“You can think of it as being melted, if you like, by high temperatures,” Cannon says. “And once that happens the virus particle is no longer intact and can no longer infect anything.”
But how high does the temperature need to be? According to Philip M. Tierno, Ph.D., a clinical professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University, most pathogens, including the coronavirus, will die at 212° F.
Steam mops can get up to that temperature, but you’d have to hold the mop in place for at least 10 minutes at a time for it to be effective. And that’s the catch: Steaming your floor for minutes at a time can kill pathogens—and also damage your floor. (Steam can pop tiles and force its way under wood floor boards and warp them.)
Furthermore, some steam mops require you to manually pump them to generate steam, which means the temperature may fluctuate, making it hard to tell whether you’re really killing any germs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not recommend disinfecting floors in general to prevent the spread of the coronavirus even if someone in your home is sick with COVID-19. But it does advise disinfecting any areas that may have blood, stool, or bodily fluids on them—so maybe the bathroom floor.
But while a steam mop could be effective for that, you’re better off wiping your floors with an Environmental Protection Agency-registered household disinfectant, such as a bleach solution for nonporous flooring or Lysol Disinfectant Spray for wood floors. You may also be able to use other common household cleaners that kill germs. (Check to make sure the product is recommended for use on the type of flooring you have.)
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August 02, 2020 at 05:00PM
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Can a Steam Mop Kill Germs? - ConsumerReports.org
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