How to Disinfect and Clean a Senior’s Home

The recent coronavirus outbreak has left many people taking precautions to disinfect and sanitize their homes, especially homes of seniors. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked people to wash their hands, practice social distancing and disinfecting high-touch surfaces. 

What items should I be using to disinfect surfaces?

To clean hard surfaces, the organization advises preferable clean surfaces with soap and water. You can use cleaning detergents and diluted bleach if necessary.

As for soft surfaces, like carpets, drapes or couches, use warm water and soap. Electronics can be disinfected with wipes that contain at least 70 percent alcohol. 

How to disinfect and clean your senior’s home

To protect your senior’s health here is how the in home senior care Omaha NE professionals suggest disinfecting your senior’s house. 

Kitchens

The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in any home. It is where people prepare all their meals, where groceries get brought into and even eat. Since this is one of the places where meals are prepared, it is critical to keep these areas as germ-free as possible. 

Start disinfecting the kitchen by wiping down any areas where food is prepared or consumed. These surfaces are probably one of the highest touch surfaces. 

Not only should refrigerators' handles be cleaned, but also the shelves and drawers inside. If your senior loved one uses reusable bags, soak in hot soapy water after every grocery store trip. 

Bathrooms

Your aging parent or in home senior care Omaha NE caregiver should regularly clean the bathrooms. However, it is always wise to take extra precautions to disinfect a bathroom frequently. The bathroom has a lot of hard surfaces where viruses can live. 

Caregivers and seniors should be wiping down every hard surface in the bathroom. Hand towels should be washed more frequently if possible. It is suggested if there are more people in the household for everyone to have a separate hand towel. 

Bedrooms

The bedroom is where seniors sleep for about eight hours, change their clothes and even watch TV. You want to ensure that this area is clean of any possible germs. 

Start by wiping down anything that your senior might touch daily. Disinfect the light switches, door handles, drawers, closet doors, TV remotes, lamps and even pillowcases! It is advised that seniors wash their pillowcase more frequently. 

Laundry room

One room that your senior loved one should not forget to disinfect is the laundry room. This room is where all dirty clothes get handled or washed. It is wise that dirty laundry and shoes are placed in disposable bags, so germs don’t stay in the house. 

When it comes to doing the actual laundry, the CDC recommends that people use gloves to handle dirty clothing. Do not shake laundry because it could spread germs. Use warm water to wash all items. Be sure that clothing is thoroughly dry before wearing as well. 

To keep a senior safe, let one of our in home senior care Omaha NE caregivers get your aging parent’s groceries or prescriptions. Contact us to set up a consultation.