With over 3,000,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States, there has never been a more crucial time to keep your home clean and sanitized. While the majority of America is staying at home, there are bound to be times when people must leave to gather essentials. These necessary interactions may inadvertently expose you to unwanted disease, and subsequently, bring germs with you back home. Here at PoweredByPros, we are dedicated to helping our community stay safe and healthy. That’s why we created this article; to supply homeowners with fact-based tips and important information to help keep their residences coronavirus-free. Continue reading to learn which products kill Covid-19 and how you can use them to properly disinfect your home.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the most likely way the novel coronavirus is transmitted is via person-to-person, hence the importance of social distancing. While transmission via respiratory droplets is the most common way of catching Covid-19, there is growing evidence that this pneumonia-like disease could live on a variety of surfaces for days. For this reason, cleaning of dirty and potentially contaminated surfaces is among the best practices homeowners can take to prevent transmission of this deadly virus.

Coronaviruses are a class of viruses commonly found throughout the world. They are not hardy and can die relatively easily. In fact, the EPA says that coronaviruses are some of the easiest types of viruses to kill and Covid-19 can be safely exterminated with proper cleaning materials.

Cleaning with soap (or detergent) and water removes germs, dirt, and other impurities—but it might not necessarily get rid of every single germ. Cleaning plays an important part in lowering germ count and the risk of spreading infection. On the other hand, disinfecting is the process of using chemicals to actually kill germs on surfaces or objects. A combination of cleaning and disinfecting will dramatically lower the capability for viruses and germs to survive on household surfaces. To be certain that you are killing germs, homeowners must use EPA-registered disinfectants, some of which can be found below.

In addition to the common supplies found above, a full list of disinfectants that can safely exterminate Covid-19 can be found at the EPA’s website

The primary germ-killing ingredients found in the approved list typically contain alcohol (of at least 70% strength) and/or bleach. As many of you know, there is an extreme shortage of these easy-to-use cleaning supplies, i.e. clorox wipes. Luckily, some other household cleaning supplies can be effective in killing the novel coronavirus—and are much easier to find.

According to Dr. Richard Sachleben, an organic chemist from the American Chemical Society who was recently interviewed by NBC, “Many common household cleaning products can kill the coronavirus if you use them properly.”

Make sure to follow cleaning instructions as directed on the products label/container. To decontaminate a surface, you can’t just wipe once and expect every germ to disappear. Really scrub it until the entire surface is wet and let it dry on its own. For example, clorox wipes need a few minutes to dry. When in doubt, leave cleaning and disinfectant products on your surfaces for as long as possible to allow adequate time for sanitizing agents to work their magic.

All homes and lifestyles are different. Regardless of how you live, there are commonly used objects and things around the house that everyone comes into physical contact with on a daily basis. Most touched in-home items include: tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, phones, tablets, touch screens, remote controls, keyboards, handles, desks, toilets, sinks, cooking items, and stove switches.

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