in a constantly swirling bacterial soup that would be impossible to completely disinfect. It’s a no brainer for my family, our shoes come off long before the key enters the door. Ultimately, the decision is yours, but I’ll leave you with this thought. Your shoes are a constant home guest, but like all family members, they eventually get relegated to their resting destination and for a while you walk barefoot around your house until you’re ready to retire for the night. Now, as you swing those tootsies up on the bed and under the covers my mind boggles at the thought of all those bed buddies joining you!
Like and follow us on FACEBOOK and get my powerhouse floor cleaning secret. It’s completely natural, anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral AND a great disinfectant.