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Every day we encounter bacteria – a lot of it to be exact. Some bacteria is good for us and helps us improve our immune system so that we can fight off common illness and remain relatively health. Other bacteria is far from good for us, in fact, it is downright bad for us. You may think, “I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer, I’m fine.” Or you may think, “I mop once and vacuum once a week, my house looks pretty clean so I’m sure its fine.” Unfortunately, if you are wearing your shoes inside your home, your home may be FILLED with bacteria, and it isn’t all the good kind of bacteria.
We all want to breathe cleaner, more fresh and safe air, especially in our homes. Many of us wonder what exactly is lingering in our HVAC system and, if we have never had it professionally cleaned, is it truly producing the kind of quality air we want ourselves and our family to be breathing? Your HVAC system has a lot of parts to it and they can be (and should be, routinely) cleaned in a variety of ways. Your HVAC system has coils on it that should be cleaned routinely so that they can efficiently produce quality air for your home. When they are dirty your HVAC system may not run as efficiently which means it will shorten the overall life of the system and may run longer or more often which can lead ot increased utility bills. There are many companies that will clean your HVAC system for you but when you invest in Vapamore steam cleaner for your home, you can also clean your HVAC coils safely and effectively.
Retirement homes, rehabilitation and long-term care facilities all are posed with the task of maintaining a certain quality of living for their inhabitants. Regardless of what life occurrence or stage of life has prompted an inhabitant to live in a care facility of some sort, everyone wants to live in a clean and safe environment. And, those that run care facilities want to provide just that but it can be challenging with multiple individuals dwelling in one place to safely clean surfaces on a regular basis and keep things disinfected to prevent the spread of disease and illness.
We all rely on our refrigerator to keep our food cold and safe to eat. We use it every day and, with such frequent use, it gets dirty. Various foods and substances may spill in the refrigerator and, if not rapidly cleaned up, will harden and become difficult to clean. Nobody looks forward to cleaning their refrigerator but it should be done often so that your refrigerator looks nice, smells good, and is sanitary. But, when it comes time to clean to clean your refrigerator, the last thing you should do is reach for the chemical cleaning products. Chemical cleaning products should not be used on or near food because they may seem into the food you are eating and then be ingested, which is not healthy. Additionally, most refrigerator manufacturers advise against the use of chemical cleaning products. Because nobody has tie to soak trays, shelves and drawers all day, or painstakingly scrub and try to remove caked on food without damaging the refrigerator, the best way to clean your refrigerator is with a steam cleaner. Don’t worry, at Vapamore we make it easy for you – follow the 5 steps below to easily and safely clean your refrigerator with steam.
We have all heard of the “5 second rule” and many of us have probably used it. The 5 second rule applies to dropped food (especially food we really want to eat) and the “rule” states that if it is on the floor for less than 5 seconds it is safe and acceptable to eat. We may not do this as much in public places where the floor seems dirty but are probably more apt to do it in our homes where the floors are relatively “clean.” The problem is – the floor in your home may be far dirtier than you realize, especially if you wear your shoes inside your home. The shoes you wear outside that walk all over the sidewalk, parking lot, offices, schools and other places you visit in a day pick up germs, bacteria, fecal matter and more and if you wear those shoes inside you transfer all of that bacteria to your home’s floor. But, even if you do not wear your shoes inside, just by living in your home there will automatically be bacteria on the floor. Bacteria can transfer to dropped food in just one second so ultimately – the 5 second rule is not really a rule at all.
Biofilm – you may not know what it is but you know it does not sound good. If you have been using chemical cleaning products in your home you may not even realize that surfaces may already contain biofilm. Biofilm is often invisible to the eye (or may be pink in color) but, make no mistake, it is there, and it is not good. CleanLink describes what biofilm is and why it is so concerning, “The film left behind from cleaning products can be a growth medium for microorganisms, a particular problem in moist places. This results in layers that are hard to clean. Biofilm is where microbes establish a colony, similar to slime on a rock or plaque on teeth. “Biodegradable means that microbes feed on it,” says Rathey. “So those residues can actually feed microorganisms.” What’s more, once biofilm becomes entrenched, it becomes very difficult to remove. “Biofilm protects all these living organisms,” says Hicks. “It’s kind of like putting plastic wrap over something.”’
A hospital is supposed to be place a healing and safety. But, what happens when the place you go to get better actually poses its own set of risks to your health? Unfortunately, this is the reality that the healthcare world is facing. Increasingly, hospitals and healthcare facilities are having to deal with patients that acquired an infection such as Staph or MRSA, not from the outside world but from right inside the healthcare facility. There is a reason that doctors, nurses and hospital staff take hand washing and disinfection of surfaces and instruments very seriously, they are dealing with very sick, sometimes contagious patients and infection can spread quickly without the following of proper protocols.
Turn on the news and you will hear about a food recall due to potential bacterial contamination. It seems like it is a constant problem and that is because it is. Food processing facilities have a love of moving parts, tiny mechanisms, organic matter (food), moisture, cold temperatures that foster bacterial growth and more. In essence, it is veritable breeding ground food bacteria. It is no wonder that cleaning and sanitation is a constant problem that must be vigilantly managed for food processing facilities. Food Safety Tech explains how bacteria gets introduced to a wide range of foods and why that makes proper sanitation in food processing facilities so important, “Caramel apples, ice cream, packaged salads and frozen vegetables were responsible for sickening dozens of people and killing more than 10.
Ask just about anyone what comes to mind when they think of public restrooms and the answer will probably be words like “gross” “disgusting” “germy” and “nasty.” Some public restrooms are better maintained than others but the reality is, multiple people using a restroom in one day is bound to lead to some germs being spread. Mental Floss elaborates on just how dirty public restrooms are, “To understand the bathroom environment, researchers examined the microbial makeup of the floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers at four different restrooms—two female and two male—at San Diego State University. First, the brave researchers cleaned the bathrooms; then they took samples from the various surfaces, first hourly and then daily for eight weeks.