It takes only a few minutes, but cleaning high-traffic surfaces once a day can make a difference in preventing the spread of infection.
We asked the experts how best to clean our homes during a viral outbreak. After they taught us the proper technique (above), we had a few more questions:
How often should I do this?
Every day. (In between regular cleanings.)
Will wipes work?
Yes. Look for sprays or wipes that promise to kill 99.9 percent of germs.
What if I don’t have cleaning sprays or wipes?
Washing with soapy water should do the trick: a few drops of dish soap to eight ounces of water. Although soap and water will not kill all germs, scrubbing with soapy water should be effective in removing coronavirus and other germs from surfaces.
What’s a high-touch surface?
All those places where you and your family leave a million fingerprints every day. (Clean bathroom surfaces last.)
• Door knobs
• Light switches
• Refrigerator and microwave doors
• Drawer pulls
• TV remote
• Counters and table tops where you cook and eat
• Toilet handles
• Faucet handles
How thorough do I have to be?
A spray and a vigorous wipe should do it, but don’t get lazy here: You want to be sure you’ve gotten all the way around the doorknobs, for example.
“I try not to be neurotic about it,” says Dr. Kryssie Woods, hospital epidemiologist and medical director of infection prevention at Mount Sinai West in New York. “But wash your hands when you get home, and try to clean some of those high-touch areas. That’s good advice even without the coronavirus.”
Do I need to wear gloves?
Gloves are recommended for home cleaning, but if that’s not practical, just be sure to wash your hands before and after you clean.
If I’m using gloves, do I really have to wash the gloves afterward?
Yes, if you’re going to reuse them. (Use separate gloves for the bathroom and the dishes.)
Once you’re done cleaning:
• Wash your gloved hands with soap and water.
• Dry them.
• Pull the gloves off and store them.
• Then wash your bare hands.
How else can I be sure my home stays clean?
When you get home, take off your shoes, hang up your coat and immediately go wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
- Louisiana’s Insurance Crisis Is Destroying Black Wealth. - June 6, 2026
- Black Men’s Health 2026: Are You Strong Enough to Fight Back? - June 3, 2026
- Black In America?You are Political Not Human - May 31, 2026
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu