How Often to Clean Doorknobs and Light Switches | The Cleaning Institute

Every house owner may be well informed about how often the home should be cleaned. This includes mopping the floor, cleaning the kitchen, along with cleaning the bathroom. But did you know that are also other areas in the home that need to be cleaned as well? For example, when did you last clean your doorknobs and light switches? While homeowners know the importance of cleaning, there are a lot of areas in the home that may become neglected, most specifically the doorknobs and light switches. But if you must ask, how often do you really have to clean them?

How Often Should Such Areas Be Cleaned?

People, specifically adults, suffer from approximately two to three colds in a year. Children, on the other hand, contact the illness much more often. The bacteria or viruses that cause these illnesses can live on hard surfaces for so many weeks, so not cleaning as often enough can make you and your family susceptible to such illnesses.

Due to this, experts say that cleaning of surfaces such as doorknobs and light switches should be done at least two times in a week. Disinfecting these areas are vital in order to make sure that harmful viruses are prevented from spreading onto your home, most especially if it is currently flu season. You can also opt to wipe the switches down with a cleaning product much more thoroughly once every two weeks.

In order to clean up these surfaces, you can use a spray on disinfectant on hard to reach areas, or disinfecting wipes. However, make sure that the area remains wet for at least ten minutes. This is in order to make sure that germs and other harmful viruses are gotten rid of. There are a lot of spray on disinfectants available in the market that can get rid of the most common bacteria found in most homes like cold and flu viruses, along with Salmonella and E. Coli. Below are instructions on how to clean your doorknobs and light switches:

• If dirt or gunk has built up on the surface of your light switches or doorknobs, make sure that you remove them first.
• Next, spray on disinfectant on the surface. Make sure that that area is completely covered with the liquid. This includes the underside handles of the doorknob, and the whole surface of your light switch. Let the product sit on the surface for at least a few minutes, and make sure it stays during that time. Scrubbing the area will not be needed.
• Lastly, once you’ve let the product sit for a while, you can now wipe it away with a dry and clean cloth. Let it air dry naturally.