For parents around the valley, the sound of school bells is music to the ears. The kids are back in school and hitting the books, which hopefully means some peace and quiet for you hard working stay at home parents!
While the return of the school year brings some relief, it also presents a problem. With the kids being back in school not only are they coming home with a brain full of knowledge, they are also coming home with the cold and flu virus!
The changing of the seasons is a prime time for kids to get sick. Did you know each year an estimated 20,000 children will be hospitalized for influenza complications?
As you can see children are more vulnerable to these viruses. So what can you do to protect yourself and your family from the cold and flu virus this fall?
Prevention Is Your Best Tool
Stopping something before it happens is always better than addressing it after the fact. This principle applies to stopping the cold and flu virus from entering your home.
One of the easiest things that you can do to stop these viruses from entering your home is to ask your kids to take off their shoes at the door.
The bottom of your shoes are known to carry some nasty bugs. Take for instance C. difficile. This bug can cause watery diarrhea and general pain and discomfort.
- difficile is found in animal feces and the spores can live on surfaces such as a carpet for months!
Here is a list of the other types of bacteria and foreign matter that can be found on the bottom of your child’s shoe:
- E. coli
- Meningitis
- Pneumonia
- Herbicides
- Coliform
- Cold and Flu Virus
For more information on how dirty the bottom of your shoes can be click here!
Wipe Down Everything
If you have small children you know that kids don’t wash their hands nearly as much as they should.
Russell Research for the American Cleaning Institute conducted a survey of students between the ages of 8-17.
Their findings were quite telling. Their study found that kids don’t wash their hands as much as the should for a variety of reasons.
The number one reason being that they don’t have time to wash their hands (43%). The lack of cleaning supplies (19%) and not liking to use school bathrooms (21%) rounded out the top three reasons why kids don’t wash the hands at school.
For more in-depth information on why kids aren’t washing their hands at school click here.
After-School Clean-Up
After your kids get home from school they can continue to spread germs all over the house. A study conducted by the makers of Lysol found the dirtiest places in your home and came up with 32 places with the most bacteria.
Here is short list of the common items that your children can access and their bacteria count:
- Kitchen faucet handle: 13,227 bacteria/square inch
- Bathroom faucet handle: 6,267 bacteria/square inch
- Kitchen floor, in front of sink: 830 bacteria/square inch
- Kitchen countertop: 488 bacteria/square inch
- Toy: 345 bacteria/square inch
- Toilet seat: 295 bacteria/square inch
- Microwave buttons: 214 bacteria/square inch
Click here for the complete list.
Cleaning handles, countertops and light switches with disposal sanitation wipes will do the trick. It’s important to know the difference between sanitizing and disinfecting.
“To sanitize” a cleaning product must be able to kill bacteria within a 30 seconds.
In order for a product “to disinfect”, the cleaning product must be able to kill the bacteria within 10 minutes.
Knowing the difference between the two will help you to develop a cleaning strategy that works for you and your family.
Phoenix Carpet Repair & Cleaning Is Here To Help You Today
In addition to removing shoes and disinfecting frequently used areas, incorporating professional carpet cleaning into your cleaning strategy will help keep the viruses at bay.
Our hot water extraction carpet cleaning service will eliminate all the germs and bacteria that have invaded your carpet. The hot water extraction carpet cleaning system that we use heats the water to a bacteria killing 240 degrees!
Our hot water extraction carpet cleaning service will also eliminate allergens such as dust mites and pet dander!
If your kids have sensitive airways, try our green carpet cleaning service today!
It has all of the same carpet cleaning power that our traditional carpet cleaning products have without the scented cleansers and detergents that could irritate sensitive airways.
Make Phoenix Carpet Repair & Cleaning part of your cleaning team! If you would like to schedule an appointment give us a call today at 602-688-4186!
If you are on the go you can book your appointment online! Give it a try! We look forward to serving you! Have a great day!
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