Do you "sanitize" your room when you first get there?

[Dan Murphy]

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

What I don't know won't hurt me.

 

[Kitty 34]

No I haven't and I have never gotten sick from a Hotel either and have stayed at TONS of Hotels. Although 3 star is the absolute lowest level I stay at.
Sorry to say it but I think that behavior sounds weird..... a little "Michael Jacksonish"

 

[Nuts4Disney]

Dan...

You would've had to be there when this thread started on the Resorts Bd. LOL

 

[Nuts4Disney]

Look for Ivory liquid hand soap (not the antibacterial form). It comes in the nice little dispenser squirt bottles and it just has SOAP in it. It also smells nice!

For bar soap, regular Zest is nice. Again, not the Zest lablelled as antibacterial. Or look for good old Ivory in the bar.

In the kitchen I use regular Dawn. The ads are right. It does cut grease well and it works in our hard water.

For bathrooms, I use Comet bathroom cleaner. It cleans bathroom gunk well and it'll disinfect if you follow directions, but its active ingredient is citric acid.

For general cleaning, I'm still using the non-poluting standby, Simple Green. It does just about anything you want - from the charcoal grill to windows - depending on how you dilute it. A big bottle of concentrate lasts just about forever. And it WORKS.

Happy cleaning! (And save money.)

DisFlan

Antibacterial is not in my vocabulary any more. When I see it on the label, I move on.

Funny, Ivory liquid soap is the one I switched to after reading all the antibacterial info...I even brought it to my Mother's house...& you're right, it does smell nice.

I use a little baking soda w/a little liquid soap & water when I want a little abrasive cleaner & then I rinse well. And I like a little white vinegar & water for freshening things up. I'm not sure if the white vinegar really does anything, but I figure since white vinegar & baking soda are edible, they can't be too bad.

We use liquid soap for bathing...usually whatever's on sale but never the antibacterial kind.

I use amonia &/or bleach to clean my bathrooms...toilets, showers, etc. I haven't come up with anything better, yet. Is that what you mean you use the Comet for? I was under the impression that Comet was too harsh/abrassive for toilets, showers, etc. & could clog toilets?

I would've liked something to carry with me to use occasionally when soap & water isn't available. Is there anything like that you use or am I just better off taking my chances with the germs?

Btw, I made a mental note to check out Simple Green. I think my grocery store may carry it.

Thanks again for all your help & suggestions.

 

[shondad]

I had not really thought about wiping anything, but, I absolutely spray everything with Lysol. The door handles, toilet seat and lever, all bed linens (and pillows), remote, phone, tub, faucets (tub, sink). Anything I can think of that may be contaminated. Next time I'll have my Lysol or Clorox spray and wipes.

 

[Muffin]

To anyone who asked about putting toothbrushes in the safe, it might be because of this urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/racial/crime/toothbsh.htm

 

[bajanswife]

no way! I'm another one who just doesn't think too much about germs. I'm actually more worried about the chemicals we use to try to kill all these germs than the germs themselves!! Our bodies need bacteria in order to perform basic functions including digestion! I have no desire to kill ALL germs. We take reasonable precautions with raw meat, we wash our fruit and veggies, we keep some distance between us and people who are obviously ill - but we're not even that diligent with hand washing to be honest. And I've never had food poisoning. The kids have never had anything that resembled true food poisoning either - they've had a couple of bugs that involved their stomachs, as kids do. The kids catch germs from their schoolmates as is normal and necessary to build up immune systems. My kids have taken antibiotics about 4 times between the 3 of them (I think Logan has had 2 sets in his life, the others one), so all these bacteria we're not spending our time trying to kill aren't harming us too much!

Add to that the fact that viruses and bacteria don't survive and breed too well on dry surfaces, and have a limited life expectancy, it isn't all that common to catch nasty germs from a hotel room. Not saying it can't happen, but it's not one of my major worries.

Just my feelings on this. Feel free to clean as much as you want to if it makes you feel better! I do worry a bit about creating "superbugs", so please everyone, use antibacterial products carefully and judiciously! They don't kill viruses, and many of the bacteria that are lying around are not harmful at all, and in fact are beneficial. Please don't kill them all and make those that are left super-resistant!!

 

[iradi8]

What I don't know won't hurt me.

Unfortunately, I do know. I can't claim that I don't know what lurks in hotel rooms!

Haven't you seen those news shows (20/20, 48 Hours, Dateline, etc.) where they go into hotel rooms to check for yuck? They swab the remote, the phone, toilet, sink, door handle, lightswitches, etc. They culture them and very yucky stuff grows.

Then, you have the part where they test the bedspreads, carpets, walls, etc. They use that special light, too, that shows urine, semen, etc. You can't see this stuff with the naked eye but put that light on and Bam! It's there.

So, that's why I Lysol everything. I KNOW it's there.

Sloan

 

[inaminute]

Nope. I never worry about it.

I figure if the maids and hotel staff can survive cleaning whatever might be in the rooms on a daily basis, I can survive what might be left.

 

[yeartolate]

Sorry to say it but I think that behavior sounds weird..... a little "Michael Jacksonish"

ITA.

Stayed at tons of hotels myself and I have never gotten sick.

 

[inaminute]

You can't see this stuff with the naked eye but put that light on and Bam! It's there.

You'd probably be shocked at what they found if they did the same thing in your home.

 

[Chris2597]

I have to admit to going crazy with the Lysol upon entering the room..My family wont enter the room until the fumes have subsided..I dont drink out of the glasses in the room. I saw the maid clean glasses in another room by running them under water and swishing them with the rag she used on the counter....ick.....I also wont sleep on the bed pillows without a clean towel under my head.....however I usually bring my own pillow....wont let the blanket or bedspread touch my skin....yuck...who knows what is on those items, no way would I walk barefoot on the carpet.
My family makes fun of my germ phobia in a hotel but one year I forgot the Lysol and they all had a fit....They insisted that we go to Walmart to get a can before they could settle into the room.....

 

[FSUGrad97]

Nope. I never worry about it.

I figure if the maids and hotel staff can survive cleaning whatever might be in the rooms on a daily basis, I can survive what might be left.

I agree with you!

I can't get over some of these posts in this thread - I think the fumes from the Lysol and the other chemicals would probably do more harm than the germs that could potentially exist in the room!

It's amazing that I have lived this long and stayed in hotel rooms (without cleaning them first), and I have never gotten sick at all.

 

[SamRoc]

I never clean the hotel room when I check in but I do have this thing about hiding our toothbrushes when the maids come in. Probably saw or read something awhile back about some travelers having their toothbrushes dunked into the toilet bowl.(might have been 20/20??) Probably another urban myth, but still don't want to take any chances!

 

[yeartolate]

The funny thing is we are probably in more realistic danger from the excessive chemical use than the little buggers that we try to irradicate.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, I am a slob. However, other peoples grime bothers me. For that reason, when I check into a hotel room the first thing I do is pull back the bed clothes and check the sheets carefully to make sure they are clean. I unpack my borax and clean the tub. If I think there is cockroaches there, I sprinkle borax around the perimiter of the room. I only do this if I will be in the room at least 14 nights- otherwise it is not effective. (We do not have cockroaches where we live. I even leave my suitcase, unpacked, in a freezing garage for a few days after I get home in case I bring any little stow-aways home with me. My sister says this is ineffective since the cockroaches have survived the ice age, but I feel Florida bugs might not be able to stand the cold.) I bring my own universal remote with me. This helps even more, because the hotel remote doesn't have a sleep mode on it but the tv's do. I then put the bedspread on the floor, and pour water on it. I next call housekeeping for a fresh bedspread. The blankets I don't worry too much about, since they are sandwiched between the bedspread and the sheets, both clean. I wish I could pack my own pillows, but there is simply not enough room.

Why do you pour water on the bedspread??? If you want a clean bedspread, call and ask them for one. They'll bring it.

 

[Lynn CC]

I Always Do Sanitize everything in a hotel room, they don't call me "miss sanitary" for nothing!

 

[Stitchfans]

No never thought about it.

 

[yeartolate]

Has anyone here ever gotten sick from a hotel room?