Stay Home, Stay Safe

How to Clean and Disinfect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Stuff These are our in-depth best practices for keeping yourself (and just about everything else) THERE’S SOMETHING DEEPLY unsettling a

bout stepping out of the home-from-work boredom of self-isolation into the tense, ambient panic of grocery shopping during a pandemic. Normal is a double-sided coin now. At home, things feel hyperreal, and outside they feel entirely surreal—two steps removed from the flashback scenes in a postapocalyptic movie. You may feel a tension between helping yourself and helping your community. Daily life during the novel coronavirus pandemic is all about disorienting contrasts like these. It might seem more productive to read our Coronavirus Gear and Supplies Guide and start filling your pantry with canned goods and essentials, but cleaning and sanitizing surfaces in your home can help lower the chances you or a loved one will contract Covid-19 and lower the chances you might spread it to someone else. Keeping your home (and self) sanitized helps everyone. The Centers for Disease Control recommends we all take steps to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces in our homes. Below, we get into the weeds of how long the virus might last on surfaces, which disinfectants may kill it, and the steps you should take to keep clean. Updated April 9: The CDC has changed its stance on face masks for the general public. We've updated our guidance accordingly. To Keep Yourself Virus-Free Wash Your Hands You’ve heard it a million times by now, and you’ll hear it a million more, but the best way to lower your risk of contracting Covid-19 (or pass it on to someone else) is to wash your hands after you cough, sneeze, touch your face, use the restroom, or are about to leave one place for another. You should wash your hands when you leave and return from the grocery store, for instance. If you can find any, hand sanitizer is a fast cleaning method that works wonders. (Here's how to make your own.) Hand sanitizer is no substitute for washing your hands with soap and water, though. Using soap and water can also be

a little easier on your hands. It won't necessarily kill all pathogens, but if you wash your hands properly, it'll wash them away. The World Health Organization has detailed instructions (which we've all seen in meme form) on how to properly perform the 20-second hand wash. It’s also important to liberally moisturize your hands. Dry, cracked skin is at greater risk for all kinds of infections, so after you wash, apply a little moisturizer. It's nice! Most moisturizing lotions have similar ingredients, starting with water and glycerin, so the brand doesn't really matter. (Here are some hand lotions on Amazon.) If your hands are extra dry, look for something dermatologist-recommended with an "intensive" label, like Eucerin Advanced Repair or Neutrogena Hydro Boost. (Note: If you buy something using the links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Here's how this works.) Stay Home Even if you're not sick, just stay home if you can. Being in large crowds or going out to restaurants pose unnecessary risks not just to yourself but to the people around you. The more you're in public, the more chances the novel coronavirus has to hitch a ride on your hands, clothes, or person. Millions of people are very vulnerable to this virus. Putting yourself at risk also puts them at risk. "There will be a sizable portion of people who are older or who have other health conditions, and if they get sick all at once, they're going to overwhelm the health care system. So we're trying to decrease the number of transmissions," Dr. John Townes, head of infection prevention and control at the Oregon Health & Science University, told WIRED. Important Rules to Stay Safe:

• Stay at home except for essential trips to

get groceries, etc.

• Wear a cloth face mask in public. (Here's how to make a mask and the rules surrounding them.)

• Stay at least 6 feet away from other people in public.

• Again, wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds (or use hand sanitizer if you're unable to wash).

• Cough or sneeze into a tissue or the inside of your elbow. Avoid touching your face.

Invest in a Cloth Face Mask

The CDC has reversed its advice regarding face masks. It now recommends that everyone wear a cloth face mask in public. We have detailed instructions, and do's and don'ts, on masks in our How to Make a CDC-Approved Cloth Face Mask guide. Masks are an added precaution on top of staying home, washing your hands, social distancing, and the other guidelines that you should be following. A cloth mask is unlikely to prevent you from getting Covid-19, but it may help protect others if you happen to have the disease. Some people who have the disease show mild symptoms, or none at all—especially those who are young. You may have it and not know. As far as we're aware, the novel coronavirus is transmitted through person-to-person contact or respiratory droplets. Just talking to someone can send droplets their way. Do not put a mask on kids under 2 years old or buy an N95 mask or any professional mask that could be used to help health care workers. There is still a severe shortage of masks around the United States, and N95 masks should be reserved for medical professionals. This is why the CDC, again, recommends you make your own cloth mask at home. Please follow our DIY face mask instructions to make one properly. To Keep Your Home Virus-Free

Clean and Disinfect The first thing you'll want to know is that cleaning and disinfecting are two very different things. The CDC recommends we all do a bit of both, even if nobody in your home is sick.

• Cleaning is about removing contaminants from a surface.

• Disinfecting is about killing p

athogens.

• Do both daily if anything or anyone has entered or exited your home.

Transmission from person-to-person is a much greater risk than transmission via surfaces, but the CDC recommends we clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in our homes at least once daily just to be safe, assuming we have had contact with the outside world in some way, either a person leaving and returning or goods coming in. Target Your Home's High-Touch Surfaces Researchers have found that the novel coronavirus is capable of living on surfaces such as cardboard for 24 hours, but up to two or thr

ee days on plastic and stainless steel. So cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces is a step we should all take, even if we aren't leaving the house. Anytime items or people come in and out of your home, there is some possibility of exposure.

High-Touch Surfaces to Clean and Disinfect Daily:

• Doorknobs

• Table surfaces

• Hard dining chairs (seat, back, and arms)

• Kitchen counters

• Bathroom counters

• Faucets and faucet knobs

• Toilets (seat and handle)

• Light switches

• TV remote controls

• Game controllers

Everyone’s home is a little different, so just think about the surfaces you interact with most. For me, that includes the above, plus desk surfaces and mousepads (we'll get to gadgets in a bit). Now that you know what you're cleaning, here's how you should do it. First Clean, Then Disinfect:

1. First, clean the surfaces, removing any contaminants, dust, or debris. You can do this by wiping them with soapy water (or a cleaning spray) and a hand towel.

2. Then apply a surface-appropriate disinfectant. The quickest and easiest way to do this is with disinfecting wipes or disinfectant spray.

That’s it. Just adding these to your daily routine can help lower the risk of infection for you and anyone else in your household. If you aren't able to obtain disinfectants at this time, just do a thorough job with the soap or cleaning agents you do have. The EPA has a full list of disinfectants that will kill the novel coronavirus, but here are a few essentials to keep an eye out for. You can find most of these disinfectants online at Amazon or Walmart if your local grocery store is out of stock. Most disinfectants should have a label that lists the viruses they're effec

tive against, and that's what you'll want to look out for more than any particular active ingredient. "If a disinfectant product has an indication for killing influenza, RSB, SARS virus, or other coronaviruses, then it should work against this one also," Townes said. Disinfectants:

• Disinfecting wipes (Clorox, Lysol, or store brand will do)

• Disinfectant spray (Purell, Clorox, Lysol, all make sprays that will work)

• Isopropyl alcohol

• Hydrogen peroxide

If You Cannot Find Store-Bought Disinfectants Store shelves are bare in a lot of places, especially in the cleaning section, but you still have plenty of options. First off, please do use more soap, water, and scrubbing. That can make a huge difference. The CDC also has a recommended recipe for a homemade cleaning solution using household bleach.

How to Make Homemade Bleach Disinfectant Spray:

• 4 teaspoons household bleach

• 1 quart water

• Pour both into one quart spray bottle, shake vigorously

• Spray on surface to disinfect, let sit for 10 minutes, wipe away with wet cloth

Bleach is excessive in most cases. You should never ever mix bleach solution with any other cleaning chemical, and it's likely to damage or discolor sensitive surfaces. Use it as a last resort if you can't source or acquire any other kind of disinfectant. With bleach, remember to wear gloves, open your windows (ventilation is your friend), and be careful. Alternatively you can make your own bleach-free sanitizer spray with a few ingredients you can order online. Does the Laundry Machine Work on Clothes? Yes, mostly. Just washing your clothing with regular laundry soap and drying it at a slightly higher temperature than you might have otherwise is all you have to do to disinfect your clothes.

Be sure to disinfect surfaces the dirty laundry comes in contact with, including the hamper and your hands—especially if you have a sick person in the house. Clean and disinfect the hamper like you would any other surface, and wash your hands thoroughly after handling dirty laundry from someone who is ill. The CDC recommends using a liner in your hamper.

Don't forget to clean your coat and backpack. Wiping the inside off with a disinfectant wipe should do the trick unless your jacket is machine washable. Should You Disinfect Food and Snacks? No, not without reason. According to the FDA, there is no evidence to suggest that food or food packaging can transmit the novel coronavirus, so there is currently no need to disinfect food or food packaging any more than you

usually would. Just observe standard food safety and wash your hands afterward.