With the coronavirus pandemic – and hand sanitiser shortage – it is all too easy to panic about germs. But we mustn't let our cleaning and disinfecting spiral out of control; as long as we take sensible and effective steps, it is possible to minimise the risks of the virus living on certain surfaces. One person who can certainly help is Sophie Hinchliffe, aka Mrs. Hinch, the author and celebrity cleanfluencer. With this in mind, I went in pursuit of the Mrs Hinch's best cleaning tips to sanitise your home amid right now.
Before delving into Mrs. Hinch’s excellent cleaning tips (which are valid on an average day, as well as times such as these), it’s worth first reading expert advice about cleaning your home during this time. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has an excellent in-depth guide on how to keep things clean and how to effectively stop the spread of this virus in your home, while the NHS also has an online guide about killing germs in general, and how to clean each specific item.
After reading these, take a look at some of Mrs. Hinch’s most popular cleaning tips for around the home, and get hinching!
Zoflora... Like, Everything
One product Mrs. Hinch seems to rely on more than anything is her Zoflora. Zoflora is a disinfectant which can be diluted or used neat (in certain circumstances), which kills 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. Hinchliffe can't get enough of hers, with boxes and boxes of the stuff (that comes in all sorts of fragrances) packed away in her cleaning cupboard, which she playfully names 'Narnia'. Instagram Stories see the social media star using it all around the house, including using it neat to clean cloths and even her toilet brush.
One of her recent main posts explained how she used the product all around her bathroom. She wrote: "I’ve popped neat zoflora in the toilet brush, poured some down the toilet and plugs, sprayed zoflora (diluted) on all the tiles and wiped those down! And finished off spraying the shower mat with it too!"
In short, she loves the stuff. It is currently unknown whether Zoflora can actively kill coronavirus, but on the brand's website, they seem hopeful, writing: "the science suggests that Zoflora would be effective against this strain, as it is against other similar viruses within the standard 5 minutes contact time."
Unsurprisingly, there's been a bit of a run on Zoflora recently, but you can still buy it in numerous different scents here.
Give Your Fridge A Deep Clean
It's crucial to keep your fridge clean, as this is where the food you'll be consuming during your isolation period at home will live. Being stuck at home for a while is a great excuse to stop putting it off and to give it a good deep clean. It'll keep you busy, as well as keeping you safe.
Mrs. Hinch shared a thorough story on cleaning her fridge, which you can watch here. It involves taking out all the trays, remembering the shelves, and extra tips such as using cotton buds to get into the small areas. The good news is that all you really need for this cleaning-wise is washing up liquid and some warm water. Easy!
Sort Out Your Bins
Bins are some of the most common home appliances to get dirty, which is easy to understand considering what they're used for. This isolation period is a brilliant time to sort this out, and Hinchcliffe's technique is simple, and it allows you to get outside.
You need to take your bin into your garden (or any outside area) for this one, and have handy some Zoflora (of course), a pine disinfectant, a handheld sponge, and a hose where possible (if not, just some buckets of water will do fine). Take a look at Hinchliffe's full story for the exact technique.
In between full deep cleans, she recommends using Fresh Bin Powder, which will keep everything in check.
How To Clean Your Kitchen Hob
Hobs are some of the easiest things to get dirty in your kitchen, and as your at-home cooking is likely to now increase, this is only going to get worse. A daily spritz of kitchen cleaner will suffice for a while, but every now and again, you should go a little further and give it a proper clean.
Mrs. Hinch's technique couldn't be easier, and only includes this Cliff product, and a Minkie cloth. Simply apply, rub around, and rinse off.
Refresh Your Mattress
How often do you turn your mattress or give it a clean, honestly? It's not something we usually remember to do, but it makes all the difference when you do. Mrs. Hinch's technique involves sieving some bicarbonate of soda onto your mattress, leaving it on, and later hoovering it up. You can check out the full how-to on this story.
Disinfect kitchen bits and bobs
After a good germ-killing disinfectant? Mrs. Hinch likes this one by Astonish, which she uses all around her kitchen on things like her chopping board and sink. Check out this story to see how else you can utilise it for a disinfected, clean kitchen.
Bathe those cloths
Don't forget that at the end of the day when your big clean is done, your cleaning tools must now also be cleaned and disinfected. Can you guess how Mrs. Hinch initially disinfects hers? That's right: it's Zoflora. She boils the kettle, fills her smaller side sink with hot water, and pops a cap of neat Zoflora in before leaving it to get to work overnight. Easy, right?!
Disinfect The Remotes (& Your Phone)
Now this one is a biggy. No matter how much we wash our hands or use hand sanitiser, we can't completely stop viruses from spreading if we don't also give some of our most touched items a quick clean too. For at-home working, our remote controls for the TV and mobile phones have to be two of the biggest germ-riddled culprits thanks to the amount we touch them. Mrs. Hinch favours using simple wipes for this task; you can watch her clean hers on this story.
