Cleaning your room after COVID-19 isolation is a personal responsibility you should take seriously.
Self-isolation is important to curb the spread of COVID-19 to our family and housemates. But even after our ART test kits start showing up negative, it is crucial to remain vigilant and take preventive measures so that those around us aren’t at high risk of contracting the virus.
How to Clean Room After COVID Isolation: New COVID Wave in Singapore
On 6 October 2023, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced a new COVID-19 wave in Singapore. It reminded many of us that while COVID-19 is no longer considered a pandemic, it remains a part of our lives. That’s why it’s important to remember how to clean our rooms after COVID-19 isolation.
Depending on the variant and type of surface, the COVID-19 virus can survive on various objects in your home, for a few minutes to up to five days. In turn, you may infect your loved ones unintentionally.
To prevent that from happening, you should take care and learn how to clean your room after getting COVID-19. It should go without saying that these tips apply to how to disinfect your house after COVID-19 isolation too.
How to Clean Room After COVID Isolation in Singapore: Best Practices
1. Prepare Cleaning Tools and Disinfectants
| Chemicals | Time required for the chemical to take effect |
| Accelerated hydrogen peroxide (0.5%) | 1 minute |
| Benzalkonium chloride (0.05%) | 10 minutes |
| Chloroxylenol (0.12%) | 10 minutes |
| Didecyldimethylammonium chloride (0.01%) | 1 minute |
| Ethanol (70%) | 10 minutes |
| Iodine in iodophor (50 ppm) | 10 minutes |
| Isopropanol (50%) | 10 minutes |
| Povidone-iodine (1% iodine) | 1 minute |
| Sodium hypochlorite | 5 minutes |
| Sodium chlorite (0.23%) | 10 minutes |
Before getting down and dirty, prepare the essentials such as the different types of disinfectants and cleaning agents. Use disposable gloves and masks to protect yourself from inhaling toxic fumes.
2. Air Your Room for a Few Hours
If you spent a week in an air-conditioned room to stave off the fever, it’s time to open your windows and air your room. You want to let the ‘dirty’ air out and let fresh oxygen circulate. Switch on the fan and point the fan towards your windows.
You may want to keep your room door closed when you’re doing the initial airing out of your room.
When you start cleaning, keeping windows open and ensuring the airflow is unblocked is advisable. The use of disinfectants in an enclosed room can cause noxious gases to accumulate. The smell can be overwhelming and toxic and may affect your health.
3. Wash Your Bedsheets and Clothes Immediately
The COVID-19 virus can linger on bedsheets, linen, and clothes for about two to three days. Once you’re fully recovered, place your infected laundry, sheets, and towels into the washing machine immediately and wash them.
It is also important to note that the infected clothing should not be mixed with clothing belonging to the rest of the household members.
Fabrics or objects like soft toys that cannot be washed should be wiped down with a disinfectant spray. Sunning the items also helps.
Ideally, you should have used a mattress protector when you were ill (if not, it’s a good practice to have!). You can wash your mattress protector together with your laundry.
4. Disinfect ‘High Touch’ Surfaces and Floors in Your Bedroom
Once done, it’s time to focus on mopping the floors and other various hard surfaces. Fill a bucket with a disinfectant solution, preferably with the active ingredients listed above.
Start by vacuuming or sweeping your floor, and then mopping the room you used to self-isolate. Once done, switch on your fans and allow the floor to air dry.
Next, soak a piece of cloth in a disinfectant solution and wipe down the surfaces you’ve come into contact with. This includes your headboard and ‘high touch’ surfaces such as light switches and doorknobs. Take note of the contact time according to the table above.
At this point, you can gather all the trash and tissues you’ve used into a trash bag.
5. Clean Your Bathroom
Next up, bathrooms. Bleach is often used in bathrooms to clean areas such as the sink, faucet, toilet bowl, and floor trap. Toothbrushes and body scrubs should be disposed of and replaced with new ones.
For items that cannot be disinfected or washed, avoid using them for at least three days after you’ve recovered.
6. Dispose of Trash and Items Used During Disinfection
Once everything has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, dispose of the gloves, masks, pieces of cloth, and other items used during the cleaning process with your trash. The clothing used while disinfecting should be washed or disposed of immediately. Double bag and seal all the waste and throw it away.
The clothing used while disinfecting should be washed or disposed of immediately. Wash your hands thoroughly to get rid of any residual cleaning agents or disinfectants.
Congratulations, you are now done disinfecting your house!
Feeling Overwhelmed? Contact Sendhelper
Not feeling up to task following through with the steps on how to clean your room after COVID-19 isolation in Singapore? You can always get help from services like Sendhelper.
Sendhelper is a professional home services brand provider that can aid you in managing your home. From providing home cleaning to running tasks and errands, you can easily book a reliable provider through the Sendhelper app.
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