<3 Thanks @Oro It’s tough not to be worried for her, but I don’t think worry is what she needs from me right now so I’m just being FUN 
which is very appreciated by her but a challenge for me because I <3 her and also she’s so high risk and I know she must be…you know, thinking about that too. Ah well, I guess I’ll just keep sending her dirty limericks and pictures of guys I think are hot.
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You are a Good Friend. 
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I wiped mine down with a bleach mix? (Obviously wiped with a dampened cloth, not… submerged.)
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I have a couple of basic kitchen cleaners in spray bottles, one is Lysol and the other is 409 brand. They both say “kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria”. Do you have anything like that?
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I do have a kitchen spray. Thanks!
@diapasoun Good to know! I have some bleach but not a ton, so I might save that in case I need it for more heavy duty purposes. I’m hoping to get some on my next trip to the store but people in my neighborhood Facebook page said it’s out of stock around here.
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I am on the green team at work and one of my coworkers suggested sending out a bulletin to reduce single use items. They were swiftly told that during this time people are concerned for the health and safety of their families and we did not want to promote any content that could contradict that.
So we are focusing right now on other ways to reduce carbon footprint (alternatives for recycling and donation, etc.). I think that the gains that were made will come back rather quickly because the road has already been paved and people are upset they cannot use their reusable bags and items.
I wish I had a better answer but I think promoting the reduction of single use plastic right now is not the best for our community considering the alternative. I am sure after this there will be a bigger push for the positive environmental impacts of reduced driving, outdoor exercise, etc. Or at least I can hope.
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I’m not wiping down groceries, it just… feels like too much for me and we don’t have wipes so I have to use strong bleach spray which makes the house smell awful.
I am changing clothes when I come in from outside, washing hands immediately upon arriving home, not going to any stores (everything delivery) and covering my hands with the ends of my sleeves when I have to touch door handles to leave the building or cross the street (when I go running). I am not wearing my n-95 mask when I run, because I like to breath when I run, but I am avoiding people.
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Everyone hated disposable straws when disabled people said they needed access to them for safety and health…
But then when able-bodied people need them to stay healthy, suddenly single use straws are all the rage again.
</ shade>
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Of course everyone needs to do what their mental health allows/needs, but I am not wiping down groceries. My sister on the other hand? Oh yeah, she’s wearing gloves in the store, wiping everything down, removing clothes and showering immediately, all of it. As much as possible she’s staying home, but she did all of these things today when she had to get groceries. I also live in a much lesser affected area, so perhaps that is making my decisions for me.
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There are a lot of tips if you google it (I think Lifehacker has done stories on it?) Almost any cleaner will clean your phone, but rubbing alcohol is best for not rubbing away the fancy coating on your phone screen.
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I am not sanitizing my groceries either. I am washing my hands a lot. I have re-considered if I will buy salad before this is over - I’m a little concerned about contamination on fruits and vegetables that are eaten raw. Will any virus on them have died by the time it has been processed, shipped, on the shelves and brought home by me? Thoughts?
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I used rubbing alcohol with no ill effects to my phone.
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I am curious, is there reliable info including effective cleaners AND the necessary wet time for action? Because wet time is an often overlooked factor when it comes to sanitation. I’d hate y’all to do all this work but not even be doing it effectively.
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I don’t know about the salad JRA64 but that is an interesting question. I have heard in some reports that it “isn’t a food borne illness” so, maybe okay?
I am also not doing any sanitizing of groceries or changing clothes when coming home. It’s all I can do to get to a grocery store with a list, engage in a nightmarish scavenger hunt for all the substitutes when the preferred items aren’t there, read all the ingredients on the unfamiliar items to see if they are food allergy safe while simultaneously trying to not touch much of anything, dodging other customers to keep a safe distance, paying without touching anything unnecessary, and then getting back to the car. I. Cannot. Do. One. More. Thing.
(In case it’s not obvious, I had to go to the grocery store today and now I’m at work…still…because there is an epic ton to do and only two of us to do it).
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We’ve been wiping down groceries but
- We have a couple containers of disinfecting wipes
- We’re not really leaving the house much at this point anyway so that’s our biggest point of concern right now
- We’re doing a “best as we can” level and accepting that it’s not perfect. It’s an over abundance of caution but it helps me feel like I’m kind of in control of something, so, whatever.
I’m trying to channel the rest of my anxiety-energy into keeping my preschooler entertained, sufficiently exercised, and not bothering me when I need to be focusing on work. Apparently that translates into buy a shitton of snacks the last time I was at the store (also the last time I was out of the house other than exercise). I had a loose grocery list just to give myself some structure but I also did meal planning on the fly once I was actually in the store and could see what was available (pork chops became two dinners of marinated pork chops with vegetables on the side, some of the last packages of ground beef and egg noodles prompted me to look for the last of the regular fat sour cream for stroganoff, etc.)
Wednesday I need to take Kiddo to medical appointments that can’t be put off. The appointments have already been rescheduled because the offices are spacing out patients. I’m planning on calling them when we’re in the parking lot and waiting in the car instead of taking my small child (with no sense of germophobia) into a waiting room. At that point it will be breaking a two week quarantine and three weeks of our own shelter in place since we were doing it before it was cool, I mean mandated.
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Feeling shitty for a co-worker whose husband is not coming anywhere close to pulling his weight in this “everybody’s home” world.
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Why yes there is, and YES wet time is hugely overlooked.
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We are wiping down groceries to an extent:
- Anything that doesn’t need to be used for a few days and isn’t perishable just sits in the entryway until it’s needed.
- Things like cereal/cream cheese are getting opened and removing the (clean) inner container.
- Things that can be easily transferred like cheeses are getting moved into a new container.
- Everything else (e.g. milk) is getting wiped down with a wipe and letting it sit for several minutes before putting into the fridge. Same with phones/wallets if they’ve been touched on a trip outside.
We only have one container of wipes but we’re using them only on things with no alternative and I think they’ll last a while. My spouse wasn’t thrilled by having to do all this but he was a pretty good sport (we had a ‘clean hands’ person and a ‘dirty hands’ person for things like removing cereal bags from the box)
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We’re using bleach to sanitize groceries: a 1 part bleach in 10 parts water solution will do it; spray and leave wet for one minute. That can be done to most groceries because everything that used to be packed in waxed paper is packed in plastic now. Produce gets washed with soap while I imagine the little virus’ proteins unfolding painfully.
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I was going to post the same thing! Most products have the EPA registration number on their packaging, and it’s an easy way of looking them up.
@AllHat Hope Twinfriend gets well soon! 4 docs I know also have it right now…
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