Flu Prevention Cleaning Tips

Child washing soapy hands under running water.

Hand-washing the single most effective means of flu prevention.

With our homes shuttered against fall's cooler outdoor air, they can become virtual incubators of germs and viruses. These flu prevention cleaning tips can help keep the nasty interlopers at bay.

After all, where else can they go? They don't have an exit route. And all the warm bodies - us! - inside provides a perfect growing ground for the flu virus to gain a toehold.

The flu virus can be transmitted when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and their droplets containing germs land in your mouth or nose. This underscores the importance of these flu prevention cleaning tips in keeping your family healthy.

Flu Prevention Cleaning Tips for Hand-Washing

Stress the need for regular handwashing throughout the day. It's a simple yet powerful way to prevent the spread of flu.

Encourage your children to make it a part of their daily routine. (They might even enjoy the chance to play in the water.)

Reiterate the importance of hand hygiene in flu prevention. It's a key aspect that should not be overlooked. Encourage your children to wash their hands with soap for at least 30 seconds, the time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice.

If it's been a while since you reviewed the details, this Handwashing Tutorial can help. Carry a hand sanitizer for those times when you don't have access to water.

Cover a Cough

When you have flu symptoms - such as a cough - cover it with a tissue. When you're without one, an elbow will do. Then, throw the tissue away. (Keep the elbow.)

And if your child is sneezing or coughing, ensure he knows how to properly keep infectious fluids to himself.

Disposable tissues should be used to cover cough droplets, and children should wipe their mouths or noses with tissues so that secretions are contained and do not get on their hands.

This is one of the most effective ways to prevent the flu.

Get a Flu Shot

Getting a flu shot is especially important if you have a baby at home or someone with a weak immune system.

Flu shots are easily obtained at pharmacies and grocery stores. Save yourself the headache (and worse) by being proactive now. It's not too late to get a flu shot.

Flu Prevention Cleaning Tips for Laundry

Remember to take extra care with the laundry during flu season—it can also be a key culprit in the spread of infectious germs and bacteria.

If Sneezy Susie handed your child her backpack or grabbed your daughter's sweatshirt arm at recess, bacteria and germs are probably still playing on these items.

For flu prevention, plan to wash your child's backpack (unzipping the zipper, taking out papers and wrappers first) and school sweatshirts or jackets at least weekly in the hottest water safe for the fabric—Ditto for school clothes or uniforms.

If the item can handle bleach, pour bleach into the washing machine and the dirty clothes. Remember, only sufficiently hot water and bleach can kill flu germs and bacteria.

And for your kids' dirty duds, choose the "hot water" temperature whenever you can. Many hardy germs can survive a warm-water swim.

Flu Prevention Cleaning Tips for Surfaces

Woman wearing yellow gloves cleaning kitchen counter.

Parents can combat those cold and flu germs by diligently disinfecting common surfaces , especially when someone in the home is sick.

Simple housekeeping tasks will help keep these menacing germs at bay.

By focusing your cleaning efforts on the major germ hot spots, arming yourself with a disinfectant cleaner, and then shooting to kill, you can win the battle against flu germs.

What should you put on your home disinfecting target list? Light switches, telephones, computer/laptop keyboards, remote controls, and doorknobs throughout your home.

These are the favorite spots for more than 200 sneeze- and cough-causing cold and flu viruses today. These hardy bugs can survive for hours on hard surfaces in the home, especially plastics and metals, as well as on children's toys.

A cleaner labeled "disinfectant" (see cleaning products defined) will kill most tough germs on hard surfaces. Contrary to popular opinion, ammonia and vinegar don't kill bacteria or viruses.

Save time by choosing a bleach-based all-surface cleaner or diluted chlorine bleach to both clean and disinfect at the same time. (Mix your own using 3/4 cup chlorine bleach per gallon of water.)

Spray directly on a non-food surface, and let the solution work its magic for 10 minutes. Wipe dry with a paper towel and toss.

Better yet, Consider stocking one of those pop-up disposable disinfecting wipes, such as those made by Clorox, beneath the sink, in the family room, and the kids' bathroom.

As a preventative measure, plan to disinfect surfaces weekly - daily if someone in your home sniffles or has a dry, scratchy, sore throat.

Remember to Take Care of Yourself

Cold germs and viruses are everywhere, so why do we not get sick all the time? Healthy, well-nourished, well-rested people with a healthy immune system can fend off germs and viruses.

And if you do get sick, good health usually helps you recover faster. Ensure your family gets at least eight hours of sleep, eats healthy meals (lots of fruit and vegetables), and exercises daily.

Keep the Flu Virus Home

If you or your child is running a temperature - another of the virus symptoms - stay home. Do not go out and infect others. That's how an epidemic starts.

If you get sick, start an antiviral prescription medication right away. Taken within the first 48 hours of symptoms, they can lessen the severity of your symptoms and prevent virus-related complications such as pneumonia.