Which Common Household Cleaners Work Against the Coronavirus?

In grocery stores and at pharmacies across the country, shelves have been emptying—first of hand sanitizer, then of toilet paper and non-perishable food, and now of disinfectants and cleaning supplies. Before you rush to the store to panic-buy any cleaning-product bottle that remains, do three things:

1. Take stock of the cleaning products you already have at home.
2. Consult this extremely helpful list of household disinfectants, published by the American Chemistry Council’s Center for Biocide Chemistries and pre-approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. It spells out clearly the products they believe protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
3. Cross-reference and, hopefully, delight in the fact that you can skip that anxiety-inducing run to the store.

So what’s on the list? There are scores of commercially available products you’ve likely never heard of as well as plenty of others that you almost certainly have, like Clorox 4-in-1 Disinfecting Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Spray. Unfortunately, the big-name products are mostly sold out. If you don’t already have something on this list at home, we recommend that you dive deep and see what’s available at industrial retailers, like this disinfectant cleaner from 3M. You could buy in bulk and split the cost with your neighbors.

The list is not exhaustive, and a product’s placement on it does not constitute an endorsement from the EPA. For example, additional disinfectants may meet the criteria to fight against SARS-CoV-2 but are not listed. But it’s a tremendous start and a great reassurance to see tons of products from several household names like Lysol, Purell, and Clorox on the list.

“Using the correct disinfectant is an important part of preventing and reducing the spread of illnesses along with other critical aspects such as hand washing,” says Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator. “EPA is providing this important information in a public and transparent manner on disinfectant products to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

Coronaviruses, thankfully, are “enveloped viruses.” That means they’re one of the easiest viruses to kill off with the appropriate disinfectant.

However, it’s often not as simple as a quick wipe-up job, even if you have the right product. It’s critical that you pay close attention to the product’s directions. Among other things, that means allowing the correct amount of sitting time per the label’s instructions. For instance, some products have to sit on a countertop for 10 minutes in order to effectively kill the coronavirus.

But that’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind that true disinfecting brings. So check out your pantry, consult the list, read the instructions carefully, and get to work. Before you know it, you’ll feel reassured that you’ve kicked any coronavirus pathogens on your counter to the curb.