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Working from Home: How to Clean and Disinfect Your Home Office

Many of us are working from home and plan to continue for the foreseeable future, at least part time. That probably sounds safer from a hygiene perspective, so you may be shocked to learn just how unsanitary your home office might be. Researchers at the University of Arizona found that the average desktop keyboard has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. (Yuck!)

Since most of us don’t have a professional cleaning crew coming to our home each evening to empty our trash, vacuum up our cookie crumbs, and wipe down our coffee cup rings, we’ve created this office cleaning checklist for how to clean and disinfect your work-from-home zone!

3-Step Everyday Spruce-Up

Just like your daily cup of coffee, cleaning and disinfecting your work area should be a daily habit. Each day—before you power up or power down—take a few minutes to sanitize these home office areas:

1. Clear the desk

Let’s face it — you eat at your desk, probably multiple times a day. You may be joined for a snack by your kids, spouse, roommate, or loved ones. Take a moment to move everything off of your desk and completely wipe it down with a surface wipe, such as Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipes. Our clinically-tested disinfecting solution is effective against 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, including the COVID-19 virus^ɸ. Clean off not only the top of your desk, but also the drawers and drawer handles, and anywhere else on the desk you touch during the workday. You can also use surface wipes for the hard, nonporous parts of your desk chair. Check the manufacturer guide for cleaning instructions for any cloth or soft materials.

2. Sanitize your laptop or computer keyboard, mouse, and other high-touch desk items

The most high-touch computer items are your keyboard and mouse, which deserve a daily wipedown even if you’re the only one that uses it. If it’s a shared family computer or laptop, you may want to clean it multiple times a day, especially if anyone is prone to snacking while typing. If pets enjoy visiting your home office, it’s even more reason to clean due to the dander and hair floating in the air. In short: make sure you take time every day to give your computer and related accessories a good cleaning.

We recommend starting by using an air can to blow out crumbs and debris from between the keys and all those nooks and crannies where dust and dirt collect. Then, follow up with a gentle wipedown all over your keyboard, mouse, and any other items with hard, nonporous surfaces (desk lamp, framed photos, printer, shredder, stapler, tape dispenser, 3-hole punch, pen holder, etc.) with a sanitizing wipe such as Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipes. Follow the directions on the label to ensure the wipe is safe for your equipment, and allow the surface to air dry according to the product label for maximum effectiveness. Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipes are an efficient option because each wipe is over 60% larger than a standard wipe so you can cover more surface area with fewer wipes. They also clean, sanitize, deodorize, and disinfect in one step. Our proprietary formula kills viruses [1] and bacteria [2] in 3 minutes.

3. Wipe down your computer or laptop screen

Let’s move on to your laptop screen or monitor — or both, as more of us are using multiple screens for efficiency at home. According to CNET.com, your first step should always be to unplug and disconnect your monitor to protect yourself from a potential shock. (They also recommend removing the batteries from your laptop if your setup includes them.) Then, remove all of the dust on the monitor using a clean microfiber cloth.

To disinfect your screen, use a fresh Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipe to gently wipe the screen. Don’t forget to clean the back, sides, and stand of your monitor as well. Use a fresh wipe for each area to avoid cross-contamination. Be sure to allow the surfaces to air dry completely for maximum disinfecting power. If you see any streaks after the screen dries, use a microfiber cloth to remove them.

Side note: What good is a clean monitor if your vision is obstructed with dirty lenses? If you wear glasses, make sure you always have crystal clear views with regular use of Nice ’N CLEAN® Lens Wipes! Our ammonia-free formula is non-scratching, non-streaking, and anti-fog.

Learn More: Wet Wipes: How to Use All the Different Types Available

3-Step Deep Clean Every Week

Everywhere from office buildings to retail stores engage professional cleaning crews to deep clean and sanitize their spaces regularly to help keep workers and customers safe from the spread of bacteria. Once a week, consider taking a tip from the pros and add these three extra steps to clean and sanitize the other areas in your home office.

1. Clean above you

Take the time to wipe off the tops of bookcases, ceiling fans, and other higher surfaces that are often forgotten about. By removing the dust and debris — and any bacteria that may be hiding up there — with a Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipe each week, you’ll breathe better and feel better, too.

2. Clean around you

Do you have any framed pictures on your walls? A whiteboard or message board? Is your workspace near a window with blinds or shades? Once a week, use some Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipes to remove dust, cobwebs, smudges, and stains — not to mention the bacteria that love to breed on frequently touched items, such as light switches, door handles, and remote controls.

3. Clean below you

Whether your home office has carpet, hardwood floors, or tiles, cleaning your floor should be done at least once a week. It should also include wiping down any skirting, vents, or other hard surfaces where dirt, grime, and germs can accumulate. If you snack while you work, or work in a high-traffic area, such as the kitchen or family room, you may want to do this more often.

Make Cleaning Part of Your Work Routine

We know that at the end of a long work week, the last thing you probably want to do is to clean your office. But there’s no reason you have to do it on Fridays. If you want to do these steps on Mondays to kickstart your week, or on Wednesdays to take a break from your work routine, feel free! The key is to make these weekly steps a habit, which will prevent your work area from becoming a breeding ground for germs.

Keeping your home office clean and sanitized is an investment in your health and well-being, so it should be a part of your daily work routine. So stock up on Nice ’N CLEAN® Disinfecting Wipes and set aside a few minutes of “me time” each day to ensure your home office is a clean and productive place to be.

^ɸKills SARS-CoV-2 on hard, nonporous surfaces

[1] Effective against common cold virus caused by Coronavirus and common flu virus caused by Influenza A H3N2 Virus

[2] Effective against Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella enterica (Salmonella), Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria), Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep), Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

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