Tara D. Garner - The Clean Freak Manifesto

IS YOUR PURSE OR BRIEFCASE CLEANER THAN A TOILET? Chances are, not so much. A recent study found that more than 95 percent of mens and womens bags carried bacterial contamination. Researchers say carryalls pick up unsanitary bugs from bathrooms and kitchen tables and are rarely cleaned. As your bags move around your house, car, and office, they become giant mobile germ hot spots. But theyre just one super-spreader in our daily lives.

No matter how savvy you think you are about germ control, there are likely at least a few germ hot spotslike your purse, shoes, touchscreens, kitchen sponges, even laundry basketsyou might have overlooked. And thats not surprising, even for clean freaks. Our homes may sparkle and shine with no fingers able to write letters in dust, but invisible threats may still lurk. Our rooms may be filled with fresh scents of lavender candles and lemon essential oils, but those germs are still thereenjoying our home as their home.

With the help of The Clean Freak Manifesto , you can show these unwelcome guests the dooror stop them before they even enter. Ready to give the buggers a sanitizing surprise and help your household stay healthy? Lets bring all your disinfecting tools and tricks to the tableand the touchscreens, light switches, doorknobs!

What makes germ control most difficult is that you cant see coronavirus, Salmonella , E. coli , or influenza. But pathogenic, or disease-causing, germs can be alive and thriving on surfaces all around youin your home and on items you bring inside, from that purse or briefcase to takeout dinner and packages delivered. While you cant eradicate every germ in your environment, you can take simple steps to minimize these carriers of ill health.

Clear Expectations

Lets be realistic: youll never erase every germ from your house. Do your best and dont stress! The truth is, not all bacteria actually cause us to get sick. And some exposure to germs is actually good for us, medical experts say, as it helps build our immune systems and keeps us healthier in the long run. Control is your magic word, and opportunity abounds to do just that.

In todays germophobic society, the very thought of germs makes some of us stop and think about bolting to the closest place to wash our hands. By this point, having lived through a pandemic, most of us know how to wash our hands properlywet, lather, scrub (at least 20 seconds, or two Happy Birthday run-throughs), rinse. We may be less clear on which surfaces in our homes need disinfectant attention.

In fact, were often operating on panic-cleaning mode. You hear a news report on the bacteria or virus surface hot spot du jour, grab bleach in hand, follow the moving target to crazy-clean, and decimate your cozy upholstered couch or smart speaker in the process.

Now imagine this: you know how to clean and sanitize the stuff youre bringing into your homemail, groceries, takeoutand the hard and soft items and surfaces already inside. Your plan covers any immediate threat hitting the news headlinesand ones that may come down the road. Cleaning electronics from smartphones to wearable technology will no longer be a mystery. Feeling smart, prepared, and safe, you settle into your safely sanitized sofa and chill.

Your best approach, even if you are the most gung ho of germaphobes: stay calm, understand how germs operate and where they congregate, and form a science-driven plan of attack that works for your real lifeall of which this book is designed to help you do. The Clean Freak Manifesto covers everything you need to know to keep your home truly clean and healthy amid the ever-changing world of viruses and bacteria. Well walk through, step by step, how to safely and sanely sanitize your entire home.

Starting with the basic tenets of cleaning and disinfecting that meet current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) standards, well move into sanitizing all of the hard and soft surfaces and items throughout our homes. If that sounds overwhelming even for a clean freak, dont worry! Youll find help to prioritize the top spots to hit when available time is tight, plus shortcuts and natural cleaning choices to give lots of effective options that work for your needs.

What if no matter what you do, those sneaky bugs break through and someone in the household gets sick? The Clean Freak Manifesto focuses on healthy living and eradicating germs, including measures you can take to keep everyone in the home safe and healthy when a family member is sick. From sanitizing common areas to safe laundry handling, youll know how to stop the spread of bacteria and viruses.

With all of the information (and disinformation) you can find on battling germs, there is one important point I want you to know from the start. All of the cleaning and sanitizing strategies in these pages are time-tested. Ive gleaned them from sources ranging from knowledgeable contacts (both the clean freak and germaphobe variety) to the extensive research I have scoured for my San Francisco Chronicle cleaning column Coming Clean. At the same time, these strategies are also pandemic-perfected, as my usual cleaning routine underwent dramatic changes in the face of new and evolving germs and viruses.

One thing hasnt changed: cleaning and disinfecting are the essential one-two punch for knocking out the germs we can read about in history books and todays nefarious new viruses and bacteria on our homes surfaces. Chapter 1 sets up these two super tools in your healthy living arsenal, so youre ready to dive in to your battle against germs. From there, the skyor the roof in our homesis the limit to controlling germs all through your daily spaces.

The fact that youre holding this book lets me know I am not alone in the quest to step up the usual cleaning and disinfecting routine, targeting previously under-the-radar itemslike my cell phone, shoes, and deliveriesin addition to the usual cleaning hot spots like the kitchen and bathrooms. Were all in this together as clean freaks and germaphobes, united in a vision for healthier households! The ideas and information in The Clean Freak Manifesto can help you make clean living a reality.

LIVING THROUGH A PANDEMIC has opened our collective eyes to a whole new world of germs out thereone that were now seemingly called upon to conquer daily at home and wherever our travels take us. Germaphobes everywhere are on high alert, viewing every surface as a potentially lethal petri dish. Properly sanitizing the various items and surfaces in our homes has become the new mandate for healthy living.

The pandemic may have you wanting to scrub down every surface in your home. But before you empty your local store of its entire stock of bleach, its important to know all of your options for cleaning and disinfectingand how and where each works best. Youre about to get the scoop on how to kick germs out of your home safely and effectivelycopious quantities of bleach not required.