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Coronavirus

Is anyone else cleaning their shopping?

(69 Posts)
Willow500 Wed 08-Apr-20 21:19:44

We've just been to Tescos - no online shopping available and needed quite a lot of items so travelled to the bigger store in next town. Husband stayed in car and I went in alone and wouldn't let him touch anything when I came out. I've cleaned all the items that needed to be put away immediately (or that we needed now) with wipes and the rest is in the garage where I'll leave it a couple of days. I don't know if this is completely OTT or necessary. I did see a doctor being asked the question the other night and he suggested cleaning packets etc. Is anyone else doing this?

Have to say it was all very organised and as it was after 7pm fairly quiet. Feel for the staff - my DIL & GD both work in the same stores in their home town further south and receive some terrible abuse from customers angry

annep1 Thu 09-Apr-20 19:46:02

Yes. I use warm soapy water as recommended rather than antibacterial wipes.
Anything not needed is left untouched for 3 days.
Every little helps.

bikergran Thu 09-Apr-20 19:40:04

Yes I wash/wipe everything....I work in a Supermark

crazyH Thu 09-Apr-20 19:23:24

Gosh !!!!

Sparklefizz Thu 09-Apr-20 19:18:29

Channel 4 this evening 8 pm. How Clean is your House. What to disinfect re shopping, etc.

fevertree Thu 09-Apr-20 16:34:04

No, I don't do anything different than I would normally do with shopping. I rinse all fresh veg and fruit as always, and wash my hands after handling anything. So far so good.

Toadinthehole Thu 09-Apr-20 16:31:46

I do clean it all as much as I can. I run a bowl of hot soapy water. I always assume I’ve probably missed one.

Chewbacca Thu 09-Apr-20 15:54:14

Irons newspapers? Gosh, thats commitment.

MaizieD Thu 09-Apr-20 15:51:29

They are fine to clean surfaces and utensils Maizie, but not intended for consumables.

Chlorine washed chicken and salad stuff aren't consumables, green-eyed girl? [Shock]

Baby sterilising fluid is used to sterilise baby feeding equipment which can be used without rinsing.

If you read my original I think you'll find me mentioning that household bleach is toxic. The stuff I'm talking about isn't if used correctly.

AGAA4 Thu 09-Apr-20 15:42:07

My friend irons her newspaper with as hot as possible setting to sterilise it.

My shopping goes into quarantine in a spare room for at least 72 hours. Fresh milk cartons are washed in a mild bleach solution

Greeneyedgirl Thu 09-Apr-20 15:35:00

It's amazing how predictive text occasionally interprets correctly Chewbacca grin

Greeneyedgirl Thu 09-Apr-20 15:33:06

I completely agree with you MOnica soap and hot water best, but I have noticed some anti bac labelled gels and sprays do have 60 or 70% alcohol and are also anti viral. Not all admittedly, it's often in the small print.
In normal times I certainly wouldn't use anti bacterial anything because bacteria becomes immune to them.

Chewbacca Thu 09-Apr-20 15:27:28

Just noticed anti bad spray! How apt! grin

M0nica Thu 09-Apr-20 14:45:22

Anti-bacterial anything ia a waste of money Covid-19 is a virus not a bacteria. The best thing for it is good old fashioned soap, which is a surfactant and dissolves our natural body oil and the virus on our skin into the soap mix so that the viral particals are washed off your hands with the soap. Hence the importance of using hot water.

sodapop Thu 09-Apr-20 14:34:18

Same here JenniferEccles & SalsaQueen all those chemicals are a worry.
We hand wash, clean down surfaces and dispose of any unnecessary packaging.
I agree though people have to do whatever makes them feel safe.

Chewbacca Thu 09-Apr-20 13:20:34

They had a plentiful supply of both anti bad spray and wipes in the chemist when I went to collect my prescription this morning. A limit of 2 per customer.

SalsaQueen Thu 09-Apr-20 13:11:29

I wouldn't do any of that. I wash my hands when I get home with the shopping, then again after I've packed the stuff away.

ninathenana Thu 09-Apr-20 13:10:56

Where are you all managing to find anti bac or dettol wipes.
I haven't seem any for weeks.

Greeneyedgirl Thu 09-Apr-20 12:25:52

I think you have to do what you feel is best, particularly if you are very vulnerable.
I don't think there's any evidence that there's a major risk of becoming ill with the virus from touching shopping, but of course that may change as they learn more.
Hard to do controlled trials at present. I guess there are more pressing issues just now.
Going into a shop I perceive to be more risky than not washing delivered food.

JenniferEccles Thu 09-Apr-20 11:21:39

I am honestly amazed at this thread.

Like everyone else I am following all the recommendations regarding hand washing etc but come on, washing fruit and vegetables in hot soapy water???? Really?

I do give things a bit of a wipe when I get home and of course I wash fruit and vegetables in cold water before using, but that’s as far as I go.

I seem to be in the minority though so maybe you are all correct in what you are doing.

Greeneyedgirl Thu 09-Apr-20 10:54:54

They are fine to clean surfaces and utensils Maizie, but not intended for consumables.

MaizieD Thu 09-Apr-20 10:45:17

All these chemicals, bleach etc, are basically poisons,

And to think that people were perfectly happy at the thought of eating chlorine washed chicken fro the US, and kept telling us that prepared bagged salad stuff was chlorine washed and perfectly OK. Not to mention using swimming pools which are stuffed full of the stuff! hmm

As far as chlorine solutions are concerned the dilutions used are perfectly safe. Household bleach is potentially more toxic than baby sterilising fluid because it has more than just sodium hypochlorite in it. Milton and its generic equivalents have no additives and are absolutely fine.

GagaJo Thu 09-Apr-20 10:30:34

I'm not OCD about it and I don't think it's a false sense of security. There is always SOME risk. But my perspective is that I should do everything I can. Some stuff I can't control. I'm not going to worry about things I can't control. THAT would be OCD I think.

Calendargirl Thu 09-Apr-20 10:23:25

Hetty58

Some of us are going to the shops because we are being asked to by the supermarket chiefs as they cannot fulfil all the online deliveries.
If we all tried to get them, the situation would be unworkable.

Grandma70s Thu 09-Apr-20 10:19:59

I echo Greeneyedgirl. All these chemicals, bleach etc, are basically poisons, potentially as dangerous as the virus. just be sensible. I’m certainly not going to bleach my shopping!

MaizieD Thu 09-Apr-20 10:12:24

People may get a false sense of security from cleaning their shopping, don't you think?

I don't understand your reasoning here, Hetty. I disinfect everything because I don't know who it's been handled by previous to our purchase. Previous handlers might, or might not, have been infectious...