Get ready for flu season, december in Canada is a time of duality. On one hand, it is the season of warmth, celebration, and gathering, where homes are filled with the scent of baking and the sounds of family. On the other hand, it is the undisputed peak of the viral season, a time when the harsh weather forces us indoors, sealing us into environments where air is recirculated and physical proximity is unavoidable. As the temperature drops and the windows are latched tight to preserve heat, our homes transform into perfect incubators for the influenza virus, the common cold, and various other respiratory pathogens. While we often focus on washing our hands, we frequently neglect the environment those hands interact with. We scrub the floors and vacuum the carpets to make the house look presentable for guests, but we often miss the invisible landscape of germs that colonize the small, high-traffic areas of our homes. True sanitation during flu season requires a shift in perspective from cleaning for aesthetics to cleaning for health, focusing intensely on the “high-touch” points that serve as the transit hubs for infection.
Cleaning and Disinfecting
The first step in fortifying your home against illness is understanding the crucial distinction between cleaning and disinfecting. These terms are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, but in the world of hygiene, they represent two distinct physical processes. Cleaning is the removal of visible soil, dust, and debris using soap, water, and friction. It physically lowers the number of germs by washing them away, but it does not necessarily kill them. Disinfecting, conversely, is a chemical process designed to destroy pathogens on a microscopic level. The mistake most homeowners make is attempting to disinfect a dirty surface. If a doorknob or a countertop has a layer of grease, dust, or sticky residue on it, that organic matter acts as a shield for bacteria and viruses. The disinfectant cannot penetrate the soil to reach the germ underneath. Therefore, the rule for flu season is rigid: clean first, then disinfect. You must remove the barrier of dirt before you can effectively neutralize the threat.
Once the surface is clean, the efficacy of your disinfection efforts depends entirely on a concept known as dwell time. We live in a culture of immediacy, conditioned by commercials that show a person spraying a counter and wiping it dry instantly. In reality, this “spray and wipe” technique is almost useless against robust viruses like the flu. Chemical disinfectants require time to break down the cell walls of bacteria or the protein shells of viruses. If you wipe the product away immediately, you are essentially just giving the germs a bath. Most EPA-registered disinfectants require the surface to remain visibly wet for anywhere between three to ten minutes to achieve the kill rate promised on the label. This requires patience. It means spraying the light switch or the faucet handle and walking away, letting the liquid sit and do its work before wiping up any excess. Ignoring dwell time is the primary reason why flu spreads through households even when they claim to be cleaning regularly.
Door Handle
The entryway of the Canadian home is the primary breach point for pathogens. It is where the outside world makes contact with the sanctuary of the interior. When we come in from the cold, our hands are often the first things to touch the hardware. The exterior and interior doorknobs, the deadbolt turn, and the handle of the storm door are constantly bombarded with bacteria from public transit, grocery carts, and workplace surfaces. Yet, these hardware pieces are rarely scrubbed. The keypad of a garage door opener or a smart lock is even worse, as the textured buttons trap oils and dirt, creating a sticky medium that holds onto viruses for days. Sanitizing these points should be the first ritual of returning home. It is not enough to just wipe the knob; the edge of the door where people grab to pull it shut is often overlooked and heavily contaminated.
Kitchen Utensils
Moving into the heart of the home, the kitchen acts as the central gathering hub during the holidays, making it a high-risk zone for cross-contamination. While countertops usually get wiped down, the hardware of the kitchen is frequently ignored. Think about the refrigerator handle. It is touched by every member of the family, often while cooking, eating, or snacking. It is grabbed by unwashed hands reaching for milk or leftovers. The same applies to the handle of the microwave, the oven, and the dishwasher. These appliances are touched dozens of times a day, yet they are often only cleaned when there is a visible spill. Small appliances are equally guilty. The handle of the coffee pot, the button on the kettle, and the knobs on the toaster are fomites—objects capable of carrying infection. Even the salt and pepper shakers, passed from person to person during a holiday dinner, can act as vectors for the flu. A nightly routine of wiping these specific handles with a disinfectant can significantly reduce the viral load in the kitchen.
Controls
The living room offers a different set of challenges, primarily centered around entertainment and relaxation. The remote control is arguably the single filthiest object in the entire house. It is handled by everyone, often while eating popcorn or snacks, and it inevitably falls on the floor or gets stuffed between sofa cushions. The rubber buttons are difficult to clean, trapping debris and moisture that bacteria thrive on. Similarly, video game controllers are held for hours at a time in warm, sweating hands, creating a perfect environment for bacterial growth. These electronics cannot be sprayed directly with liquid, as moisture will damage the circuitry. They require careful cleaning with disinfectant wipes that are damp but not dripping, ensuring that the chemical gets into the crevices between the buttons without seeping into the device. Light switches in the living room and hallways are another universal touchpoint. The toggle switch itself is small, but the plate surrounding it is often smeared with fingerprints. In the dark of winter, these lights are flipped on and off constantly, yet the switch plate is often invisible to the cleaner’s eye until it becomes gray with grime.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is naturally associated with germs, but the focus is often misplaced. We obsess over the toilet bowl, which is actually a relatively contained environment, while ignoring the flush handle. The flush handle is the very first thing touched after using the toilet, making it a primary transfer point for fecal bacteria and viruses. It should be disinfected daily during flu season. The faucet handles are equally critical. We touch them with dirty hands to turn the water on, and then, after washing, we often touch the same dirty handles to turn the water off, instantly re-contaminating our clean fingers. Wiping these handles is essential, or better yet, adopting the habit of turning the tap off with a towel or the back of the hand. Another reservoir of illness in the bathroom is the toothbrush holder. Gravity pulls water and bacteria down the brush handle, pooling in the bottom of the cup or holder. This stagnant, slimy water is a biological hazard. Toothbrush holders should be run through the dishwasher or scrubbed with hot soapy water regularly to prevent them from becoming a petri dish that sits inches from the items we put in our mouths.
Cell Phones
In the modern era, our personal technology has become an extension of our hands, and consequently, a major carrier of the flu. We use our smartphones everywhere—on public transit, in the grocery store, and even in the bathroom—and then we press them against our faces. The glass screen of a phone stays warm from the battery and body heat, keeping bacteria alive longer than on cold surfaces. We rarely clean them for fear of damaging the oleophobic coating on the screen. However, during flu season, this fear must take a backseat to hygiene. Using 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes is generally safe for modern screens and is effective at killing the flu virus. This sanitization should extend to tablets, keyboards, and the mouse at the home computer station. As more Canadians work from home during the winter, the home office becomes a high-touch zone. Sharing a computer with a family member who is “fighting off a cold” is a guaranteed way to spread the infection if the keyboard is not sanitized between uses.
Handrails
Stair railings and banisters are structural elements that fade into the background but are gripped firmly by every person moving between floors. In a multi-generational home, where elderly relatives or young children rely on the railing for support, this surface becomes a highway for germs. The wood or metal of the railing is often coated in a patina of hand oils, which protects viruses from drying out and dying. A quick dust is insufficient; the railing needs to be wiped down with a cleaner that cuts through the oil and disinfects the surface. This is particularly important during holiday parties, where guests are moving up and down the stairs to use the washroom or leave coats in a bedroom.
Towels
The laundry room also plays a role in flu prevention that goes beyond washing clothes. Towels and hand cloths in the bathroom and kitchen are damp, fibrous surfaces that trap viruses. In a busy house during December, a single hand towel might be used by ten different people in an hour. If one of those people is shedding the virus, the towel becomes a vector. During flu season, hand towels should be changed daily, or disposable paper hand towels should be offered when guests are present. Bed linens, particularly pillowcases, should be washed in hot water more frequently. When we sleep, we breathe moisture onto the pillowcase, and if we are incubating an illness, that fabric becomes contaminated.
Air Quality
It is also important to consider the quality of the air that circulates over these surfaces. In December, Canadian homes are sealed against the cold, meaning we are breathing the same recirculated air. If the home has forced-air heating, the vents and registers should be vacuumed to remove dust. While dust itself doesn’t cause the flu, virus droplets can attach to dust particles and remain suspended in the air or settle on surfaces. Maintaining clean air vents helps the HVAC filter work more efficiently, trapping airborne particulates. Furthermore, maintaining a humidity level between 40% and 60% is crucial. The flu virus survives longer and transmits easier in dry air, which is common in heated Canadian homes. While not a “cleaning” task in the traditional sense, maintaining a humidifier is part of the environmental hygiene required to suppress the virus.
Health Benefit
The psychology of high-touch cleaning is not about paranoia; it is about strategic reduction of risk. It is impossible to sterilize a home completely, and attempting to do so leads to unnecessary stress. The goal is to break the chain of transmission. By focusing on the specific points where hands meet the home—the knobs, handles, switches, and buttons—you significantly lower the probability of the virus moving from one person to another. It is a targeted approach that saves time and energy while providing the maximum health benefit. It requires diligence and a change in routine, moving away from Saturday morning deep cleans to smaller, daily sanitizing rituals.
This type of detailed, hygienic maintenance is often the first thing to be abandoned when the chaos of the holiday season sets in. Between shopping, cooking, and hosting, finding the time to let disinfectant sit on a doorknob for ten minutes can feel impossible. Yet, the cost of neglecting these details is often a holiday season ruined by illness. When the burden of maintaining a sanitary environment becomes too heavy, or when you want to ensure your home is truly prepared for the influx of guests, professional support is the solution. Toronto Shine Cleaning provides a level of service that understands the biological reality of the home. We don’t just make your home look good; we focus on the details that contribute to a healthier living environment. Just as we have outlined the importance of sanitizing high-touch points, Toronto Shine Cleaning applies a rigorous, systematic approach to every clean.
