How to Disinfect Doorknobs
We don’t really think about it, but we touch doorknobs every day. We grab the handles in our home, in public restrooms, in the freezer section at Costco, in our kids’ schools—the list goes on. How many hands touch those doorknobs and handles each day? Too many.
Unfortunately, you can’t control how often public spaces are cleaned, but you can disinfect the doorknobs in your home.
How to keep yourself protected in public spaces
1. Use a Kooty Key
Mom always told us to “turn off the faucet with a paper towel” or “open up the public restroom door with your wrist” to avoid getting germs on our freshly cleaned hands. This little gadget, called a Kooty Key, takes that piece of advice a step further. The Kooty Key will latch onto your key ring and keep you touch-free as you open doors or even press elevator buttons. It’s made from an antimicrobial plastic, so you don’t need to worry about those germs being transferred into your pockets and purses.
2. Use a PhoneSoap Go
Our phones get germy, even if we’re careful about the things we touch and constantly wash our hands. The PhoneSoap Go can kill 99.99% of the germs* on your phone and other items, such as your keys, sunglasses, and credit cards. Are you always running around town? Stash the PhoneSoap Go in your car so you can easily disinfect your belongings while you drive from the office to the grocery store, or from the elementary school to the flag football carpool.
3. Keep hand sanitizer on hand
Stash a bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse, gym bag, backpack, or car console to use as soon as you touch something a bit grimy, like an ATM keypad or a grocery shopping cart. A quick squirt of hand sanitizer is also great to use if you’re about to eat a snack or change a diaper and you don’t have access to a nearby sink. Our favorite is the DoTerra On Guard Sanitizing Mist, because it smells delicious (like a cinnamon apple) and can quickly mist your hands without the sticky-feeling of typical gel hand sanitizer.
What types of bacteria are found on doorknobs?
Hundreds (if not, thousands) of grimy hands will touch the same doorknobs and handles as you do, particularly in high-volume areas. Studies have found that strains of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common types of bacteria on doorknobs and handles of many public places such as offices, stores, and schools. If you touch those surfaces, you could easily spread the illness-causing bacteria by touching your face or not washing your hands when you get home. Remember to always wash your hands, or you (or a family member) could spend all next week in bed with the flu.
How to disinfect doorknobs
Especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to clean high-touch surfaces, which include doorknobs, at least once a day. Doing so will help prevent the spread of illness around your home and to others.
The CDC recommends that doorknobs be cleaned with disinfecting wipes that are registered as EPA effective, such as Clorox or Lysol wipes. These wipes can reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses such as the flu and the Norovirus by 80-99%. Disinfectant wipes are a safe choice, because they will be disposed of after one use, rather than leaving bacteria to multiply in a cleaning rag before it gets washed.
If you want a more earth-friendly way to disinfect that's also free from harsh chemicals, reach for the SurfaceSoap UV wand. You can kill freeloading pathogens on doorknobs and other surfaces in seconds with just a swipe.**
Can you use homemade disinfectant to disinfect metal doorknobs?
Not all metal doorknobs are created equally. Some can easily be cleaned with any disinfectant, but others can be damaged by those same chemical agents. Materials such as solid brass or brass-plated iron, steel, or zinc should be cleaned only with warm water and gentle soap.
How do you even know what type of metal is on your doorknobs? A magnet won't stick to solid brass, so if it does, then the knobs are most likely brass-coated, not pure brass.
For best results, clean your doorknobs with the SurfaceSoap UV or disinfecting wipes or make a solution of soapy water to thoroughly kill the germs and bacteria on your doorknobs and prevent any damage to the metal coating.
It can seem tedious and redundant to be constantly disinfecting your home. However, it’s necessary so you and your family can stay healthy during a pandemic. Disinfecting your doorknobs and other handles in your home may seem unimportant, but it can make all the difference in fighting germs at home.
*PhoneSoap Go has been tested by an independent, third-party laboratory to be 99.99% effective against Salmonella, E. coli, MRSA, H1N1, Coronavirus 229E, Staphylococcus, Rhinovirus, Rotavirus. It has been tested on actual phones, Apple watch, headphones, credit cards, and keys. PhoneSoap Go has also been tested to be 99.99% effective against Salmonella, H1N1, rotavirus, and rhinovirus using a modified ASTM E1153 and ASTM E1053-11 for efficacy of UV light on general hard non-porous surfaces such as glass, metals, and plastics. Real-world results may vary depending on size, shape, and material of phone or phone case.
**SurfaceSoap UV was tested by BIOSCIENCE LABORATORIES, LLC against Salmonella enterica (ATCC # 10708), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC # 6538), and HCoV-OC43 (Zeptometrix #0810024CF). SurfaceSoap UV was tested by scanning glass slides containing these microbes and shown to kill up to 99.99% of the previously specified bacteria, and 99.9% of the specified virus strain. Tests were performed with the SurfaceSoap UV moving at 3 inches per second and held 1 inch from the exposed surface.
