Wiping Down Shopping

[Ilovemypantry]

This might have already been covered but without trawling through I just thought I’d ask anyway.

So...when you get your shopping home (or delivered) are you all cleaning every single item? If so, what are you using to clean with? Would an antibacterial wipe be suffice or does it need to be bleach? I am wiping things over with antibacterial wipe but a bit half heartedly tbh. It’s quite a daunting task having to wipe every single item before putting it away in the fridge/freezer/cupboard.
Just wondered how everyone else is tackling this.

No. Where would I draw the line if I started doing that? Burning my clothes after getting back from the supermarket?

I'm asthmatic, so I give everything for the fridge and freezer a quick soapy wash and dry, then put away. Cupboard items sit in a "quarantine box" for minimum of three days, but if I need them sooner, I just give them a wash too. It may be unnecessary but it's not that big a chore for just two of us, and sets my mind at ease. I also use gloves and wash my hands whilst wearing them,and once they're in thebin.

No. Where would I draw the line if I started doing that? Burning my clothes after getting back from the supermarket?

Exactly.

The footwell and floor mats in the car should be stripped, incinerated and replaced everytime you use it.

The door mat and any internal flooring should be replaced everytime you leave the house and come back.

I am in vulnerable group. I wipe all shopping down with a bleach solution and then leave in a box/bag for a day or so before putting in cupboards. I leave post a day or two before opening to decontaminate. I wash hands A LOT

I am not getting takeaways, or any other deliveries.

@Reebotingagain:

• I wipe down post too and also take-aways. I've only order hot food which is cooked hot enough to kill the virus, not salads.

• No, I wouldn't eat crisps from a packet in the car when shopping anyways, as my hands would be filthy! Even if I couldn't wait to get home, I'd sanitise my hands first!

Nope, just wash fruit but put the rest away and wash hands. Same with parcels, discard packaging and wash hands.

We are a big family and buy far too much food for me to get into the ‘wiping everything down’ mentality. The risk of catching it from packaging is small. Also cracked last week and got a takeout - I’m completely fed up of cooking and needed something to look forward to. Will be getting one again tomorrow!

Things have to start getting slowly back to normal - after the initial hysteria I’ve realised this isn’t going away. The virus is out there now, most of us will catch it at some point and be fine. A vaccine is a long way off if it even happens.

I just have to pray that we’ll all recover if (when!) we catch it.

I know we have time on our hands but come on...how can people really think they need to antibac and quarantine their shopping? With that thinking are you not worried then that the actual packaged food might have been contaminated in the factory? Wash the food too? I know if I started washing my shopping, I'd lose the will. If it was an issue as a pp said literally everyone would have Covid-19 and government advice would be to clean your shopping. It's not. I am vulnerable to but people have to be reasonable and realistic.

There have been a few threads on this topic. Basically the answer is, some people do, some people don't. Those who are vulnerable will probably be more careful, those who have no reason to worry, probably don't.

I don't and didn't even think about it until it came up on MN. Risk is vanishingly small.

We wash our hands after handling packaging. Figure that is more effective than wiping things down (and lots of things don't "wipe down" particularly well anyway).

I wash fruit but nothing else. All surfaces taps handles banisters light switches, toilets shower screens washed down with anti back wipes and spray bottle containing diluted bleach. Am shielding immunocompromised partner so covering bacterial and viral infection sources. Thorough and frequent hand washing also. But shopping wash down? No. Partner washing hands after handling packets, opening tins. Might start wiping down shopping going forward though. Seems extreme. There is so much to do in a day and how far do you carry on disinfecting things? If everyone in the house washes their hands frequently and thoroughly that's the best protection.

I do this. Washing up liquid and hot water. Any packaging I don’t need, I put straight in the bin, eg cereal boxes, biscuits go into a tin etc
It takes AGES!

Oh I also dilute bleach and mop the floor after, from where the bags have been. The car is ok as it’s not used often and the virus only lasts on fabric (ie. car carpet) for 24 hours.
Despite all this I have my test tomorrow 😬

I did initially but stopped as I've had OCD issues before and for me it's the way madness lies.

DH works on public transport anyway so if we're going to get it then me sponging the lettuce down isn't going to stop it happening.

@Bbq1 I have a family member who is actually taking things one step further and is freezing anything that can be frozen and leaving it for at least a week before consuming it because she's worried about the virus being on her food. If it can't be frozen, or cooked, she's not eating it. It does all seem a bit extreme and it's beginning to take its toll on her mental health.

No I don't clean anything, apart from my hands after packing away. Oh and decanting take away food as soon as it arrives ( so not keeping pizza boxes etc )

Has anyone mentioned Zoflora yet?

Everything gets a quick wipe a

Say you go out one day to the shops. Do those shoes then get quarantined if you need to go out again the same week, or do you wash you hands before and after you put them on then everytime you adjust the laces etc?

Do coats get swapped everyday? Do you hose yourself down everytime you do the zip up or down?

Let’s be realistic. This is here for years, and we are all going to get it. Most of you doing all the washing have probably had it anyway

Its ridiculous. I unwrap the plastic and throw it away and wash my hands
All this bleach and detergent is also very unhealthy

• and put away.

I do my weekly/fortnightly shop a bit at a time. I have a work top and have is clean and half is for wiping. As I wipe I out the cleaned stuff in the clean side. When the clean side gets full, I wash hands then put shopping away and then carry on with the next batch and so on.
I empty, some stuff straight into tubs etc.
Ive been using wipes with waahing up liquid and a dilute bleach spray.
I remove all cardboard and bin it. I then wipe everything thoroughly, dry it off with tea towels (that go straight on a long boil wash afterwards). I write dates in the food inside the cardboard packaging, usually in cellophanne/plastic with a sharpie.
Loose fruit and veg I thoroughly wash in a bowl of water. It then gets washed or peeled again before use.
I then thoroughly clean the kitchen including floor, handles etc
The whole process can take upto 2 hours but then I'm only shopping weekly or fortnightly for 4 adults so it's a huge shop and the I've got the time to do it, even though it's monotonous.
I might be being OTT but we have kidney disease and asthma in our house. My immune system has never beeb the same since i had cancer and although ive been clear a few years now I am susceptible to so much normally every since I am cautious.

Yes, I wipe everything. But my shopping isn't huge, I live on my own and don't eat huge amounts.

I have a large quantity of hospital strength liquid sanitiser and I use this on everything. Carefully and thoroughly wipe down every piece of packaging, bottle or jar and thoroughly wash fruit. I also wipe down my large carrier bags and wash all kitchen surfaces after this, thoroughly washing hands in-between procedures.

If I've been to the shops I use gloves, mask etc., and put clothes in the wash afterwards too. And I never wear outdoor shoes in the house anyway, even before this crisis.

@FreyaB84 That is seriously concerning behaviour your relative is exhibiting. Some people are going to be seriously unwell after this.

All those people washing their food/packaging...

do you also do this when there's a flu outbreak in the neighbourhood? Or norovirus?

I don't wipe shopping down, just wash my hands regularly. I know of someone (who is neither elderly nor vulnerable) who strips off after shopping and puts everything on a hot wash, then wipes all shopping down with bleach etc. To me that seems verging on obsessive. This virus will now probably be around for ever and will rear it's ugly head with monotonous regularity (a bit like norovirus does). Life for me is too short to spend the rest of it doing this excessive cleaning. There is no evidence it is transferred via shopping, although I can understand if you are very vulnerable (like a friend who needs a double lung transplant) why you would go to such measures, 'just in case'.

Nope. Nor do I quarantine my post or packages.

Just wash my hands after handling as I have always done.