The ultimate house cleaning during chemo guide

It is important to keep ourselves neat and clean, but when it’s come to a cancer patient, it’s mandatory because when a person infected by cancer, his/her immune system dramatically decreased and so many side effects have emerged.

Besides, there is every other way to worsen their health if the house is not properly cleaned during chemo. Though it is difficult to make our house always organized and disinfected, there is no alternative to ensure the proper safety and hygiene inside the house the patient will stay.

house cleaning during chemo

Here you will get a bunch of information about house cleaning during chemo.

What is cleaning during chemo?

In general, cleaning is the activity of disposing of unpleasant substances like dust, infectious agents, and other unusual things from the house or environment. But cleaning during chemo means taking special care of removing impurities by using different disinfects as well as in general things like removing dust, cleaning cloths, cleaning the carpet of floors, so that the infectious agents cannot harm the patient. Though cleaning may occur in different forms.

The difference between normal cleaning and cleaning during chemo

Although it looks like the same things and the same procedures of cleaning home there is a significant difference between them. Chemo can create multiple side effects relying on the other medical problems a cancer patient has, the drugs, the doses, and how chemo reacts to these things. With the passage of time, most of the side effects go away, but few of them can go longer. Few things can give you proper guidance to know what you should do during this time.

The body takes a few days to throw away from the drugs after taking chemo. At this time, the person should wear hand gloves when cleaning up any elements around the cancer patient like vomit, urine, tears, clothes, and then one must wash his/her hands with a proper hand sanitizer to free from germs and other infectious.

It would be better to clean up bed sheets and clothes in a separate washer from other family members’ clothes. The diapers and sanitary equipment used by the cancer patient throw away in the trash placing at a long distance. After doing all the things wash your hands by maintaining a good manner.

In terms of normal house cleaning, the process is simple and easy to do. Though germs can remain in both time and in everywhere in a house. What do we do at a normal time? We just use disinfectants and vacuum cleaner to clean up the floor and the furniture, wash our clothes in the same washing machine for the whole family members. While we clean our house regularly, the cleaning chain could be broken due to the busyness of the professional schedule.

Why home cleaning is important for chemo patient?

Our home is our haven. It is a place where our family members can take rest and work as a place of protection. Making our home neat and clean can ensure safety during critical situations. It also suppresses the outspread of illness. Which is crucial for the cancer patient.

Chemotherapy and other therapy-related to cancer can reduce the immune system of a cancer patient. There is some type of cancer that advance directly through the bones and can also weaken the immune system. Besides, cancer affected people are more vulnerable to weakness and infection. They can be affected by cold, food poisoning, the flu, etc. due to germs, dust, and some other dirty things. 

Proper cleaning can also minimize the risk of getting infected by the poison of some medications a cancer patient received. As I said before the effects of chemotherapy may stay at least seven days in the body of a patient, so at this time someone must take special care when cleaning the house for cancer patients, like cleaning toilets, laundry, etc. So, we can easily realize that how important it is to clean up the house during chemo.

The ways of keeping the house clean during chemo

As cancer patient becomes very weak and their immune system reaches in a vulnerable position, so it is difficult for them to clean up their house regularly like they have done it before diagnosed with cancer. So, the following ways they can follow to clean up their house:

Break Down the task in multiple session

Home cleaning for cancer patients is extremely important but it is tough to do it by themselves because during the time of treatment they get too tired and weak that’s why a small task like dishwashing, clothes ironing, and vacuuming the carpets could even be a burden. So, they can break down their time into different sessions of their work. Each session will hold a shorter period so that they won’t get tired and lose excessive energy.

Ask for help

Most of the cancer patients become unable to do their tasks so, in that case, they can get help from the closest individuals, like family members, relatives, and friends, or even from house workers. Though it is hard for many individuals to accept help from others, allowing others to do household chores could make a strong relationship and become easy to overcome this tough situation.

Hiring a professional cleaning service

It is a great option for a cancer patient to reduce their stress and regain energy. Nowadays, there is so many profitable and non-profitable organization who are doing professional house cleaning for a cancer patient. In the case of profitable organizations, they have different rates of doing this task. So, the patient can select any of the options and allow them to make the house clean. In the meantime, non-profit organizations are giving these services without any money.

Best cleaning supplies for cancer patients

Most of us want a clean and fresh environment inside our home. As a consequence, we all try to use different cleaning products with fragrance to wash or clean our home, but we never try to know what type of ingredients are used to make these common products that are available in the market. We never ask ourselves is it safe? The reality is most of the products don’t have a complete label with the full list of ingredients. They just use unclear terms, like preservative or colorant. 

Softeners, soaps, polish and specialized cleaners, detergents can give you a clean sparkling house, but unfortunately, these cleaners may fall you into dangerous health problems. Especially for the cancer patient who is taking chemo and facing a lower level of the immune system.

There are three ways of getting perfect cleaning products or chemo disinfectants:

  • Existing products in the market
  • Natural products
  • Making your own product

Existing products in the market: You can choose a cleaning product which is available in the market and having a proper ingredients label. Try to avoid fragrance which affects health.

Natural Products: The things you will get from nature will always be good and don’t have any health risks. You can use natural products to clean up your houses, like lemon, white vinegar, baking soda, castile soap, coconut oil, borax, and washing soda.

Create your own products:  You can create products by yourself, like spray or toilet bowl cleaner. The following ways you can make these products:

Wonder Spray

You can use this spray for multiple purposes, like toilet cleaning, counters, tiles, and floor cleaning, sink, and tub.

  • 2 tsp. Borax
  • ¼ c all-natural liquid dish soap
  • 24 oz. boil water
  • ¼ c white vinegar
  • 20 drops essential oil (such as a combination of citrus, lavender, and tea tree)

Melt Borax in boil water. Then take it to a spray bottle of 32-oz with vinegar. After that add essential oil as well as dish soap. Finally, shake it to mix properly and you will get a healthy cleaning spray

Toilet Pan Cleaner

  • A handful of baking soda
  • 1 cup white vinegar

Discharge white vinegar into the toilet and throw it in baking soda to submerge for about 10 minutes. Wash with a toilet brush.

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