Millions of Americans suffer from allergies every day, causing itchy eyes, headache, blocked sinuses, and runny nose. If you are allergic to pesky dust and pollen, you are fighting a bigger battle because these allergic particles are not only in the air outside but also inside your home. Surprisingly, indoor air carries more pollutants than outdoor air. Cleaning Industry research institute reported that a well-organized cleaning program repeated after a few days could improve indoor air quality.
For those who work from home, you have to endure this problem even more often. Here, we have listed several essential things that you can implement to improve indoor air quality and say goodbye to allergies.
1: Use humidity controllers
Low moisture or a little too much humidity can be problematic, especially for those who have respiratory conditions. If there is too much moisturize, it makes the environment favorable for the growth of fungus and too little moisture causes the allergen particles like dust and animal fur to fly around the house. This is why it’s important to find the right level of humidity and maintain it inside your house.
For this purpose, you can utilize a humidifier or a dehumidifier, depending on the condition of your home. Air conditioners during warmer days also help to control the growth of mold around the furniture.
2: Clean floors
No matter how clean your floors look, we just cannot avoid contaminating them over and over again throughout the day. People coming from the outside can bring particles of dust and allergens with their shoes when your pets can be the carriers.
Cleaning the floor could be easy, but these dust particles get entrapped in the carpet and could get looked over during regular cleaning. That is why cleaning the rug and carpets must be done at least once or twice a week.
3: Clean toys
Children are most susceptible to allergies due to weak immune systems, and unfortunately, they are the ones who get more exposed to them. Children can become attached to their favorite toy and bring them along everywhere, increasing the exposure to pollutants. They also tend to put them in their mouth. So do not forget to clean the toys.
You do not have to use harsh cleaning chemicals for this purpose, just a simple wash in a washing machine or dishwasher or with vinegar every one or two weeks. However, if any stuffed toy is non-washable, you can put them in the refrigerator and freeze away all the dust mites.
4: Wash rugs and bathmats
The friendliest environment for mold to grow can be your bathrooms, as continuous use of water adds a little too much moisture in the air. From shower curtains to bath rugs to towels to wall cabinets, all could entrap moisture and dust over time and allow the mold to grow there. Do not forget to pay a little attention to the bathroom mat, curtains, and towels on your laundry day.
It is better to go for bathroom mats that are washable in the machine. If the weather is good, you should open bathroom doors and windows to allow cross ventilation for one hour a day. It will lower the moisture and humidity level.
5: Brush your pets
Pets can be the carrier of dust particles from outside as much as humans can be. Moreover, they shed dander and hair over time, which may continuously add extra allergens to your house, so keep that under consideration on the cleaning days if you have pets at home.
You can eliminate the change of unnecessary hair moving around your house by regularly brushing your pet’s hair on certain days in a specified area of the house and dispose of it properly. You can use lint rollers to remove stubborn pet hair from your blankets and furniture.
6: Leave your shoes out
One of the primary sources of bringing bacteria and dirt inside the house is through footwear. That is why you should have a separate pair of shoes for outdoor and fluffy slippers for inside the house. Always remove the shoe that you wore outside before entering the door to prevent transmission of allergens everywhere. However, do not leave your shoes strewn around, instead, buy a shoe rack and organize them.
Plan a day to clean all the shoes regularly. You can also buy a doormat and place it outside the entrance door. This will minimize the chance of dirt entering inside.
7: Be mindful of flowers and plants
Plants and flowers add extra freshness and colors to our environment. However, this could be an awful experience for those who have pollen or other allergies. Therefore, if you want to have allergy-free air inside your house, be smart with décor choices. Always check with your family members before keeping any indoor plants. If they do not have any medical history, keep the plants in clean pots and do not pour water.
For better information, consult your local nursery for proper guidance or search online to identify which is safe to keep inside the house.
Takeaway
Since we can not remove all the allergens from our environment, the least we could do is to stop tracking them into the house from the outside. Regularly cleaning the floor, floor mats, bathroom rugs, towels, and shoes can eliminate the dirt particles from building up inside the home. Do not forget to wash the toys and pay attention to your pets.
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