How to clean and disinfect your house after a flood

After a flood, furniture, walls, and floors are often covered in mud. Before cleaning, you should move the items to a corner or take them outside. Use a shovel to scoop the mud out of the house when the water has drained or pumped out completely so that the floors and walls can dry.

After a flood, furniture, walls and floors are often covered in mud.

If mud stains remain on the wall, use a stiff brush with household soap to scrub from top to bottom, rinsing frequently with clean water. Open all windows and doors to let the moisture escape. Use a fan or dehumidifier to speed up the drying process.

To get rid of the bad smell in your house, you can mix a solution to disinfect your house by mixing 500g of bleach powder (chlorinated lime) in 25-40 liters of water or use household laundry bleach to clean the house and items that have been soaked in flood water. When cleaning, wear protective gloves, goggles and high boots.

To quickly eliminate musty odors, you can place a bowl of vinegar, dry tea, or coffee grounds in the corners of the room.

When cleaning, wear protective gloves, eye protection and protective boots.

- Clothes:

First, sort the clothes, with clothes that are heavily soiled, use a hose to try to wash off as much of the soil as possible. Absolutely, you must not put clothes that are soiled with soil into the washing machine because a large amount of soil can clog the machine's drain. The washing water should be at the highest temperature allowed for fabrics. In addition, to disinfect, add a capful of chlorine when washing white clothes. You also need to disinfect the washing machine with a disinfectant solution if flood water has previously entered the machine.

- Furniture cleaning:

Remove flooded furniture and leave it in the sun to disinfect. Upholstered furniture such as sofas should be taken to a professional cleaning center. Blankets, mattresses, etc. that have been soaked in floodwaters should be thrown away because it is difficult to completely clean the bacteria.

- Household electrical appliances:

After rain or flooding, check the electrical wiring and sockets to see if water or moisture has affected these areas. If so, dry them before turning on the circuit breaker to use electricity. It is best to ask a qualified electrician to remove and dry each part of the machine when using electrical appliances that have been soaked in water. When using electrical appliances such as rice cookers, irons, microwaves, electric fans, etc., ensure that the equipment is dry, working properly, and that your hands and feet are dry.

All cooking utensils such as knives, spoons, dishes, etc. should be washed with warm soapy water, then boiled and scrubbed with hot water and dishwashing liquid on surfaces that come into contact with contaminated food such as drawers, shelves, cutting boards and counter tops. Always cook food thoroughly and drink boiled water to avoid infection.

- Drinking water treatment:

If dirty flood water has flooded the underground tank, drain all the water and disinfect the underground tank with chloramine B. If there is no alternative water source, it is necessary to disinfect the available water source for daily use. You can use a piece of alum about half a finger long, dissolve the alum in a bucket of water, then pour the bucket of water with the dissolved alum into a bucket of about 20-25 liters of water and stir well. After about 30 minutes when the sediment has settled to the bottom, decant the clear water for disinfection.

Disinfect water with chloramine B tablets: Add 0.25g of chloramine B tablets to a bucket of water, pour the bucket of water into a bucket of water (25 liters) that has been clarified and stir well. Wait about 30 minutes before using the water. With chloramine B powder, use 1/3 tablespoon of chloramine B powder to disinfect 300 liters of water. Disinfected water must also be boiled before drinking. You can also call a professional cleaner for proper treatment.

T.P (synthesis)