The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

greenbee

MrsLurcherwalker said:

I'm going to make up a bleach solution and do ALL the door handles inside and out and chair arms and bannisters on the stairs every day, once in the mornings and again in the evenings.  I am going to use gloves to handle any mail that comes through the door too and find the letter opener to get in to the envelopes, we can dispose of any paper/card included in them by burning on the stove which will keep our waste down to a minimum and mean no one else (the recycling men) will have to come into contact with possibly contaminated surfaces.

The great thing about wheelybins is that no one needs to come into contact with the contents when they're being emptied. Even where bags are used, there is generally minimal handling of the contents, and people in these jobs already wear gloves as they're aware of the risk of contamination from refuse and recycling. So don't worry about them, but do think about your own safety. We've been fanatical about hand hygiene since my mum developed sepsis after a bout of norovirus. 

If you're washing hands when you come into the house, once you've cleaned the doorhandles, hand rails, loo flush, taps etc properly then they should stay clean (unless you don't trust your visitors!). The thing we probably all need to remember is that unless you wash the tap while you are washing your hands, you should use a paper towel (which you then bin) to turn the tap off. If you're in a public toilet where there are hand dryers only and no paper, and the taps aren't automatic, then wash the tap as well as your hands so that you can turn it off without re-contaminating. 

While we don't want to get silly about things, I think we've all got a little lax about hygiene and thinking that a quick spray with some cleaning product will fix it all. 

Because I'm still travelling for work, I've made a decision to minimise contact when I'm home. Not exactly self-isolating, but I guess 'social distancing'. So I rescheduled my hair appointment, and will be emailing my pilates teacher and physio giving them the option not to see me. At work I'm already refusing to handshake/hug and keeping away from people - for the last week that's been helped by the fact that I've had a cold so it's been easy for me to say I don't want to spread my germs. It's hard to keep the 1 metre distance much of the time though - planes, airport queues, hotel reception, cafes, restaurants all make it difficult. Hopefully that will improve. Coughing occasionally encourages people to give you space

Importantly, we all need to continue to eat well, exercise and get out in the fresh air so we're as fit and healthy as we can be. I need to take my own advice on this, as I haven't been for a run since Monday, and have mostly been sleeping since I got home on the red-eye from the US on Friday morning (when I haven't been doing laundry...). 

greenbee

Good info here on why soap works on viruses... https://twitter.com/PalliThordarson/status/1236549305189597189

Onebrokelady

I think a lot of people have also started to rely too much on hand gel believing it's superior to soap and water, we stopped buying hand gel over a year ago because we were trying to cut down on plastic packaging,I have bars of soap at home and just use that
 At work we wear scrubs and have alcohol based hand gel clipped to our scrub tops, it's plays havoc with your skin though so we also get through loads of moisturiser 

unrecordings

greenbee said:

Good info here on why soap works on viruses... https://twitter.com/PalliThordarson/status/1236549305189597189

I've been thinking about this specific bit of science and yet to find anything NHS or WHO that isn't more recent than 2017. I don't trust anything on Twitter but thanks for the link - it has some good keywords for further research. I think if the science  was made known more readily via NHS etc then washing hands with soap & water wouldn't be the joke it seems to have become because I don't think people believe it can be that simple. I currently wash my hands to the log song from Ren & Stimpy. But it takes longer because only one hand works...

[Deleted User]

Hot water, soap, elbow grease and common sense!

unrecordings

MrsLurcherwalker said:

Hot water, soap, elbow grease and common sense!

Doesn't even need to be hot water:
https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/cold-water-just-as-good-as-hot-for-handwashing/

DigForVictory

I thought I had mislaid youngest (inclined to disappear after he's done enough of some jobs) but heard "Row, row, yowch that's hot" from a bathroom & think the point makes itself. Then heard mutterings about "two blinking taps to sluice" - y'know I think his school must be laying on the "keep it clean" message with an anvil. <Proud moment, and reminded me to mop down my sink>

DigForVictory

Just found a weblink on how to convert a pushbike into a generator https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a10245/pedal-power-how-to-build-a-bike-generator-16627209/ (Er, quite a bit of effort & parts required then motivated pedalling but might be of use.)
Judiciously done, you still have a functioning pushbike, too.

annieb64

Sounds like a good idea. We have an old push bike in the garage. It might also help DH lose the tummy he seems to have acquired over the winter!

unrecordings

DigForVictory said:

Just found a weblink on how to convert a pushbike into a generator https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a10245/pedal-power-how-to-build-a-bike-generator-16627209/ (Er, quite a bit of effort & parts required then motivated pedalling but might be of use.)
Judiciously done, you still have a functioning pushbike, too.

Cue yet another series of annoying Peloton adverts