What we wipe with

WHAT WE WIPE WITH
What we wipe up with matters when dealing with infectious materials?

Generally, we wipe surfaces with either a paper-towel (cellulose), a kitchen towel, a micro-fiber cloth, a towelette or a mop. Let’s discuss the pros and cons – because they matter – when it comes to dealing with bacteria or virus.

Absorbent Material	PROS	CONS
Paper Towel	Absorbs the virus locking into the paper which generally has greater absorbency than other options. Throw-away nature places virus in waste.	Must be disposed of – but while not green this is a PLUS when it comes to managing virus
Kitchen Towel Micro-Fiber Towel	Reduces paper towel expense. Good for wiping up spills. Micro-fiber is more absorbent.	Not healthy when one is concerned with managing virus. Once it has virus it is now a carrier and needs to be washed, but now one must also account for how one transfers to the machine without interacting with the active virus side. Recommend a hard sided container that can be poured into washing machine without placing hand into container. Disinfect once completed.
Towelette	Good for applying a material, but has no absorbency to take anything away as it is already saturated	Removes very little. OK if the intent is to dose the surface, and are good leaving it there, but not so great if you plan on working on the surface such as a kitchen counter of food prep area.
Mop	Easy to work with when damp mopping a floor without getting on one’s hands and knees.	Once it interacts with the virus it is on the mop. Disinfection is required. Once suspected or concerned about possible disinfection one needs to remove and wash in machine with soap to avoid cross contaminating buildings or areas. Kitchen mops should NEVER leave the kitchen so as to avoid transferring grease and oils.

If you are cleaning and disinfecting to address a possible virus or your goal is to provide a healthy building stick with paper towels as the simplest method of removal. If you want green think through the cleaning process with an emphasis on safe handling and transport between site and washing machine. Virus are sneaky. You can do it all right, and then get exposed when you load the washing machine if done in correctly.

WHAT WE WEAR

Do gloves provide protection from virus? Not really

Not really.

In fact, they might even create greater complacency.

Virus like COVID19 enter the body through lung tissue.

It must travel from nose or mouth to lung, so one does not want to touch face unless you have just washed your hands.

Same applies with gloves.

Gloves are suitable for protecting from chemical contact that might interact with one’s skin, but provide no protection from a virus or in mitigating one’s desire to touch one’s face, nose or mouth with a hand or gloved hand that has contacted a virus.

If using them be sure to clean the glove surfaces after use just as you would with your hands.

Be careful when putting them on and off to avoid touching the glove interior as seen in this image.

Rather pinch the glove from the outside when putting on versus pulling with a finger inside the glove.