5 Ways To Reduce Allergens In Your Home
How to Clean The Air Inside Your Home
During the most allergy-prone seasons, many allergy sufferers choose to hide away indoors, in an attempt to avoid seasonal sources of dry throats and sneezing. Yet, experts have found that the pollution levels inside your home may be more dangerous than the ones outside, by two to five times!
It’s not uncommon for allergens to lurk around your home — sometimes in the most unexpected of places. From curtains and cushions, to your children’s bedsheets, there are so many ideal spots within the average house where allergens can grow and thrive. Pet dander, dust mites, pollen, mold, and various other forms of airborne allergens can accumulate to add misery to anyone’s day – especially if your HVAC system isn’t in the best shape. Following are some tips on how you can reduce allergens within your home.
1. Know the Details of Effective Dusting
By far, one of the quickest and most useful ways to reduce allergens in the home is to demolish dust. The reason for this is that dust mites trigger asthma and allergy symptoms on a regular basis. Over time, excessive exposure to dust mites can trigger asthma in children who haven’t previously displayed any symptoms. So if you have young children around the home, it’s particularly important to start a regular dusting routine.
Poor dusting practices can make symptoms worse, by making allergen particles airborne – so make sure that you use a moist cloth, that’s capable of attracting dust, rather than spreading it around. If you have allergen issues yourself, consider using a mask while cleaning, and attempt to minimize clutter throughout your rooms wherever possible.
2. Have Your HVAC System Serviced
Because dust mites are attracted to moisture, and mold thrives on the same element, air conditioners that help to minimize humidity within the home can help to reduce allergens. However, it is important to change filters within the system regularly, and follow any maintenance or service instructions as recommended by the system manufacturer. If you begin to suspect that your air conditioning system isn’t working as it should be, or that mold may be growing within the machine, you may need to have the ducts professionally cleaned.
If you see mold particles near the ducts, or smell a musty odor when using your HVAC system, consult a professional to ensure that mold hasn’t started to accumulate. You may also consider upgrading the system that you currently have if it has aged, and is no longer offering the results that you need.
3. Use Your Vacuum Cleaner
Allergens can accumulate and thrive within the home environment, particularly if there are plenty of places for dust to gather without detection. Indeed, many allergy sufferers are encouraged to opt for hardwood flooring instead of carpeting within their homes, as fibers within carpets can easily hide dust and allergen particles. Whether you’ve chosen to stick to carpeting or attempt wooden flooring, it’s worth noting that vacuuming — particularly in the areas most likely to accumulate dust, such as furniture and carpeting — can help to control the spread of allergens throughout the home. However, like dusting, vacuuming can sometimes send dust particles into the air, causing problems for people with allergies, so it may be worth considering HEPA filters.
4. Purify the Air
A great way to reduce allergens within the home, is to ensure that the air is clean, pure, and free of any problem-causing particles. For instances, it’s usually a good idea to avoid using window fans which bring pollen and mold spores into the home, and instead opt for HVAC systems that can filter the air used to determine indoor temperature.
High-efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters, assist in capturing tiny particles of dust, pollen, and dander in the area, meaning they can be ideal for improving the productivity of air conditioners, air purifiers, and even vacuum cleaners.
5. Reduce Mildew and Mold
Mildew, and various types of mold tend to thrive within damp areas like the basement, bathroom, or sometimes even the kitchen. Like dust, mold spores can sometimes circulate in the air, triggering allergy symptoms. To minimize these problems, try painting damp-prone areas with mold-resistant paint, and run fans after taking baths or showers so that condensation can’t build up over time. Also, remember to replace moldy carpeting whenever necessary.
Conclusion
Above are just some of the methods that you can use to help reduce the presence of allergens in your home. Regardless of what you might be allergic to, helping to rid your house of airborne particles and sources of discomfort should help to give you and your family a more pleasant experience — regardless of the weather.
Do you have any tips or tricks to removing allergens throughout the home? Let us know in the comments!
