should you disinfect your clothes and shoes?

The coronavirus can survive up to nine days on certain surfaces and even under the soles of shoes. However, it is not necessary to spray your clothes and shoes with disinfectant as soon as you get health home. Care and washing tips.

It has been shown that coronavirus survives 24 hours on cardboard and 2 to 3 days on the iron and the plastic. No specific studies have been done on fabrics, but clothing is particularly likely to be exposed to respiratory droplets as long as we wear them all the time.

However, porous materials like tissue tend to dry out and dislocate viral particles, explains Huffington post Robert Amler, Dean of School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College. The duration life virus also depends on humidity and the type of fabric. Polyester and materials synthetics, such as elastane, would retain germs longer than cotton-based fabrics, says Janette Nesheiwat, general practitioner and emergency physician. Unless you have spent a lot of time in crowded or potentially contaminated places, it is useless to wash your clothes as soon as you get health home.

Clothes: how to wash them to eliminate the virus?

The High Council of Public Health recommends washing machine in a cycle at 60 degrees for at least 30 minutes. But this advice door specifically on contaminated clothing (sick or hospital staff) or for cloth masks. For ordinary laundry, the detergent action of detergent in principle sufficient to destroy the virus, even at 30 ° C. In this case, choose a slightly longer cycle.

Coronavirus: can shoes be contaminated?

A study conducted in a hospital in Wuhan (China) shows that the virus can cling to the soles of shoes, especially since the contaminated droplets tend to fall to the ground. The researchers thus indicate that shoes constitute a vector of propagation. Here again, it must be emphasized that the study concerns a particularly contaminated place, and that the infectious potential of the virus remaining on shoes is unknown. Since you do not touch the soles with your hands, it is very unlikely to be contaminated by your shoes. If you have any suspicion, it is still possible to put your soles on the disinfectant type alcohol or bleach.

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