The One Thing That Reliably Kills Norovirus and How to Keep it From Spreading in Your Home

Unfortunately, the bug is resistant to most disinfectants and hand sanitizers.

December 17, 2025

gloved hand using a sponge to clean a surface

Norovirus could be on its way into your home as you read this. It’s having an earlier-than-usual surge this winter, likely due to the rise of a new and potentially more infectious variant, GII.17. If someone you live with does come down with the nasty stomach bug, you’ll want to do everything in your power to keep it from making the rounds. The tricky thing is many common disinfectants (containing ingredients like ammonia and alcohol), hand sanitizers, and even Clorox and Lysol wipes often do not fully kill norovirus. You’re going to need the hard stuff: a bleach solution…and a strong arm.

That’s because norovirus is a sturdy little bugger. Unlike plenty of other common viruses, like COVID-19 and the flu, which are surrounded by a fat membrane (or “envelope”), norovirus is secured in a very strong protein shell called a capsid, Lauren Pischel, MD, MSc, an infectious disease specialist and instructor at Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. Cleaning agents, hand sanitizer, and soap have a difficult time dissolving that hard protein layer, she explains. Thanks to this mighty shield and its ability to survive at a wide range of temperatures, norovirus can also live on surfaces for as long as a couple weeks.

Read on to learn how this notoriously contagious microbe can infiltrate a home—and what actually kills norovirus on surfaces and hands.

Understanding how norovirus spreads can help you figure out what and where to clean.

Because norovirus wreaks its havoc on the GI tract (triggering vomiting and diarrhea), it typically spreads through tiny poop and vomit particles. That might seem most relevant for someone who’s directly caring for, say, a young child and helping them go to the bathroom—which is certainly one path to catching it, Dr. Pischel says. But these little bits can also travel in less apparent ways: For example, a sick person uses the bathroom and doesn’t wash their hands well before shaking your hand or grabbing a doorknob that you then touch, and then you eat or touch your mouth; or their hands still contain some of the virus when they prepare food, which you then eat.

There’s also the ever-grosser possibility that the virus becomes aerosolized (or dispersed into the air) because of how forcefully someone vomits or when they flush their diarrhea, Dr. Pischel says. If you’re in the vicinity, you could unfortunately inhale it and get infected that way—but even if not, it’s possible that you could pick it up by touching any surface within the splash zone (sorry) where particles may have settled.

The worst part: Getting exposed to even a minuscule number of viral particles is enough to make you sick, Dr. Pischel says. Research suggests as few as 18 can do it. (For reference, it’s thought to take around 100 particles to get sick from COVID.) To visualize how little exposure that entails, consider that one gram of poop (picture a quarter teaspoon) from a person with norovirus can include billions of viral particles. And it’s thought that as many as 10,000 can linger on surfaces that get contaminated. So in terms of cleaning, you’ll want to consider not only a bathroom that’s been subject to the GI mayhem of norovirus, but also any other object or surface that may have been touched or sprayed by an infected person.

How to effectively kill norovirus and keep it from ripping through your household

1. Use bleach to disinfect hard surfaces.

As mentioned, many typical household cleaning sprays and wipes aren’t sufficient to get rid of norovirus. According to the CDC, what actually kills norovirus is a chlorine bleach solution—which you can make by combining 5 to 25 tablespoons of household bleach with a gallon of water.

Worth noting: You can also buy a cleaning product registered by the EPA as effective against norovirus, many of which are also chlorine-bleach-based (including extra-strong health care-grade Clorox wipes) and some of which include other active ingredients like quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) or hydrogen peroxide. However, according to the CDC, because of the way they’re tested in a lab, they may not be quite as effective at killing norovirus in real life as the bleach solution above.

Here’s how to clean any hard surface that may have gotten contaminated with norovirus-laden poop or vomit particles:

Put on disposable gloves and a mask (to keep from touching your face) as well as clothing you can easily wash right after.
Use paper towels to wipe up any visible vomit or poop and then throw them in a plastic trash bag. (Clearing up what you can see first lowers the burden you’re placing on the bleach, allowing it to work as effectively as possible.)
Apply your bleach solution using a spray bottle, sponge, paper towel, or other disposable item, and let it sit for five minutes (or follow instructions on the bottle if you’re using a cleaning product on the EPA list).
Wipe it off with a disposable item and toss that in your trash bag.
Clean the area with soap and hot water using a fresh sponge or paper towel and then throw that away.
Pop your disposable gloves in the trash bag too, and take it out. Then, wash your hands and throw your clothes into the washing machine (more on this below).

And for soft surfaces like carpets and sofas? Carefully wipe up any visible bodily fluids while wearing disposable gloves and a mask, and then use a steam cleaner. (These generally heat up well beyond the 140 degrees Fahrenheit necessary to zap norovirus.)

2. Wash clothing on the hottest setting possible.

You’ll also want to give special treatment to any clothes that might be harboring norovirus particles—especially anything with visible vomit or poop stains, items someone wore when throwing up, or clothes you had on while cleaning afterward—and ASAP.

Before doing anything, put on a fresh pair of disposable gloves and a mask. Carefully carry these clothes to your washing machine with as little movement as possible to keep viral particles from shaking off. (If you’re bringing them to a laundromat, transport them in a plastic bag that you can throw out immediately after.) Then, run them at the highest temperature setting on the longest cycle (with both detergent and bleach, if the fabric allows), and dry them at high heat, Dr. Pischel says.

3. Disinfect any utensils or dishes the sick person uses.

It’s helpful to designate plates, cups, and utensils that the sick person will use while they’re experiencing symptoms and for two days afterward, and ensure everyone else in your home steers clear of those during that time. Dr. Pischel notes that a dishwasher on high heat may kill norovirus (particularly if it has a “sanitize” setting, which generally entails reaching a temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit). But she says it’s still good practice to have the sick person use specific kitchen items that others don’t touch and to run these in their own dishwasher cycle.

If you don’t have a dishwasher with a high-heat or sanitizing setting or you need to share utensils or dishware among family members, you can disinfect these items by both washing them thoroughly and soaking them in a bleach solution. In this case, one tablespoon per gallon of water will do. Here’s what to do: While wearing disposable gloves and a mask, scrape off any leftover food, then wash the items in hot soapy water and thoroughly rinse before soaking them in the bleach solution for at least one minute. Then, pull them out and let them air-dry.

4. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

You can’t rely on hand sanitizer to kill norovirus because, again, the main ingredient (a form of alcohol) isn’t capable of degrading the virus’s tough exterior. Though hand soap may also lack the power to effectively quash norovirus, there’s a separate benefit to using it: You scrub your hands with it and then rinse it off—so you’re actively dislodging virus particles and sending them down the drain, Dr. Pischel explains.

Indeed, research shows that rubbing your fingers together while washing your hands is an effective strategy for reducing the number of norovirus particles lingering there. Dr. Pischel recommends following typical good handwashing technique: Wet your hands with warm water, lather up with soap, and rub vigorously for about 20 seconds before rising thoroughly.

You certainly want to wash your hands at the normal times when you’re looking to minimize norovirus spread (like after using the bathroom or changing a diaper), but it’s also good practice to do so whenever you come into contact with the person who has norovirus or anything they’ve touched since becoming ill.

Throughout the time while you’re living, eating, and sleeping in the sick person’s vicinity, also make a point to avoid touching your face and mouth, Dr. Pischel adds. That’ll lower your chances of ingesting norovirus (and getting sick from it), should any of it still wind up on your hands despite your best cleaning efforts. Wearing a mask while in your home for this whole period of time is also good practice for two reasons: It’ll ensure you don’t inadvertently touch your mouth, and it’ll help shield you from breathing in any errant viral particles in the air.