Dirty hotel rooms and rental cars can put countless guests and drivers at risk of getting sick. Improperly cleaned surfaces such as counters, surfaces, light switches, doorknobs, and handles can cause diseases such as COVID-19, the norovirus, rhinovirus, influenza, and more to spread like wildfire throughout your facility, or in rental cars, from one driver to the next.
Below are some of the most common infections that guests, travelers, hotel staff, and rental car drivers are likely to get from dirty hotels & rental cars, and effective tips for preventing the spread of illness and disease in your hotel, rental car, or another public business.
Illnesses and Diseases Caused by Dirty Rental Cars and Hotels
COVID-19 can live several days on certain types of surfaces. Norovirus can spread quickly and easily from one person to the next through contaminated food or surfaces. Below are some of the most common illnesses and diseases caused by dirty hotels and rental cars, and information on how and where they are most likely to spread.
- COVID-19 - SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can live on surfaces for up to several days on certain surfaces, such as tables and countertops, switches, phones, toilets, faucets, sinks, and doorknobs/car door handles. From March 2020 to October 2020, there have been roughly 8,946,413 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.
- Norovirus - norovirus spreads quickly and easily on surfaces such as contaminated counters, tables, light switches, bars, pools, toilet seat handles, doorknobs, car door handles, and inner car surfaces.
- Rhinovirus & Influenza - also known as the common cold and flu, rhinovirus and influenza can live on surfaces for up to 24 hours and are spread through touching, sneezing, and coughing. Areas where this virus is most easily spread include doorknobs, car door handles, fitness equipment, dashboards, and steering wheels.
- MRSA (Staph) - this virus is incredibly difficult to treat and is resistant to most antibiotics. It's commonly spread through skin to skin contact or skin to surface contact, such as using or touching shared objects and surfaces. It can most often be found on pool chairs, dining chairs and tables, bathtubs, car seats, seat belts, and other inner rental car surfaces.
- E. Coli - typically, E. Coli is spread through consuming contaminated meat or improperly cleaned produce, but it can also be spread via dirty bathrooms and poor hygiene. If a car renter or guest at a hotel do not wash their hands after using the restroom and touch other surfaces, this could result in E. Coli being spread throughout your hotel or in your rental car. In hotels, problem areas for this virus to be spread include tables, countertops, kitchen areas, light switches, toilets, sinks, and trash cans, and doorknobs.
Tips & Products That Can Help You Prevent the Spread of Illness and Disease in Your Rental Car or Hotel
Many germs can survive on surfaces anywhere between 24-48 hours up to several weeks in the case of norovirus.
While it's important to regularly clean your hotel and rental car, simply cleaning will not prevent viruses from spreading - but disinfecting frequently can help. When disinfecting your rental car or hotel, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Providing your guests and rental car drivers with easily accessible disposable disinfecting wipes so they can do their own cleaning during their stay or rental lease not only helps them feel safe and secure but helps reduce the likelihood of viruses spreading on shared surfaces.
- Using disposable disinfecting wipes to clean common areas and bathrooms is ideal, as it prevents germs from being spread via contaminated cleaning cloths (again, remember, the norovirus can live on surfaces for several weeks and spreads from skin to skin contact or skin to object contact)
Purchasing enough disinfectant wipes to ensure that your hotel and rental cars are frequently cleaned can quickly add up. However, buying dry solution wipes or center-pull rolls can be a cost-effective and convenient solution for making sure that your facility or rental car is safe from illnesses & diseases.
Precision Dry Wipes
These wipes quickly absorb chemical solutions and can be used with a variety of disinfectant solutions, making them perfect for frequent disinfecting around hotels or rental car surfaces, as well as rigorous deep cleaning. And, since they can be used to refill existing canisters, they are the perfect option for placing throughout your hotel or in your rental cars to remind guests and renters to frequently clean all shared surfaces.
Center-Pull Rolls
Center-pull rolls are perfect for use during in-depth daily cleaning sessions and when sanitizing rental cars. These cellulose-based cleaning wipes can be purchased in bulk and feature a special binder, making them not only tough and strong but cost-effective to boot.
Contact Mednik Riverbend
If you are in the hotel or rental car business, making sure that your guests and clients have a safe and sanitary experience is vital. With so many people using your services and touching the same surfaces, you need to not just do a quick clean between check-outs and rental leases, but learn the difference between cleaning and disinfecting and create a plan to make sure that your guests and clients are always safe and know that they can trust you to provide them with a clean and positive customer experience.
If you don't currently have a routine disinfecting plan in place, it can be overwhelming and impossible to figure out where you should start. Mednik Riverbend takes pride in finding the best solutions for our clients' needs and can help you find the most effective and convenient solution for disinfecting your hotel or rental cars to prevent the spread of illness and diseases. We'll help you find the right products for your needs, teach you the myriad of ways that our disinfectant wipes and other products can be used, and show you how our products can not only save you time money in the long-run but help you be confident that you are doing everything you can to prevent the spread of germs in your facility or rental cars.
If you have questions about why you should be regularly disinfecting your hotel and rental cars in addition to frequently cleaning shared surfaces, or would like to know more about our custom engineered dry wipe disinfecting program, contact Mednik Riverbend today.