COVID-19 Information

Updated 5/14/2021

According to the CDC, the chances of contracting the coronavirus due to direct contact with an individual is ½ a percent; however, if the virus is in you home, that percentage goes up by 20 times. This is why the CDC has deemed proper sanitation of your home as essential and, even during lock downs, Maid to Shine was considered an essential business. We have always been here to keep you healthy and safe, but more so now with COVID.

Summary

• We are taking new steps to protect everyone
• We have additional steps we have always followed
• Sanitation is important
• #1 cleaning agent is Soap
• Also effective is 60%-95% Alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, and bleach
• Not effective is vinegar, ammonia, witch hazel, tea tree, vodka

We have had some calls with the concern of spreading of the coronavirus so we thought we would let you know what we are doing and what has been happening. We have ALWAYS preformed safe handling for pathogens; however, we have stepped up our game to keep you worry free.

We also want you to feel safe with someone in your home, so below is what we are doing to keep you and us safe:

What’s new:

• All techs will be washing their hands when they both enter and leave your home. This is on top of already getting our natural soaps on their hands as a benefit of cleaning.
• We already ask sick team members to remain home, however we are being double sure of this as well as giving the office a more heightened judgment to tell staff to stay home.
• We send all staff to get a COVID test if we suspect they come in contact with someone that has the virus and we send them to be tested if they show any signs of COVID.
• If you know you have the virus or suspect you have the virus, make sure we know right away please.
• We ask that you suspend service if you have a fever or show symptoms of COVID-19.
• You can request that staff use masks in your home
• All staff is given ongoing information on where to find vaccination locations
• All techs are spraying down tools and their shoes with a disinfectant at every home
• All office staff are working from home
• Techs refill cleaning solution once a week so people are not gathering
• We now have our fogging service using an EPA certified list N disinfectant

What we have always done and will continue to do:

• Soap is the BEST sanitizing agent for this virus (and many other pathogens). Please read below.
• Our natural sanitizer is derived from natural fir pine needles. It smells like Pine-Sol but it is not chemically manufactured. It is safe for you, but tough on sanitizing!
• All of our rags are only used once. They are then washed and we do not cross contaminate rags on different surfaces.
• We provide gloves to all the techs
• We have always preferred to use your vacuum in order to keep pathogens and dirt from cross contaminating. If we are not currently doing this and you have a vacuum we can use, please call or email the office and we will change your work order ASAP.
• We always sanitize door knobs, light switch plates, and counter tops (high touch areas) on every cleaning no matter what level of cleaning you choose.
• Bathrooms and Kitchens (the areas where pathogens like to linger) are always hand washed. If you would like to add anything else to be hand washed, please contact the office and we can get you pricing details.
• All of our staff are solo teams. This means they do not drive together, they do not share any equipment, and they are not forced to interact with one another. If for any reason there needs to be more than 1 staff member at your home, they drive there separately and they will keep 6 feet apart from each other and you.
• Our office implements a SARS airborne filtration HAVAC system that kills 99% of all bacteria, mold, and viruses which is normally installed in hospitals

We believe that the sanitation we preform is one of the key ingredients to making sure you stay safe. A clean home will keep the coronavirus or any other pathogen from spreading, and we will continue to help you with this. Most clients have either increased their cleaning frequency or remained the same, and we believe that is the best for your safety. Please let us know if you have any concerns or questions.

Soap is an amazing substance. With any microbe, its effects will help you. Bacteria, non-enveloped viruses, and other pathogens, soap will force the microbes to release from surfaces and break water tension, moving the germs to a rag or down the sink. However, envelope viruses are special! The COVID-19 virus (and all coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS) is an envelope virus, which means that it has a lipid (fatty) layer. According to the FDA, soap destroys this lipid layer, stopping the virus from being able to infect you! We highly recommend using soap as your main sanitizing agent.

While soap’s main function is to remove the pathogen, including viruses, from the surface, disinfecting neutralizes the virus where it is at. Our favorite disinfectant is Alcohol. 60% – 95% is needed to stop the virus and only takes 10 seconds of contact time to do so. You must be careful that you have more than 60% alcohol content. Mixing the alcohol with ingredients will reduce its percentage! 91% isopropyl alcohol is perfect. Vodka is usually about 80 proof (40%) alcohol and is worthless! If you are going to use expensive drinking alcohol, you would need something like everclear which is 120 proof (60%) alcohol or higher.

Hydrogen peroxide with a 0.5% mixture rate can be used but must have 1 minute of contact time. A .05% mixture needs 1 cup of 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 6 cups of water. DO NOT mix Hydrogen peroxide with soap! Hydrogen peroxide breaks down the soap.

In a pinch, iodine can be used. 75-150 parts per million (very small amount) is effective in 1-2 seconds of contact time. However, iodine WILL stain whatever it touches.

Our least favorite choice is Bleach. Bleach is toxic and it is the least effective under short periods of time. Look on the back of your Clorox Bleach wipes, it needs 4+ minutes of contact time to kill viruses. Do you let your counters soak for 4 minutes? Most people do not!

Here is the list of items that simply do not work:

• Vinegar, 10% Malt Vinegar has some signs of killing influenza, but not corona family viruses. “[Vinegar] does have acid in it and it has the capacity to damage bacteria and viruses, but it’s not something I would recommend using to prevent the spread of coronavirus,” confirms infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
• Ammonia, ineffective toward envelope viruses
• Witch Hazel – not enough alcohol content
• Tea Tree Oil – has been shown to help cold sores (herpes virus) but not against the corona family
• Vodka (see above), or other alcohol meant for drinking below 120 proof

Be smart, use soap, not chemicals, on your hands, counters, bathrooms, light switches, and door knobs.