Hygiene expert reveals how
to turn bleach into disinfectant simply by diluting it with water - and says
it's important to target 'frequently touched' areas like front doors
·
Hygiene expert Dr Lisa Ackerley, is trustee
of The Royal Society for Public Health
·
She shared advice for using household bleach
as a disinfectant amid covid-19
·
British mum-of-three said it's important to
target areas that a regularly touched
20 April 2020
From
face masks to carrying hand sanitiser, Brits are overhauling their personal
hygiene as part of efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 - but
according to an expert it's equally as important to crank up cleaning at home.
Dr Lisa
Ackerley, who is a trustee of The Royal Society for Public Health, has shared
her advice for using household bleach to safely disinfect surfaces across the
home.
Having over
30 years worth of experience as an authoritative voice on public health, she
has filmed a video demonstrating how just one essential cleaning product can
keep homes hygienic.
She
recommends diluting ten teaspoons of household bleach with 450ml of cold tap
water, to create a disinfectant, which she says you should use on front doors
and 'frequently touched areas'.
Dr Lisa, who as a mother-of-three is also an
expert in the challenges of keeping a busy home clean, begins the clip by
measuring 450ml of cold water into a jug.
Explaining
that it's safest to make the solution in the sink because bleach can be a
dangerous chemical if spilled, she said: 'I put that into the sink and then I
measure out some bleach. This is any typical household bleach that you've got
in your cupboard.
'You
measure out ten tea spoons and then put the lid back on, make sure it's clicked
into place. Give it a little stir and that's your diluted bleach.'
She advises using the mixture on a clean
cloth to clean kitchen surfaces, taps, door handles and anywhere that's
frequently touched.
Dr Lisa
warns that it's important to read the back of the bleach bottle to double check
the surfaces where it shouldn't be used.
She suggests putting the solution into an
empty clean bottle to have the disinfectant ready to go.
Dr Lisa
continued: 'After you wash your hands then you might want to retrace your
steps, to see where you could've touched.
'Those
touch points are where you need to disinfect. That's a bit of a theme
because in the house it's the frequently touched points that are most
important for cleaning and disinfection at this point in the pandemic.
'We might
be tempted to do a massive deep clean and actually that's quite good for the
soul anyway, I'm sure everyone's been doing that. I just had a great big clean
out of my under stairs cupboard for example.
'But what
we need to do is remind ourselves that focusing on the targeted areas, the high
frequency touch points is really important at this particular time.
'So what we
should be doing is thinking about anywhere that we could've touched frequently
and those points need to be disinfected.
'That rule increases the more people there
are in the household and also if some people in the household are going off to
work soon and coming back in.'
Dr Lisa
revealed she keeps notes close to her front door, reminding everyone to wash
their hands when they come back in.
She said
cleaning needs to be cranked up especially in households where many people are
sharing the bathroom and kitchen.
The hygiene
expert revealed many people have contacted her with concerns that they've been
unable to get a hold of their regular cleaning products, while unaware that
they can use household bleach if diluted.
She added:
'The key thing to do is to make sure is that you dilute it properly. We've done
some calculations to take into account all the different concentrations of the
various bleaches that are around, to make sure what we're suggesting is a safe
dilution.
'Bleach in
it's concentrated form is obviously potentially hazardous and you don't want to
get it all over yourself.'
.
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