• About
  • Contact
  • Courses
  • Binder Kits
  • Collaborate
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Organize
  • Projects
  • Lifestyle
  • Crafts
  • Holidays
  • Courses
  • Binder Kits
  • Media and Press
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

Organized-ish

Organized-ish

Progress > Perfection

  • Organize
  • Projects
  • Lifestyle
  • Crafts
  • Holidays

Five Steps To Clean And Refresh Your Home After Being Sick

February 11, 2022 · In: Cleaning

These five steps help you disinfect and refresh your home after you or your family has been sick with any type of contagious virus or infection.

Let’s face it, being sick is no fun. You suffer, your spouse suffers, your kids suffer, and even your house suffers. Those icky germs that started this big ol’ mess are still hanging out in your house just waiting to cling onto someone else.

So as soon as you’re better, it’s definitely time to get to work disinfecting your spaces. These five quick tips will have everyone in your home happy, healthy, and smiling; and you’ll have the peace of mind knowing the virus is kicked to the curb.

  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on Pinterest Share on Pinterest
declutter cleaning supplies

1.  Use disinfecting wipes on Everything.

And I mean everything. Door handles and knobs, kitchen cabinet pulls, appliance handles, light switches, remote controls, ceiling fan pull chains, dresser knobs, electronic buttons, lamp switches, and anything else you might have touched. Wipes are the easiest thing ever to use because there’s no spraying or cross-contaminating with cloths. And they’re super cheap, too, so go wild with them.

how to disinfect your house after being sick

2.  Wash bed linens in hot water.

Strip the bed completely, including mattress pads/covers, pillow covers, duvet covers, extra blankets, and of course the sheets. Wash them in hot water, and if your machine has a Sanitize setting like mine does, this is the optimal time to use that.

bathroom with floating shelves

3.  Deep clean the bathrooms.

More than likely, your bathrooms got a little more use than normal. (Sorry, I know that’s gross, but we’re all adults here.) Give your bathrooms extra special treatment and really clean them well. Wipe down the counters, drawer and cabinet pulls, clean the shower and toilet with heavy duty disinfectant, and wash the shower curtain. Be sure to mop the floors really well, too.

And don’t forget to use those disinfecting wipes on the door knobs and light switches in here, too. Also be sure to either sanitize your toothbrush in boiling water or replace it altogether. Here’s my tutorial for deep cleaning a bathroom.

declutter catch-all bin

4. Clean items used during your down-time.

This is especially important if your kiddos were sick, too. Those action figures and Legos your son played with to keep his mind off his stuffy nose probably has sick germs all over them. Things like this can be washed on the top rack of the dishwasher (in a baby bottle basket, preferably) on the gentle cycle. tuffed animal your daughter just couldn’t let go of really needs a quick bath in the washing machine if possible. If not, at least spray it down with a kid-friendly disinfectant.

As for adults, wipe down pens and pencils used for crossword puzzles and your cell phone/tablet/laptop. They were there with you during the time you were most contagious, so they are just begging to get you or someone else sick all over again.

Havenly living room design review

5. Open the windows to let in fresh air.

There’s nothing worse than stuffy air, especially if you’ve been cooped up in the house in bed for days. Open up the windows and give the house a good misting with an odor killing spray like Febreze Air Effects or a similar product. This helps clear the yucky air and gives the house a nice fresh start. The extra sunshine also helps boost your mood and will make your home (and your family) feel a little refreshed.

how to refresh your house after being sick

One Extra Tip:  Add some fresh flowers. 

They’re the ultimate room brightener. I’m currently obsessed with orchids because they last three to five weeks, versus a regular bouquet you grab from the grocery store. And they only require a couple of ice cubes a week to keep them watered. Perfect for serial plant killers like me!

Need A Weekly Cleaning Schedule To Stay On Track?

You can plan your daily, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal cleaning schedules using the Organized-ish Binder Kits. These planners were made for real people with busy lives and jam-packed to-do lists. They help you organize all your cleaning lists, family information, and home details that you’ve been trying to store inside your head. Shop the Organized-ish Binder Kits here.

Updated February 2022. Original post March 2017.

  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on Pinterest Share on Pinterest

By: Lela Burris · In: Cleaning · Tagged: clean, cleaning, disinfect, refresh, sick

you’ll also love

Lela Burris Spring Cleaning Tips10 Things To Do At Home To Kick Off Spring
space saving clothes hangers for small closet100 Ways To Get Organized
manage tv recordings10 Organization Quotes to Live By

Get Blog Posts In Your Inbox

Every Saturday morning I send out a weekly recap of all the new blog posts. Want in?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. K Kuchiya says

    March 27, 2019 at 5:50 am

    Deep cleaning the bathroom, is for me, the biggest tip one should learn from this article. Maybe if I had done that after my wife got better from a stubborn throat infection, I would not have fallen sick shortly afterwards.

    Reply
    • Lela Burris says

      March 27, 2019 at 10:35 am

      So true! Sometimes we forget that bacteria can hang around way longer than the actual sick bug. Just touching a light switch can send that bug all over the whole family again.

      Reply
  2. Macs says

    November 16, 2017 at 1:42 am

    Disinfecting should be part of your usual cleaning routine, whether or not anyone at home is sick. But yeah, it is most important after someone is sick. Great post. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips that some may not able to look out.

    Reply

Leave A Comment Cancel reply

Next Post >

First Look At The New Customized Notebook Collection From Erin Condren

Primary Sidebar

Meet Lela Burris

Meet Lela Burris
hey-o!

My name is Lela, (say it like LEE-luh) and I'm so glad you stopped by my blog! Whether you're into organizing, home improvement, crafts, or you just think my pets are cute, you'll find all kinds of inspo here.

Tell Me More!

Connect

Get VIP Emails

Search

Shop My Planners

printable planners for home organization

Get Organizing Advice

lela burris organiziedish

Follow Along

@lelaburris

Family isn’t defined by dna, it’s built on lov Family isn’t defined by dna, it’s built on love. Happy Father’s Day to the greatest man I know @___inteebe___ ❤️
He met this four year old little dude who was sick on the couch clutching his Lightening McQueen car. Soon after, Noah told me in the car “Mommy let’s stay friends with him, ok?”
So we did. And here we are ten years later. Nothing makes my heart more full than seeing these two together.
…Except when they gang up on me for asking [dumb] questions about superheroes… 😅
Happy Father’s Day Nigel!
Let’s talk about organizing overwhelm. Yep, we a Let’s talk about organizing overwhelm. Yep, we are going there…
As exciting and freeing and calming it is to get a space cleaned up and organized, it’s also stressful and overwhelming and exhausting. Especially when you’re doing big projects.
After three weeks straight of working on my garage, I was reaching the point of burnout. I got behind on other things, I constantly felt like I wasn’t doing enough, and my to-do list kept getting longer.
If you’re feeling this way today, I want you to give yourself permission to do these two things:
1. Take a break. It is ok to pause a project and take some chill time. Log off of social media, stop looking at your list, and just recharge.
2. Remove things from your list. You might have planned a huge project, but after a while you start losing enthusiasm. At that point, let some plans go. Save them for later in the year, or maybe even never. Projects should be flexible, not set in stone.
What’s something on your to-do list you can let go of today to save you time and stress?
#organizingtips #lifeorganized #momquotes #lifequotes #frontporchdecor
New colors, who dis?! 😍 The summer collection o New colors, who dis?! 😍 The summer collection of @organized.ish Printable Binder Kits just dropped and I am OBSESSED with the Cardinal Hill color option.
Check out the new colors, new website, and new planner available (psst: it’s a Garage Cleanup Planner!) at organizedish.com
#organizedishbinderkits #printableplanner #plannercommunity #planneraddict #plannerlove #plannerjunkie #homemanagementbinder
Meet my organizing dream team! [AD] Every organiza Meet my organizing dream team! [AD] Every organization project I do is different, but one thing stays the same...these five tools from @HARTtoolsUSA.
Whether it's a single drawer, a small closet, or a whole garage, these five tools are with me every step of the way. Head over to my blog post to find out how I use them and snag links to my fave go-to's.
#doitwithHART #homeorganization #organizationgoals #organizingtips #organizinghacks #organizationideas

Footer

Browse By Category

  • Organize
  • Projects
  • Lifestyle
  • Crafts
  • Holidays

Get Organized-ish

  • Courses
  • Printable Planners
  • Shop My House
  • Amazon Faves

Blog Info

  • Contact
  • Media and Press
  • Disclosures
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Organized-ish LLC © 2022 · Theme by 17th Avenue