How to Disinfect Your Home After Someone Is Sick

Someone in your house has the sniffles. Or a fever. Or, heaven help you, the stomach bug.

Priority number one is keeping it from spreading to everyone else. Because without quick action, a virus can tear through a household at breakneck speed, and the person doing the disinfecting is usually the last one still standing.

You can't eliminate the risk. But you can stack the odds in your favor. Here's how to disinfect your home after illness: what to use, which surfaces to hit, and how long to leave it on so it actually works.

How Long Germs Live on Surfaces

That's why the stomach bug gets its own section below.

Cleaning vs. Disinfecting: You Need Both

Wiping the counters with soapy water removes some germs and makes things look tidy, and that's just fine when everyone's healthy.

But when someone has the flu or a stomach bug, you want to kill the germs, not bathe them. That's when you call in the howitzers of the cleaning world: disinfectants.

Don't skip the soap and water, though. Dirt and grime form a barrier that keeps disinfectants from reaching the germs underneath. Cleaning is part one. Disinfecting is part two.

1. Clean: wash the surface with soap and water, and rinse.
2. Disinfect: apply the disinfectant until the surface is visibly wet.
   
3. Wait: leave it wet for the full contact time on the label, or the times below for homemade solutions. This is the step everybody skips. A quick spray-and-wipe doesn't kill much of anything.
   
4. Rinse and dry: rinse food-contact surfaces and kids' toys with clean water afterward, then let them dry.
   

What to Use

EPA-Registered Disinfectants

Look for a product labeled “disinfectant,” with an EPA registration number on the label. Check that it lists the germ you're fighting, especially norovirus, and follow the directions, including the contact time. Some products need 30 seconds. Some need 10 minutes.

Vinegar and ammonia are not registered disinfectants. They won't reliably kill bacteria or viruses.

Homemade Bleach Solution

No commercial disinfectant on hand? Mix your own with regular unscented household chlorine bleach and water. Nothing else.

3% Hydrogen Peroxide

The same brown bottle you buy at the drugstore kills many bacteria, viruses and fungi on hard surfaces, according to the CDC. Use it straight from the bottle, and keep the surface wet for at least 1 minute before wiping it dry. It's gentler than bleach and won't leave a chlorine smell. Don't use it for stomach bugs. It isn't reliable against norovirus.

70% Rubbing Alcohol

Rubbing alcohol that's 70% alcohol kills most cold and flu germs, but it evaporates fast. That makes it best for small, hard surfaces like keyboards, remotes, phones and touchscreens. Keep the surface wet for at least 30 seconds. Don't use it for stomach bugs. And don't use 91% or 99% alcohol, which evaporates too quickly to work.

If It's a Stomach Bug

Norovirus is the toughest germ in the house. It can live on surfaces for up to two weeks, it takes only a few particles to make someone sick, and alcohol and hand sanitizer don't reliably kill it.

• Use bleach: 3/4 cup per gallon of water, left on for at least 5 minutes. Or use a product labeled for norovirus.
• Clean up vomit and diarrhea right away. Wear gloves and a mask, soak it up with paper towels, bag it, then clean and disinfect the whole area, not just the spot.
  
• Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Not hand sanitizer.
  
• The sick person stays out of the kitchen until they've been symptom-free for at least 48 hours.
  
• Wash their laundry separately, in hot water, and disinfect the washer afterward. Here's how: Disinfecting Your Washer and Dryer.
  

The High-Touch Hit List

Focus on what gets touched the most. These are the usual suspects, every day while someone's sick:

• Doorknobs and handles, including the fridge, microwave, and drawer pulls
• Light switches
  
• Faucets and sink handles
  
• Toilet seat, lid and handle
  
• Remote controls, keyboards and phones
  
• Counters and tabletops
  
• Bedside tables and bed frames
  
• Kids' toys with hard surfaces
  
• Stair railings
  

More than 200 different viruses cause the common cold, and these are the spots where they hitch a ride from one family member to the next.

Room by Room:

The Kitchen

The kitchen is where people gather, touch everything, and prepare food. That makes it the most important room to disinfect.

• Be a careful cook. The sick person doesn't prepare food for anyone else. For stomach bugs, that means until they've been symptom-free for 48 hours. Even meticulous hand-washing isn't enough to stop norovirus.
•  Whoever's cooking disinfects what they touch: fridge and microwave handles, stove knobs, faucets, drawer pulls and counters.
  
• Run dishes through the dishwasher on the hottest setting.
  

(For a full kitchen clean once everyone's better: 7-Step Kitchen Cleaning.)

The Sick Room

Your bed is the go-to spot when you're sick. But all that time spent horizontal with a bad cold gives germs plenty of time to get comfy, too.

• Kick germs out of bed. Change the sick person's pillowcase every day, especially if you share the bed. Wash all the bedding in the warmest water the fabric allows once the worst has passed, and dry it completely.
• Hit the high-touch spots: the nightstand, the bedposts or headboard, the door handle and the light switch. If the sick person only goes from the bed to the bathroom and back, follow that path.
  
• Use a lined wastebasket for tissues, and empty it at least once a day.
  
• Open a window for a few minutes, if the weather allows, to swap stale air for fresh.
  
• Dust and vacuum every few days. Dust is extra irritating when you're stuffed up.
  

The Bathroom

Bathrooms only get germier when someone's sick. Disinfect:

• The toilet seat, lid, handle and the floor around it
• Sink and shower handles
  
• Doorknobs and light switches
  
• Toothpaste tubes and toiletries the sick person used
  
• The trash can
  

Guard the toothbrushes. Move the sick person's toothbrush away from everyone else's. Once they're better, replace it. You should be replacing toothbrushes every 3 to 4 months anyway, and after an illness is the perfect time.

(More: Easy Bathroom Cleaning Tips.)

The Family Room

The family room is where everyone gathers, and where we go, our germs go, too. We sit on the sofa, chill in the chairs and channel-surf on the carpet, and all of it collects viruses and bacteria.

• Cover the couch. Drape a washable sheet or blanket over the sick person's favorite spot, and wash it often. Put away the decorative pillows.
• Disinfect the remote, phones, keyboards and the doorknobs in and out of the room.
  
• Hard toys and pacifiers without batteries can go in the dishwasher.
  

Don't Forget Your Hands

All the disinfecting in the world won't help if germs ride along on your hands. Wash with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after touching the sick person's things, before eating, and before cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I disinfect my house after the flu?

Clean high-touch surfaces with soap and water, then apply an EPA-registered disinfectant or a bleach solution (1/3 cup of bleach per gallon of water), and leave it wet for at least 1 minute or the label's contact time. Wash the sick person's bedding and towels in warm water.

How do I disinfect after a stomach bug?

Use 3/4 cup of bleach per gallon of water, or a product labeled for norovirus, and leave it wet for at least 5 minutes. Clean up vomit and diarrhea right away, wearing gloves. Wash hands with soap and water, since hand sanitizer doesn't work well against norovirus.

Does vinegar disinfect?

No. Vinegar isn't an EPA-registered disinfectant and won't reliably kill viruses. Never mix it with bleach.

How long does the flu virus live on surfaces?

Up to 48 hours on hard surfaces, according to the CDC.

What's the difference between cleaning and disinfecting?

Cleaning removes dirt and some germs with soap and water. Disinfecting kills germs with a chemical. When someone's sick, do both: clean first, then disinfect.

Keep Going

The germs are gone, and hopefully everyone's feeling better. Keep the house healthy with these related guides:

• Disinfecting Your Washer and Dryer: What to do after a stomach bug hits the laundry.

• How to Clean a Computer: Keyboards, screens and mice, safely.

• How to Clean Your Phone: The germiest thing you touch all day.

• 7-Step Kitchen Cleaning: A full kitchen reset, top to bottom.

• Easy Kitchen Cleaning Tips: Keep the kitchen clean day to day.

• Easy Bathroom Cleaning Tips: A faster, cleaner bathroom.

• Bathroom Mold Removal: The bleach rules, applied to the shower.

• Coming Clean: The Cleaning Guide: Practical routines for every room.

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