Clean Enough

Why have we gotten so afraid of germs? Okay, I know no one wants to be sick. But do you really want to live in a bubble? It amazes me that now there is an automatic soap dispenser for your home. We use paper towels to clean our homes, antibacterial wipes to wipe everything. I think we have succumbed to the fear that the advertisers have fed us.

I mean we really do need some germs. And our septic system will not work if we fill it full of antibacterial cleansers and bleach.

I have to admit I keep a little thing of antibacterial hand cleaner in my purse, but I very seldom use it. Is washing your hands with regular old soap and warm water, not good enough? Can we not clean our homes with cleaning rags and vinegar? How can we afford to continue buying all of these germ killing apparatus? With the way prices are rising can we really afford everything that comes out on the market to kill germs.

Here are a few ways I kill germs without breaking the bank and how often I do them.

Wash your hands after sneezing, coughing, touching food, using the restroom or touching animals or their waste. Use clean warm water; apply soap; rub your fingers and hands together for 20 seconds (sing Happy Birthday twice); rinse with clean warm water; dry with a clean towel.

Use the “Sanitize” setting on your dishwasher (if someone is sick).

Use a cloth soaked in vinegar & warm water to wipe down counters and surfaces that come in contact with food. I usually do this at least once a week. Dry with a clean towel.

Wash kitchen towels and cloths in warm water with 1 cup of vinegar added. Line dry, if possible. If someone has been sick I will use hot water.

Clean the toilet by adding 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Scrub with toilet brush and flush. My toilet has never looked better than when I started doing this.

For Christmas my husband got me a steam mop. I love it. I use it to mop my floors, clean my kitchen cabinet doors, blast the mildew off the bathtub; I even cleaned my washer and dryer with it. I don’t know but I would think something that was cleaned with steam would be pretty much germ free. Anyway it’s a lot cheaper than all the cleansers I used to buy. I do still buy some cleansers, if I get a really good deal on them, but I use them sparingly. I can’t seem to get the vinegar to work on glass as well as glass cleaner does.

I guess the main point I am getting at is there are a lot cheaper ways to kill germs than buying all the antibacterial stuff.

I think you still have to do what you can live with, but I encourage you to research other/cheaper ways to clean and kill germs.

Mae