Moving is often dubbed as challenging due to the amount of effort involved, right from planning a move to packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, and other issies.
If you were scheduled to move into a new place during the coronavirus pandemic, it is no less challenging. First, you might want to postpone your move. But what if you cannot?
Here are a few cleaning tips to make your move a little easier. Luckily, you do not need to spend hours sanitizing your possessions. With the right cleaning and sanitation methods, your task can become easier.
Cleaning Tips for Moving During Coronavirus Pandemic
According to the CDC, the prime cause of COVID-19 transmission is through close contact with other people. This occurs through respiratory droplets. Unfortunately, the virus continues to survive for days on different surfaces. Cleaning and sanitizing your new home thus becomes a priority when making a move during a coronavirus pandemic.
According to Scrub Pros, “Cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing are meant to remove dirt and impurities and kill germs from surfaces. By disinfecting your new property during a move, you can reduce the risk of spreading viral infection.”
Keep essential cleaning supplies handy
While the need to sanitize your property cannot be harped on much, you need to have the right cleaning chemicals on-hand during the move.
Since COVID-19 is an enveloped virus, you can kill it easily with appropriate house cleaning supplies. However, you need the right cleaning material, including EPA-registered disinfectants, to kill the virus on different surfaces. However, a DIY disinfectant solution might come in handy too. You may use bleaching solution or surgical spirit for disinfecting surfaces.
Ethanol in spirit is known to kill the virus within seconds. If a disinfectant product label claims to kill SARS virus, influenza, and RSB, then it might be a potent weapon against COVID-19.
When making a move to a new place, make sure you have the following cleaning supplies handy:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Disinfectant spray
- Disinfecting wipes (Clorox, Lysol, or store brand will do)
- Isopropyl alcohol
Disinfect high-touch surfaces first
Using the correct disinfectant is crucial when house cleaning to preventing and reducing the spread of illness. Here are a few EPA-approved disinfectants that are powerful against COVID-19.
- Clorox® Disinfecting Spray
- Clorox Multi-Surface Cleaner + Bleach
- Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
- Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist
- Lysol brand Heavy-Duty Cleaner Disinfectant Concentrate
- Lysol brand Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner
- Sani-Prime Germicidal Spray
- Purell Professional Surface Disinfectant Wipes
Cleaning is about removing contaminants and disinfecting focuses on killing pathogens. When planning a move, you may want to clean and disinfect your new home.
Disinfect high-touch surfaces, such as cardboard, where the virus is believed to live for 24 hours. It could survive on plastic and stainless steel for 2-3 days. Clean your high-touch surfaces, including table, doorknobs, hard dining chairs, toilet seat, bathroom counters, light switches, faucets and faucet knobs, TV remote controls, and kitchen counters.
If you cannot find a disinfectant chemical, make your own with a bleach:
Mix 4 teaspoons of bleach with 1 quart of water. Shake vigorously and spray on surfaces. Leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes before wiping the surface clean with a wet cloth.
Extra sanitation during your move
- Avoid using recycled boxes since the coronavirus can survive longer on cardboard. Rather, you may use boxes or purchase new ones.
- Wipe clean boxes before moving. It is a good cleaning tip to disinfect boxes, furniture, and, other items with disinfectant wipes before loading. This way you can reduce the risk of carrying germs or infection to the new place.
- Before opening the moving boxes, wipe clean all cardboard surfaces with disinfectant wipes. Unpack immediately and discard the cardboard as soon as possible. Not to mention, you should immediately wash your hands thoroughly.
- Follow proper hand sanitization and cleaning tips. Make sure that the moving crew has hand-washing supplies and sanitizer handy during, before, and after the move. If possible, you should keep a hand sanitizer and disposable gloves handy while moving to a new place. The more you wash your hands with soap, the less the chances of coronavirus infection.
Leave doors open when movers arrive
You want the movers not to touch any other surface in your new home except the boxes that they bring in. so it is a good idea to keep doors open to let in movers when they arrive with your belongings. This is important so that they do not touch any frequently touched surfaces, such as door handles or doorknobs.
By leaving your front door along with other doors open, you can ensure that movers avoid touching doorknobs and other common surfaces that might cause viral transmissions.
Choose a moving company wisely
When planning making a move during coronavirus pandemic, it would help to choose your moving company wisely. Ask them about the precautions used when moving your stuff to the new home. Do they provide their team with gloves, masks, and sanitizers?
COVID-19 poses a serious threat to the health and life of humans. It is spreading like wildfire. Hundreds of thousands of people have already succumbed to the infection.
All in all, it is advised to practice social distancing as much as possible during the coronavirus pandemic to check the spread of the virus. If possible, you could postpone your move during coronavirus. The idea is to prevent the virus from finding new human carriers.
However, if moving during coronavirus is crucial, make sure you follow all disinfecting and cleaning tips to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
