HELP? Clean up after stomach flu, without bleach?

[Earthmummy07]

4/5 of us are out with stomach flu. Or atleast, we're recovering now. But my anxiety is having difficulty with the germ aspect. We can't use bleach because it triggers DH's asthma to even take the lid off the bottle.

We have a steam cleaner I can use for the surfaces, but laundry? I have Benzalkonium chloride disinfectant but I know that doesn't work great on norovirus, if that's what we have. Just wash everything superhot and hope it all survives? DH managed to hit the diaper stacker we keep blankets and burp cloths in, so there's hand crocheted real wool in there :(

I can't get out for anything so limited to what I have in the house, but don't want to mess it up and cause issues, living with frail in-laws who have escaped it so far

[MaySunflowers]

Stomach bug viruses only live on surfaces for about 24 hours. So if you aren't having people over the bug will clear and regular cleaning will suffice.

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[Earthmummy07]

We aren't having people over but do live with DH's parents who have health complications. We only share certain areas of the house and the 'mess' was contained to 'our' area, but I don't want to go tracking the germs all over, and we share laundry facilities so I don't want to go germing up the machine.

But I grew up in a germ phobic household and honestly have no idea what the 'normal' amount of concern is over this. My instinct is to kill it with fire and rebuild the house :shifty

I googled and apparently some stomach viruses can live for 12 DAYS on soft surfaces. Im not sure whether it's a good thing or not that I found that out :/

[Little Forest]

Isopropyl alcohol ("rubbing alcohol") will kill the virus without the same fumes as bleach. A lot of normal household cleaners won't.

[mamacat]

Can he tolerate peroxide? I use that instead of bleach for cleaning. You cn make a spary bottle of water and a squeeze of dish soap and then a tablespoon of peroxide

[Aerynne]

Do you have a dryer? If so for laundry just dry until it’s hot. You could also iron things in all your spare time. :giggle I second peroxide. Or here you can get antibacterial wipes that aren’t bleach. So not crunchy but I use them sometimes. I’m not sure if they have them over there, though.

[Soliloquy]

But I grew up in a germ phobic household and honestly have no idea what the 'normal' amount of concern is over this. My instinct is to kill it with fire and rebuild the house :shifty



I think your level of concern is outside of normal. If you live with other people, they're going to be exposed. That doesn't mean they'll get sick but there's no reasonable precaution that will eliminate exposure for members of the same household. :hug

Washing with hot soapy water rinses germs away. They need some sort of base to start multiplying. Body oils usually suffice and they're washed away with normal cleaners or even vinegar. Soft surfaces, like pillows, can be washed in hot water and dried on high heat.

Vomit itself isn't usually contagious except for diseases that are airborne anyway. Noro virus is airborne, for example. So sanitizing surfaces wouldn't eliminate the risk.

I'm the vomit cleaner upper in our house and I rarely get sick from doing that. I don't wear gloves or use anything germicidal.

[Maedchen]

YOu said you are limited on getting out and have to use what is on hand.

Vinegar is great for cleaning. (Straight or diluted) I throw about 1/2 to 1 cup in the laundry to clean and get rid of smells. (The pickle smell goes away when dried. and it is a natural fabric softener.)

Lemon Essential oil or Grapefruit essential oil
or
Rubbing Alcohol
or

Peroxide

if you have Thieves essentila oil, that is great.

Wipe down common points of contact (door knobs, remotes, light switches and faucet handles as well as stove and fridge...............that should help keep your in-laws a little safer and from you all reinfecting yourselves. Don't forget to get new toothbrushes for the family.)

I hope you feel better quickly!

[Virginia]

When DH has the flu, I sprayed thieves oil cleaner on everything he touched— remote, fridge handle, light switches, his phone and iPad :shifty

I never caught it.

You said “stomach,” though, so I am guessing you had a stomach virus, which isn’t the same as the flu, although I’d imagine similar tactics would work :heart


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[Quiteria]

I clean doorknobs and switches with rubbing alcohol, and wash laundry with Oxyclean mixed with vinegar. I'm not sure what the brands are where you live...it's basically hydrogen peroxide in powdered form. Sodium carbonate? You can't use it on wool or silk, though.

My dryer has a sanitize setting that advertised 99.9% effectiveness, so I'm going to guess that you could get the same results with any dryer on hot if you make sure that everything is thoroughly dry and hot. Maybe add 20min on a timed dry after a normal cycle.

[ValiantJoy07]

Stomach bug viruses only live on surfaces for about 24 hours. So if you aren't having people over the bug will clear and regular cleaning will suffice.

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That is not true of most stomach bugs, particularly noro can survive for 2+weeks of surfaces.:sick


That said wool is antibacterial, give it a wash the way you would for a leaked poop and try to get it in the sun.
Clorox disinfectant products (spray and wipes) say they are 99% effective against noro virus. Wash everything on hot with extra detergent and dry on hot if possible.
Stop the Stomach Flu .com has a list of cleaners she has tested.
She found in her tests Lysol also works at cleaning bacteria as well as bleach if you saturate the surface in the solution.

Just wipe and spray down as best you can.:hugheart

I hate stomach bugs, I had several terrible ones multiple times a winter growing up partially due to undiagnosed food allergies (weak gut) and partially due to the fact that My Mom was kind of lax about cleaning up from them and didn't teach good hand hygiene (which is number 1 in prevention, wash your hands after dealing with puke or poop and before you eat with warm soapy water).
Understanding how they spread (saliva, airborne ouke, and feces for up to 2 weeks) can keep exposures down. I completely get the "torch the house" feeling. I don't mind puke (it is gross) but I absolutely hate seeing my kids miserable, I empathize. I think I have a bit of PTSD from my bugs as a child, I would get sick 20+times (which was also likely because my Mom didn't have a good understanding that no fluids until 3hours have passed and no food until at leastb 3hours of fluids have stayed down) it was awful.
I go back over everything every 24hours for 2-3 days to be sure someone wasn't sucking on their hands and than touching stuff and once a week as a general rule anyway in cold season (and because everything is always smudgy thanks to toddler).
My main attack mode is to go around the house with bleach wipes. I clean the remotes, door knobs, light switches, the bathroom really well, I wipe down walls where the kids tend to trail their hands (stair wells) any shared handles (fridge, berkey, soap pumps/ sinks, kitchen drawer pulls) and have anyone who hasn't been ill wash their hands before eating and avoid touching their face.
I am the puke and house cleaner and the last 9years have only gotten super ill once (the first bug we ever had both babies had it all over me). I wash my hands, eat some extra garlic on toast (and stick to easy boring foods for a few days) and take activated charcoal if I start to feel ill. We have kept it to just 1or two people for the last 5years.I
The only time it has hit every person was when I didn't clean the house well with lysol (this past December I wasn't using lysol/Clorox cleaners and I have found those gross but most effective next to bleach) though it was mild for most of us (I had a fever and stomach ache for 24 hours but wasn't sick beyond GI symptoms). I
It's not the end of the world, but it does feel like life stops when everyone gets sick like that which isn't a fun feeling. :hugheart

[Earthmummy07]

Thankyou everyone :heart

I steamed everything and washed everything on hot, including the wool blanket which I felt I wouldn't use on him again without feeling like it was completely clean, and it survived pretty well.

Then S threw up all over MIL's carpet after being symptom free for 24 hours, and this morning he has diarrhea :doh

We're snowed in right now, our online grocery order that was supposed to come last night is cancelled, and DH is still too weak to walk to the shops so that just adds another layer of frustration.

[GlacierLily]

Thankyou everyone :heart

I steamed everything and washed everything on hot, including the wool blanket which I felt I wouldn't use on him again without feeling like it was completely clean, and it survived pretty well.

Then S threw up all over MIL's carpet after being symptom free for 24 hours, and this morning he has diarrhea :doh

We're snowed in right now, our online grocery order that was supposed to come last night is cancelled, and DH is still too weak to walk to the shops so that just adds another layer of frustration.

I'm SO sorry!!:hug2:pray4

[2TMama]

Ugggggh:sick
Prayers!!:pray4

[ValiantJoy07]

:hugheart The bug we had in December ds threw up off and on for 6 days. Anytime he ate anything besides a BRAT food we were risking an awful mess. :( He throws up easily though, I can't count how many times I have cleaned up puke in the last year thanks to either a choking incident or car sickness. :-/
:pray4:pray4

[Earthmummy07]

Yeah, both times he's had a stomach bug he's thrown up any time he eats anything but very basic food. He's mostly just having mama milk right now, which is good but providing full calories for two means I am STARVING :giggle

MIL came down with it last night. I feel awful but we tried :( just FIL to go now

[Soliloquy]

:hugheart so sorry.

[Soliloquy]

MIL came down with it last night. I feel awful but we tried :( just FIL to go now

The reality is that whoever had it first was probably contagious for at least a few hours before the first symptom.

When my dh was severely neutropenic (they had entirely destroyed his immune system with drugs and he was still on immunosuppressants) and we were on reverse quarantine, I asked about using germicidal cleaners in the house. They said that people often use those to make them feel better but there's no evidence that they reduce infection in a home setting. Regular cleaning and washing hands when you get home are the best methods. Once someone is exposed to something contagious, they have the possibility of transmitting it to someone else.

I know you feel badly your MIL is sick but it's not your fault. It's just life. :hugheart

If anyone can get to a shop, activated charcoal can drastically shorten the vomiting & diarrhea. Comes in capsules.