My Own Special Cleaning

[h&D3]

I've done this the past few times we have went. Lysol or Clorox wipes. The phone, TV remote, door handles, nightstand, counters. We've even started bringing plastic solo cups to use vs using the cups that they leave. (I witnessed housecleaning at a hotel (not a disney hotel) one time just putting the glasses in the sink and rinsing them out, or just wiping them with some disinfectant and putting them back on the trays with the little paper covers over the tops - EEEK!) So at least this way, I know what we are drinking out of.

I also check for bedbugs as soon as we arrive. Basically no family member is allowed to move into the room until I give it a once-over.

I also pack our clothes in zip lock bags for each day (its nice to just be able to grab a bag each day and know you have everything you need in one bag.) This way, no little buggies are going to hitch any rides on the clothes if there were any around.

Hand sanitizer bottles will be coming with each of us this time as well. I know I can't control what everyone touches, but I can use the sanitizer before I break into that Mickey Ice Cream on a sick!

Another rule is that our suitcases never get put on the beds at any hotel and once we get home, the suitcases stay in the garage and I unpack everything out there and it goes straight into the washing machine. Even if it wasn't worn. (We put the dirty clothes into black plastic trash bags and we select one or two suitcases for worn clothes.) Once our trip is over and emptied out, we put the suitcases in heavy, plastic bags and they stay in the garage. I figure over the Minnesota-bone-chilling winters, and our hot summers, no little creature can survive on them in those extremes.

~D

 

[kdonnel]

Normally I don't, but once in awhile I find some crazy person before me has brought his own air mattress and all the associated germs, sometimes even leaving it propped against the wall every day for the duration of his stay, and I just have to decontaminate.

What special germs does an air mattress bring?

 

[EdmondD]

At about the time @KyleAfterAWhile, the OP, posted this question, he posted another question/thread about bringing an air mattress, what to do with it, deflate or leave it inflated, etc. It was a poke at that. I'm just trying to be meta here!

 

[Arthur92]

We are a family of 4 so we buy the travel size Lysol, wipes, etc. and we do a good wipe down. My middle child is a OCD when it comes to germs. LOL

 

[JennyDrake]

I have a masters degree in microbiology and I've never done any of this.....
Your greatest chance of illness is human-to-human contact. If you REALLY want to be safe, don't kiss another human, change a diaper, hold hands or (MOST IMPORTANT) have sex........

 

[CouponGirl]

At about the time @KyleAfterAWhile, the OP, posted this question, he posted another question/thread about bringing an air mattress, what to do with it, deflate or leave it inflated, etc. It was a poke at that. I'm just trying to be meta here!

LOL! I was trying to figure out how you would know the person before you had used one!

 

[rangerxenos]

Nope, and I've built up a healthy resistance because I don't. The world has become way too germ phobic.

 

[melissapealo]

Years ago I worked front desk at a hotel so I have heard the horror stories of housekeeping, or I should say lack of housekeeping. That has made me do a wipe down of any hotel room I stay in. I have also been known to request clean sheets and have even changed them myself a few times. After witnessing first hand how overworked and rushed housekeepers are and knowing of the short cuts they take I don't take any chances and make sure things are clean.

 

[JoieNsk]

I have a masters degree in microbiology and I've never done any of this.....
Your greatest chance of illness is human-to-human contact. If you REALLY want to be safe, don't kiss another human, change a diaper, hold hands or (MOST IMPORTANT) have sex........

+100

Over-disinfecting is actually harmful. Let your immunity do its job, otherwise you might loose that immunity at some point.

My husband is a pilot, he spends about half a month sometimes in different hotels all over US. If I was germophob, I would have lost my mind completely by now. His suitcase lives in a closet in our bedroom between the trips - for many years.

 

[dmea10]

Don't forget the dresser drawers. We never did until a couple of years ago after reading a thread here on DIS where posters were actually using them for their "dirty" clothes

Gross!

 

[EdmondD]

If you REALLY want to be safe don't...(MOST IMPORTANT) have sex........

Challenge accepted.

 

[sunshinemelody]

Challenge accepted.

LOLOL - have fun!

 

[Nancyg56]

I was just reading a travel article this morning about hotel rooms. They said the germiest places (that hotels almost never clean!) are things like the TV remote, telephone, light switches, etc. And they almost never wash the bedspreads! So I think it would be worth a quick swipe with a disinfecting wipe would be a good idea for hard surfaces. And don't use the bedspread!

I always put the tv remote in a plastic ziptop bag as soon as we arrive. I also use clorox wipes on the switches and door handles.

I bring a small can of Lysol and spray the bathroom down. After that I figure I am okay.

Don't forget the dresser drawers. We never did until a couple of years ago after reading a thread here on DIS where posters were actually using them for their "dirty" clothes

I know!!!! I always packed our unders, sox and bathing suits in plastic zip bags, bu tthat was just to keep them all in some sort of order, btu after reading that I was really glad I did!

 

[sunshinemelody]

I always put the tv remote in a plastic ziptop bag as soon as we arrive. I also use clorox wipes on the switches and door handles.

Why do you put the remote in a zippie if you bring the clorox wipes?

 

[buzznina]

I always put the tv remote in a plastic ziptop bag as soon as we arrive. I also use clorox wipes on the switches and door handles.

I bring a small can of Lysol and spray the bathroom down. After that I figure I am okay.




I know!!!! I always packed our unders, sox and bathing suits in plastic zip bags, bu tthat was just to keep them all in some sort of order, btu after reading that I was really glad I did!

I could not believe it either. We like to unpack and hate living out of the suitcases, not to mention they would need to be out if we did. So, we wipe down the drawers and like I said it only takes a minute, so to us it's better then doing nothing.

 

[Lilylogan]

I try not to think about it honestly. But my oldest is allergic to peanuts so I usually do a quick wipe down just in case the kids there before were eating a pb&j. But the Disney hotel rooms never give me the creepy crawlies.

 

[Nancyg56]

Why do you put the remote in a zippie if you bring the clorox wipes?

THat thing has too many little nooks and crannies for my comfort. I am no germophobe, but I think the remorse is the dirtiest thing in the room, and the hardest to clean.

 

[LilyWDW]

Nope. I am not paranoid and have never had an issue getting sick due to a hotel room.

 

[mrsg00fy]

Absolutely not. It would never occur to me to clean the room before moving into it. After many years of travel and many hotel stays we have never gotten sick. We do wash hands frequently. Other than that, no extra or special precautions are taken. As my mother used to say "you have to eat a pound of dirt before you die".

We let our normal immune systems do their job. If we had immune system issues it would be a different story.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Nope. I'm not overly concerned with germs. And we rarely get sick. I work in healthcare and the most important thing we do is wash our hands a lot. I probably wash my hands 10-15 times a day (I per about 8 times a day). Even at Disney.