Sanitizing homes, and surfaces repeatedly have become a regular practice in the pandemic era. The chore is more important, especially when sharing a home with an infected person as the virus is in circulation and often family members have to use the same washroom and kitchen. Although a lot of disinfectants claiming to kill the virus with 99 per cent efficiency went off the shelves how true are they to their claims, scientists went on to unravel.

Researchers from The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia found that bleach, detergent, and alcohol are most parts are effective in deactivating coronavirus containing particles and droplets of respiratory fluids.  

It is one of the first studies to focus its testing on cleaning chemicals typically found in the home to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and holds importance at present as more and more people choose home isolation over institutional treatment for the moderate disease.

Julie McAuley, a senior researcher at the Doherty Institute and lead author of the study published in the latest issue of Viruses by MDPI found that detergent, bleach, and alcohol are highly effective at making SARS-CoV-2 non-infectious, but vinegar does not work at all. The study further asserted even a minimum concentration of a diluted cleaning product is effective in destroying the virus.

How to effectively clean a surface

Dr. McAuley suggests adding 2mL  detergent in 1 liter of water or a similar amount as in cleaning dishes then wipe over the potential SARS-CoV-2 contaminated surface and allow it to dry.

For bleach, as little as 5mL, can be added to 1 liter of water and could be ideal to disinfect bathroom surfaces.

Handwashes that have at least 40 percent alcohol content are ideal for disinfection.

Combining two disinfecting agents like bleach and detergent did not increase the virucidal potential of the new product formed for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 compared to using each component on their own, the researchers found.

In fact, sometimes combining chemicals in an attempt to increase their potency may counteract the effective virucidal concentration of the other chemical it was mixed with.

All products and combinations tested by the researchers can be found in the published paper and are available for the public to be informed about their COVID-19 cleaning behavior.

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Originally Appeared Here