Sterilizing used kennels

[NatJ]

I tried looking this up and all I could find was was with soap and water. Is the best way just soap and water or is there a better way of going about that?

I would certainly wash them with water (soap optional) until they LOOK clean, before sterilizing. That way there won't be germs hiding inside clumps of dirt, manure, feathers, etc.

Sunshine can also kill germs, so getting them visually clean and then sitting them in the sun for a few days might be another option.

 

[jher77]

Mixing bleach with ammonia (which is in dish soap) creates toxic gases.

I've been mixing bleach with dish soap for decades. I have breathed chloromine gas before. Not hardly the same thing.

 

[Iluveggers]

Lysol kills almost every virus, so a good spray of the whole thing after cleaning would be easy and help a lot.

 

[saysfaa]

This is a list of the products approved/recommened/suggested by the usda for disinfecting poultry housing after bird flu.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/downloads/ai-virus-table.pdf

I'll save y'all some time. Most are chlorine bleach, peroxide, or iodine and all are to be used according to the directions on their packaging.

For bleach to work, the object has to be clean as in no dirt. Otherwise the the dirt neutralizes the bleach before it has time to kill all the microbes. Probably the others also need it clean first.

I agree sunshine also works; the problem, when the object isn't flat, is getting direct sunlight on all parts of all surfaces. That may or may not matter... maybe mostly disinfecting is enough. Personally, I'd probably do soap and water followed by sunlight. On second thought, maybe not this year with the higher risk of Avian Influenza out there - I probably would use soap and water, then bleach, then sunlight/airing it. The last, to let it dry, to let the bleach dissipate, and because - why not?