Of course, in rubbing a surface or drying it afterwards, your cloth naturally takes away plenty of harmful organisms, though it does nothing to stop those it leaves behind. Boiling water kills germs, but until you can have a heat-resistant robot do your housekeeping, this isn't practical. A hand-held steam machine is a tool you can use now to kill germs, but again, it's not practical for all situations and surfaces.
The simplest way to kill germs is to choose cleaners with built-in disinfectants. Use them on all the high-risk spots in the kitchen and through your home. Most kill more than 99 per cent of harmful micro-organisms in the house. But they don't do it in a split second. You must leave the solution in contact with the surface for the time it says on the bottle -three to five minutes is typical. Otherwise, you're just cleaning, not disinfecting.
You can make your own disinfecting solution with bleach and water. The traditional choice is chlorine bleach, which actually contains sodium hypochlorite, not chlorine. It has that swimming-pool odour and quickly takes the colour from any carpet and clothing that it splashes on. Oxygen bleach, which contains hydrogen peroxide, is as strong as chlorine bleach but colour-safe for most fabrics and carpets. Some companies now make versions that have a pleasant fragrance - no bleach smell. But no matter how nice it smells, bleach remains a skin and eye irritant so be careful when you use it. To make a solution for worktops, sinks, and floors, add 60 millilitres (ml) (4 tablespoons) of bleach to 5 litres (1 gallon) of water. To make a soaking solution to disinfect dishcloths, mop heads, and so on, add 20ml (11⁄2 tablespoons) of bleach to 5 litres of water. If you're soaking overnight, 10ml (2 teaspoons) of bleach is sufficient. Remember, any diluted bleach cleaner only lasts a day, so don't make more than you need.
