It’s winter, and that means Flu and Cold season! If you are anything like me, you are always thinking of healthy, affordable measures to help safeguard your family during this germapalooza each year! As a wife of a public educator, it’s one of my main missions to help not only keep germs out of my home, but to keep my family, my husband’s students as healthy as possible, and by proxy, myself, too!
We may not be able to protect ourselves from all the germs in public, but there are a lot of things we can do to keep our home healthy during winter.
For this week’s Tutorial Tuesday, I want to share with you a few of my tried-and-true Winter germ-fighting strategies to help you stay healthier this season. Here are 10 tips to get you started:
- Change your furnace filters every three months. Filters capture allergens like pet dander, smoke, household dust from the air passing through the filter. Changing furnace filters seasonally keeps these allergens from both re-entering your home, and your families respiratory systems.
- Stay away from those with visible signs of illness. If someone is displaying cold or flu-like symptoms in a public place, move away from them. Don’t touch them, or their belongings.
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, as germs can spread up to six feet in circumference! - Wash your hands frequently. Soap and water alone don’t remove the germs from your hands; friction removes the germs, so wash vigorously.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. According to the CDC, the majority of infections are caused by touching something that is contaminated with germs and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces bi-weekly. Examples would be door handles and knobs, toilet handle, sinks, refrigerator handles, railings, remote controls, telephones, and dining room tables; use commercial sprays, such as Lysol, and allow surfaces to fully dry for 1-2 minutes before using.
- Change bedding weekly. Germs can be spread through shared bedding, so washing it often can prevent that. Duvets, bed skirts, pillows, and other items do not need to be washed but should be placed on a hot fluff cycle for 15 minutes to kill surface germs.
- Don’t share eating utensils. Honestly, for me, this is a year-round rule!
- Diffuse essential oils. Essentials oils, such as tea tree, grapefruit, lemon, and cedar oil can clear the air in under 30 minutes, helping to promote wellness in your home and ease sinus discomfort.
- Eat your veggies! By eating nutritious whole foods, such as three servings of vitamins each day, you will help to build your bodies reserve of B-Complex, Vitamin k, and Vitamin C reserves, all natural agents which help your body stave off infection, and promote cell renewal!
Friends, those are my 10 tips for staying healthier this winter season. Now if you have any tips that you utilize in your own home to stay healthier each winter season, I’d love to hear them below.
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