The best cleaning products for coronavirus, according to the EPA

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last updated 13 March 2020

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a list of the best coronavirus cleaning products, to help you ensure your home and work environment is as germ-free as possible. These are the cleaning products you should be arming yourself with to try and ward off the virus. Check out the full list from the EPA here.

Update: A further list had been released by the American Chemistry Council’s Center for Biocide Chemistries. This list is more extensive, and has been broken up into three categories: ready to use, dilutable and wipes.

While it's a smart move to bump up your cleaning supplies, you're not going to be able to disinfect every surface you're going to come into contact with, which is why it's so important to make sure you're washing your hands frequently. See our guide to where to buy hand sanitizer, and our run-through of the correct hand washing steps for more on this.

The CDC recommends routinely cleaning any surfaces that are used a lot – e.g. tables, light switches, handles and doorknobs, desks, toilets and sinks – using household cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants.

While these are the products and brands that have been officially named, there are some general rules about the types of coronavirus cleaning products you should be looking out for.

Soap and water

There's plenty of chat about hand sanitizer, but all the main medical sources say soap and water is just as good. It's key to make sure you're using the correct hand washing steps in order to create friction to lift the dirt, grime and germs from your hands. Bar soap or liquid soap is fine, and if you opt for a moisturising formula it can stop your hands from drying out from the increased washing.

Buy soap at Amazon UK or Amazon US
Hand soap at Waitrose
Hand soap at Boots
Buy soap at Walmart

Alcohol gel / Isopropyl alcohol

In the absence of soap and water, alcohol gel is a good idea. You want to be looking for solutions that contain at least 70 per cent alcohol. However, hand sanitizer is pretty much sold out everywhere right now, so good luck finding any. While is it possible to make your own hand sanitizer using Isopropyl alcohol (known as rubbing alcohol), it's more difficult to make sure you're including an effective proportion of alcohol in your solution this way, so it's not really recommended.

Bleach

For household surfaces, the CDC recommends using a diluted bleach solution. A rough ratio to follow is one tablespoon (1.8 ml) of bleach per gallon (3.8 L) of water. Remember: bleach is a harsh substance, so treat it with care. Wear gloves when handling bleach, and don't mix it with anything other than water. It's not recommended for stainless steel surfaces as it can corrode metal over time, and if you're regularly using it on other surfaces, consider also wiping down with water afterwards to avoid discolouring or damaging the surface.

Ruth is a lifestyle journalist specialising in sleep and wellbeing. She has tested more mattresses than her small flat can handle and will talk at length about them to anyone who shows even a passing interest, and has had to implement a one-in-one-out pillow policy for fear of getting smothered in the night. As well as following all the industry trends and advancements in the mattress and bedding world, she regularly speaks to certified experts to delve into the science behind a great night's sleep, and offer you advice to help you get there. She's currently Sleep Editor on Tom's Guide and TechRadar, and prior to that ran the Outdoors and Wellness channels on T3 (now covered by Matt Kollat and Beth Girdler-Maslen respectively).