One of the few good things that have come out of the Covid-19 pandemic is that many people have drastically improved their personal and home hygiene. Remember those finger spots on your smartphone? A lot of people haven’t seen them in months as they are now disinfecting their phones several times a day.
But while just washing your hands and disinfecting your phone is simple, disinfecting frequently used surfaces in your home or at work can be a challenge. We need to constantly be mindful of what we’ve touched, where we’ve put our groceries, where we left our backpack or handbag, and so on.
And then, there’s the issue of having the right disinfectant with you. In the early months of the pandemic products like rubbing alcohol all but vanished from the pharmacies as people bought them in a frenzy.
Since then, we’ve learned that not only are there hundreds of EPA-approved disinfectants we can use to clean surfaces but cleaning with most soaps and water also works just fine.
Recently, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has started to test disinfectants specifically for the novel coronavirus. The disinfectants recommended up until now were ones we knew worked against Covid-19 because they had been tested against similar types of viruses. They are still recommended for use as they do work even on “harder-to-kill” viruses than coronavirus.
Nevertheless, recent tests for Covid-19, in particular, have so far led to two Lysol products being officially approved by the EPA. Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist have both been tested against SARS-CoV-2, as the virus is officially called, and were proven to be very effective.
According to agency, both Lysol products kill the virus within two minutes of contact with it.
Lysol has also issued a statement, saying that they are currently testing other disinfectants as well.
“In the face of the pandemic, Lysol continues to work with a wide range of scientific and health experts to educate the public on the importance of hygiene,” said Rahul Kadyan, executive vice president of Reckitt Benckiser in North America, Lysol’s parent company.
All this testing can sound unnecessary to some, as alcohol-based disinfectants and lots of soaps have already been shown to be effective on Covid-19. Yet, a lot of people keep reporting that they’re still unclear and uncertain about the best disinfecting practices, even months after the pandemic had started.
Hopefully, more extensive testing can help shed even more light on how best to treat surfaces against the virus. The CDC and the EPA don’t necessarily recommend these two Lysol products over others on this list but they do advise caution when disinfecting. They note that it’s always important to read the label and instructions of the product you’re using or purchasing as well as to wear rubber gloves and other protective gear. Naturally, they also note that mixing cleaning chemicals is not advisable.