When you are preparing to clean after a flood, start with safety. Wear water proof gloves when handling flood contaminated materials. Also, wash your hands and face often - with soap and drinking quality water.

You should have two goals, to clean and to disinfect household items. Household cleaners help remove dirt after a flood. Disinfectants help stop the growth of disease causing microorganisms carried in flood water. Powdered or liquid cleaners are more practical and much less expensive than aerosol products. Since large areas will probably need to be cleaned, buy cleaners and disinfectants in the largest size available to reduce their costs.

All products are not suitable for all uses. Before using any product, refer to the label for specific directions. Household ammonia and trisodium phosphate work well on hard surfaces, such as walls, woodwork, linoleum floors and tile. Liquid household cleaners such as Top Job, Ajax, Spic n Span and others remove mud, silt and greasy deposits from hard surfaces. Chlorine bleach disinfectants, used in diluted form may be used to rinse carpets and furniture. Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia; the fumes are toxic.

All purpose detergents such as Tide, Wisk and Cheer, work well on moderately or more heavily soiled washable textiles. Use a diluted solution of chlorine bleach to disinfect textiles that are safe for chlorine. Use Lysol, or pine oil disinfectants such as Pine Sol to disinfect all other washable textiles. If items made of wool or silk are damaged, confer with a professional dry cleaner.

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