Due to the coronavirus, some items are unavailable in stores. If there are sick people in your house, it might become important to clean and sanitize more than usual. One convenient method is a product such as Clorox Wipes or Lysol Wipes. However, availability is currently very limited.
One excellent alternative for sanitizing is normal household bleach. The CDC offers guidance on their website. All of the stores I’ve been to in the last few days have had bleach, although there were gaps in the shelf. You probably already have a gallon of bleach on hand for normal laundry needs. If you don’t (or the bottle is getting low), I would recommend adding this to your shopping list.
The first caution is never to mix bleach with ammonia or other cleaners, as deadly fumes can result.
To sanitize surfaces, the CDC recommends one cup of bleach for 5 gallons of water. For smaller jobs, the recipe can be scaled down. For example, for a gallon of water, you would add 1/5 cup bleach. For a quart, you would use 1/20 cup, which is 2-1/2 teaspoons.
The agency recommends cleaning the surface with soap and water, rinsing, and then sanitizing with the bleach solution. Allow the surface to air dry. Try not to breathe in fumes, and keep windows and doors open.
While it’s unlikely that it will be necessary due to the coronavirus, for other emergencies, it’s good to remember that bleach can also be used to disinfect drinking water. The EPA provides instructions on their website. Generally, very small amounts of bleach are used, approximately 8 drops per gallon. The Clorox website also has instructions for sanitizing drinking water with bleach.
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