do you feel you need to sanitize/disinfect/sterilize when you clean your home ?
 

i am talking about " routinely" - not for catastrophic events.

i am referring to using things like bleach, lysol, antibacterial everything.

things that probably "should" be cleaned between uses are brooms and the brushes on the vacuum cleaner.

No, I do not. Except for toilet bowls and cutting boards.

No, I think too much clean isn't good. We all need a little dirt in our lives. I use bleach for toilet bowls or biohazards on floors. Everything else gets good ol' soap and hot water.

Not only do I not think so, but I think we are hurting ourselves and the environment with all these products.
If you ever look up the ingredients on the labels you won't buy all that stuff. There are plenty of safe products to
use for cleaning and we have most of the ingredients at home.

No. Exposure to dirt and germs is good for our immune systems. I agree that those sanitizing products are overkill and full of nasty chemicals. I can't tolerate bleach at all, and when it's just been used in the locker room or a public bathroom, I can't be in there without feeling sick. Then I smell the stuff in my sinuses for the rest of the day! Yuck.

On a routine basis, only on cutting boards that had raw meat on them. However, I do use disinfectants if one of us has been sick and we are trying not to spread the germs around.

I do the same.

Nope, I don't. My theory is: clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy~~

I totally agree! And I agree that all the germ killing sanitizing chemicals are causing more problems than they are curing. Soap and water and a non chemical cleaner does it for me.

I rarely use bleach anywhere in the house. I use baking soda and vinegar to clean the toilets and a mild solution on Pine-sol/water in a squirt bottle for cleaning everything else. In the kitchen a squirt bottle with a stronger pine-sol mix is used to clean up after handling raw meats.

When Kola the cat was still with us, I used bleach to disinfect her litter box weekly. A gallon of bleach would last a couple of years. Since she has been gone there is no bleach anywhere around here.
I wash Boko's Kong toy in a really hot soapy bath and rinse well.

No, I do not buy bleach. I do buy a septic tank friendly toilet cleaner that I use once weekly. Neither do I buy 'antibacterial' cleaners. The worktops are cleaned with soapy hot water; I put washing soda powder in the kitchen sink drain occasionally - perhaps monthly; windows are cleaned with water, a squeeze of lemon juice or vinegar and a microfibre cloth; hard floor covering in the kitchen and bathroom is cleaned with hot water, lemon juice and a microfibre cloth; sitting room, dining room and bedroom carpets are vacuumed and a carpet shampoo/deep clean machine hired once a year.
Baking soda and vinegar mix will clean the bathroom sink, bathtub and toilet bowl. Microfibre cloths are a godsend - water and the cloth is all that is needed

We sometimes have a programme on TV here, called 'Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners', and they all seem to be keeping the bleach companies in business - they use so much bleach, and every other cleaning product imaginable, and they still are not happy. The programme makes will send them to someone's house who does no cleaning - at all, it is amusing to watch sometimes

No! I have lived without sanitizing everything for 76 healthy years! I think its better for your body. It needs to build up immunity to common bugs without polluting the environment!

charley26, could you share the name of the toilet cleaner you use? I have found that denture cleaning tablets work very well, too!

Hi Kitsie.
It is called 'Bloo Toilet Gel with micro crystals'. It states safe for use in septic tanks, and is made by Jeyes. I am sure it must have some bleach in it though, because of the warnings of skin and eye contact though. Another one I used to buy was 'Parazone', also suitable for septic tank systems. 750ml size bottle, and it lasts a long time because of infrequent use.
Excellent idea about denture cleaning tablets - thanks.

Not daily........because I live alone with one cat. But weekly cleaning includes disinfecting the counter top, appliance fronts and handles,the toilet, light switches, doorknobs, and telephones. Keeping those items cleaned means more to me than a little dust on the furniture. Hopefully the dusting gets done also!

Nope. I clean everything with Norwex clothes and no chemical cleaners,other than the disposable Scrubbing Bubbles things in my toilets.

I use Isopropyl Alcohol 91% that is the strength used to sanitize, like used in Purel. I put it in a spray bottle and use it full strength. I use it for wipe downs during the time between big cleanings.

We don't even use bleach in our washer, one, because we're on a septic system, two, bleach is hard on the fabrics. I don't think I've used lysol, bleach or anything antibacterial in decades. One of the main reasons we have we "super bugs" now, is because they've become "acclimated" to the "antibacterial soaps, etc. We all managed to survive in the past without all the antibacterial stuff. I use just plain old dishsoap for cutting boards, etc.

Vinegar is suppose to clean most things, maybe let it soak if real dirty. You can use baking soda with it as an abrasive.

Clean? Clutter bothers me more. My house has never been sterile. We're all healthy as horses. While it appears clean, I know it's not. I thoroughly clean, not sterilize, for 'events' only.

Bathrooms and kitchen always. I take Methotrexate so always have to be very careful. I am one of the ones you will see with wipes cleaning my grocery cart before using.

I only beach the toilet bowl, everything else gets vinegar or baking soda or hot water and soap. I put my cutting boards in the dishwasher too. I agree with everyone here, we do need some germs in our lives.

I use a little vinegar in the water for the floor tiles. I also use it for the hardwood. Cutting boards and toilet bowls do get sanitizing. I like the house to be clean, sometimes it is hard with the dynamic duo, ( 6 year old twins) so clean enough is what I aim for!

what "bugs me" the most is a dirty dustpan and broom.I make most of my own cleaners due to allergy to bleach(asthma).its amazing how white vinegar kills a lot of germs.

But don't mix them. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. You'll end up with nothing!

No, I don't. There is such a thing as to clean. I use vinegar water and a squirt of soap.

Me too - exactly. Just read the book, I Contain Multitudes, about microbes and bacteria and "the nature of life on earth" and I am convinced this is the better approach.

Guess I'm the odd (wo)man out here. I hate the smell of vinegar, and so does my family. I use Windex for windows, Clorox Gel toilet bowl cleaner, will use a little of bleach water on the bathroom floor if necessary to get rid of urine smell. My dusting consists of furniture polish. During flu season, I like to spray doorknobs with Lysol, but I am not a clean freak. I just like a fresh clean scent, and sometimes that means chemicals.

Now, I do hate a dirty mop, so I love the Swiffer on my hardwood floors. I dry mop them probably 3x/month, and just once a month or so, I use a solution of mostly water and a drop of Dawn in a spray bottle to clean and shine the hardwood floors (which is only in our kitchen). I quickly towel dry it with my feet as I go so that water never sits on hardwood. I hate a dirty broom, too, so I'm forever picking the dog hair clumps off of it. Gross.

I use a diluted Pine-Sol in a spray bottle to clean most bathroom surfaces. However, I rarely use hand sanitizer except when I'm in certain public places that really gross me out.

When my fridge is yucky inside, I wash all the shelves and drawers in hot, soapy water; baking soda for anything stuck on.

No too much actually studies have shown is one of the reasons why we are starting to see a lot of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Dirt and germs are actually how your body builds up immunities so never understand why people go so overboard about it

Not really. I am not a crazy cleaner but I use bleach in the shower and toilet and Pine Sol on the floor. I disinfect the raw meat cutting board and air dry the dishes I hand watch. I have a super filter on the furnace so I get very little dust on anything. If one of us gets sick, I do try to be diligent about cleaning to keep the other person healthy, but that is it.

I use bleach in my bathrooms, kitchen and a small amount in my bedding/towels when I do laundry. I was raised in a pigsty of a house, so I'm a bit nutty about some things. I buy vinegar by the largest jug I can find, usually two at a time. Go through that like water. That said, I throw threads etc on the floor when sewing, and might not dustmop them up for a day or two. I keep my home clean enough that I don't have to clean for guests. I just say "come on over, I'll put the coffee on".

When my girls were little yes every 2-3 days I cleaned from ceiling to floor using bleach, Lysol ect..But I realized I was causing them to get sick easier, I know that may sound silly, because I did this so much they picked up every germ around. My oldest got micro-plasma( a sickness brought back from desert storm) I spent so much time back and froth to the doctors with her and time with her at home I did not get to clean for 2 weeks nothing more than small stuff. I started noticing a change in all of my family and made the change myself. Now I really clean once a week with products that kill germs and when someone is sick. I also clean 20 homes, and have cut down on antibacterial products. I do think these products have played a major role in the decline of my health over the last 10 years. A lot of the disinfecting and germ killing products need to remain wet on counter tops and ect for 13 minutes before they work as they should. I now use a lot of steam to kill germs such as steam mops and the little hot shot steam machines.

I find people who are constantly disinfecting, cleaning, scrubbing, etc. are always the sick ones. And then they complain their children are always sick. No one ever gets a chance to build up an ounce of immunity. Healthiest people are farm people. My grandparents lived into their late 80's and 90's. So did my uncles and aunts.

Nope. I think a little (ok, a lot) dirt is healthier than sterilized rooms.

Rob

i do think there is a difference. between filth, grime, and " recent" , easily cleaned up/removed dirt and mess.

Me and hubby made a trip to doctor today, just short of being admitted to hospital with severe stomach flu. Tested also for another strain, but ok there. The doctor was wearing a mask due to so much going around.

I ask her about the bleach thing when cleaning, and responses I got here. She shook her head, and said their whole clinic is cleaned with bleach every day top to bottom, and she does the same in her own home including their laundry.

I am with her on this.

My New Years Resolution is to clean more, and except for the conditions there is no cure for, Healty living.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!