Recommended Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting Schedules

Ever been at a loss to figure out how often you’re really supposed to clean, sanitize, and/or disinfect certain surfaces in your home? 

We’ll admit that often, we’ve had the same concerns too.

We ask ourselves: How much is too often, and how do we weigh this against rising evidence for the need to expose our children to the naturally occurring bacteria and fungi in the natural environment, as a way to support their developing immune health?

Despite the constant barrage of information that gets fed to our consciousness through social media, television advertisements, and billboard advertisements that seem to instill the fear paradigm in us: that germs are bad, that a sanitized and disinfected home is good, and that sterility is key—all in an effort to combat disease—why is it that research shows the rise of autoimmune diseases in our population by 3-9% year on year, according to the British Society for Immunology?

How could it be that with our advances in medicine, we have indeed reached longer lifespans than any other generation that came before us, but are suffering from poorer quality of life as a whole? 

These are, admittedly, some of the questions we ask that give us reason to pause and reconsider the messages we are given by media and some professionals when it comes to supporting our health. With our collective goal being immune system robustness, and this playing a crucial role to our overall wellbeing, it would be wise, in our opinion, to be more mindful with what information we consume in regard to this.

While new science is constantly emerging, new voices are making their way into the fray, and new evidence is being brought to light with regard to immune health requirements, we for the time being, personally advocate for sticking to simple things: consistent movement, sunlight, and clean whole foods for all, regardless of age.

Spending time in nature, walking in the woods, hiking in mountains, swimming in large bodies of water, even gardening, are all crucial activities that support our immune health as well. By immersing ourselves in as many diverse environments as we can, we train our bodies to adapt to a multitude of microbes that live in these natural settings.

With our more sensitive companions in mind however, such as infants, toddlers, and children, we recognize they need additional support to remain safe and secure in their immediate environment. That being said, we’d like to offer some guidelines for keeping surfaces they touch free from communicable microbes.

Surfaces and objects chosen for this list were covered for their likelihood of exposure to bodily fluids and fecal matter, that children may accidentally swallow. It is by no means comprehensive and any suggestions are welcome in the comments section! 

Our bodies naturally adapt to fight off stressors in the environment, and exposure to those stressors first would be necessary in order to do so, which is why spending time outdoors in nature, simply breathing in the trillions of flora that surrounds us is probably one of the best things we can do for our body’s healing capacity.