A no shoes in your home rule is more important now than ever before. It’s so easy to enforce yet so often gets forgotten. You and you’re family head off to the shops, the local cafe or do the school pickup. You arrive back home, usually carrying something, walk straight into the kitchen and put the kettle. Washing your hands should be priority number one — but have you forgotten something else?
You forgot to take your shoes off!
That’s right, the first thing you should have done, after walking through the front door is remove your shoes. Its never been more important. Your hands and shoes are the main way you make contact with the outside world. You use your hands on door handles, gates, checkout keypads and lifts. So it makes perfect sense to wash them when you get home, before you touch anything! Your feet come into contact with every surface space you walk on. It’s therefore just as important to take your shoes off, even before you enter your home if you can.
The science
Bacteria and viruses can live on hard surfaces, such as shoes and pram wheels, for many hours, even days. E.coli, meningitis, diarrheal disease, germs and parasites are all commonly found on our shoes. Even the coronavirus, COVID-19 is thought to be able to live on hard surfaces such as shoes. Fecal-borne bacteria and other viruses can also cause gastroenteritis.
Keeping floors and surfaces clean
Bugs can live on your floors and in your carpets for long periods. Some can be permanent residents. Your carpets can be as dirty as the street outside if you fail to keep them clean. Regular vacuuming and mopping is good practice. A hard surface such as ceramic tiles and wood flooring are relatively easy to disinfect and keep clean. Carpets can be more difficult to clean thoroughly without the correct equipment. However, carpet cleaning equipment is widely available for hire from reputable outlets.
Professional carpet cleaning kills bugs
Its probably no surprise that professional carpet cleaning systems are much more efficient at killing harmful bacteria and viruses. A multi stage cleaning process is carried out following a survey of the area to be cleaned. The stages are as follows;
- Clearing loose debris and soiling through pro-grade vacuuming
- Heat/steam cleaning with hot water machine
- Extraction of waste material right up to skirting
Don’t allow those bugs to settle in your home, kill them before they multiply…
