4/24/2020 What You Need to Clean When You’re Staying at a Hotel - WSJ

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JOURNAL REPORTS: HEALTH CARE

What You Need to Clean When You’re

Staying at a Hotel
Protect yourself from the coronavirus by using disinfectant wipes on high-touch surfaces such as
doorknobs, flush handles and light switches

For a hotel stay, pack your disinfectant wipes—and don’t hesitate to approach management about
its cleaning regimens.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES ISTOCKPHOTO

By Beth DeCarbo
Updated April 23, 2020 10 01 pm ET

When it’s time to travel, save some space in your suitcase for disinfecting wipes.

Just as in homes, high-touch surfaces in hotel rooms need frequent cleaning to keep them free
of germs. As a precautionary measure—or just for peace of mind—guests can disinfect things
like doorknobs, flush handles, light switches and the remote control. Use disinfectant wipes
that meet the EPA’s criteria for use against the coronavirus, and be sure to let the product air
dry.

Give extra attention to the bathroom. In a 2015 study published in the Journal of Environmental
Health, researchers who tested a sampling of hotel rooms for cleanliness found high levels of
contamination in the bathroom sink, the floor and toilet basin. They also looked at mops and

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4/24/2020 What You Need to Clean When You’re Staying at a Hotel - WSJ

sponges on housekeepers’ cleaning carts and found bacterial levels that were “too numerous to
count.”

In addition to cleaning the sink area, toilet seat and flush handle with your disinfectant wipes,
use the wipes on your personal items, such as a comb, that may have been touched by
housekeeping. (Optional: Soak your toothbrush in an antiseptic mouthwash, such as Listerine,
for up to 15 minutes.) Wearing slippers should protect you from any pathogens on the floor.

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Though sheets, pillowcases and towels are laundered between guests, the bedspreads or
comforters may not be. But it’s unclear if a bedspread would pose a significant risk. Research
published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month looked at the lifespan of
the new coronavirus on various surfaces but didn’t include fabric.

Most important, however, is diligent handwashing throughout your stay. Things like hotel
handrails, elevator buttons and even the handle to the ice machine can be a home for
pathogens. Rather than rely on just the complimentary itty-bitty bars of soap, bring along some
liquid soap with a pump dispenser. It also serves as a visual reminder to keep your hands clean.

If you want to bypass the drinking glasses or coffee mugs typically found in hotel rooms, bring a
personal bottle or mug from home—one per guest. And, alas, don’t raid the room’s minibar for
cleaning products. The alcohol content of most liquors falls far below the 60% minimum
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sanitizing.

A number of hotel brands are developing new measures to address coronavirus fears. Marriott
International Inc., for example, plans to deploy electrostatic sprayers, which deliver an electric
charge to a disinfectant to help it adhere to surfaces. Hotels of privately held Four Seasons
Holdings Inc. are currently testing ozone air purifiers and germicidal ultraviolet-light
technology in several properties. Executives at Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. are considering
temporarily removing disposable pens, notepads, menus and other paper items from rooms
because they are handled by multiple people.

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4/24/2020 What You Need to Clean When You’re Staying at a Hotel - WSJ

For their part, guests shouldn’t hesitate to approach hotel management about its cleaning
regimens.

“Start to ask questions proactively: ‘What can I expect when I stay here?’ ” says Phil Cordell,
Hilton’s global head of brand development.

Ms. DeCarbo writes the Counting House column in The Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section.
She can be reached at beth.decarbo@wsj.com.

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