I always have to wonder how thorough the cleaning was in between guests and what is on the mattress in my hotel room. Nothing against people who clean hotel rooms for a living as I know they have a truly hard job and many work extremely hard at these jobs for their families.
The entire concept of a hotel room is a literal hot bed for germs regardless of the scrub down completed by the hotel staff.
There was one time I checked into a hotel after arriving on a very late flight. As I stepped into my room I stepped on something that made a crunch noise. When I turned on the light I found the room’s carpet was covered in broken Dorritos. The red patterned carpet did little to hide these chips. Seriously, there was no way the cleaning person would have missed this when they came in to change over the bed and clean the bathroom. They were everywhere!
Or the time I walked into a room to find the bathroom hadn’t been cleaned at all. I mean at all. The toilet hadn’t even been flushed and there were wet towels on the floor. Yet the bed was made and rest of the room was in order.
The list goes on of these unfortunate situations and as a result I’ve become increasingly wary of hotel rooms in general. Given all the travel I did for work there was little choice about staying in a hotel so I started arming myself with disinfectant wipes and other arsenal of things I could apply to give me a piece of mind while at a hotel.
Whenever possible, I book the hotels that have PURE rooms. These rooms are required to be deep cleaned at least every 6 months and must follow a protocol to ensure they meet the PURE allergy standards. The rooms have an air purifier in them and the mattress is covered in hypo-allergenic coverings. They even use tea tree oil on the heat and air unit’s filter to cleanse the air. Sometimes these rooms will cost about $20-$30 extra but if you ask upon check-in if one is available they will sometimes upgrade you to it at no cost.
The standards for a PURE room are honestly what should be applied to every hotel room.
To find hotels with PURE rooms use their website: http://www.pureroom.com/find_a_pure_room
Upon walking into a room I immediately put my luggage by the door and retrieve my disinfectant wipes. I do my own wipe down of the door knobs, remotes, phone and bathroom. For the price of some of these hotel rooms you wouldn’t think that would be necessary but try it for yourself next time you go into a hotel room and see what comes up on that wipe.
The door knobs and remotes are always the worse.
Neither of these are hardly ever cleaned by staff.
Take a minute the next time you’re in a hotel room and think about how many hands have touched the doors in your hotel room.
There have been countless news stories of MRSA and other diseases found on remotes. These stories will make you not want to ever touch another hotel room remote in your life.
Then there is the beast in the room.
The Bed.
I have taken to making a mattress and linen spray to make sure the bedding is clean and the mattress is moderately safe.
Hotel Spray
In a 4oz spray bottle add:
3 drops Eucalyptus
3 drops Lemon
3 drops Lavender
3 drops Melaleuca
3 drops Purify
3 drops Peppermint
Fill rest with Witch Hazel
Shake well and spray bedding, mattress and towels.
I’ve also been known to use this spray on the carpet so when I take my shoes off I at least have some assurance it’s somewhat safe.
This will clear out any germs as well as give the room a very nice spa like smell.
Interested in more?
I use doTERRA essential oils because of their purity. What the label says is in the bottle is all that it is in the bottle. There are never any chemicals, synthetics or fillers. If you’re going to invest in essential oils and use them like I do for hotel spray, then make sure you are using actually real 100% pure essential oils.
If you have questions about essential oils please contact me via this blog or dragonspitapothecary@aol.com
Get your oils at my website my.doterra.com/dragonspitapothecary.com
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