Many of us take the air that we breathe inside our homes for granted, and pay little attention to its quality from day to day. However, stale or polluted air fosters the spread of harmful dust mites, mold spores, and pet dander, any one of which can seriously aggravate respiratory conditions or even cause you to develop allergies.
Not sure how to tell what quality the air inside your home is, or how to treat it? Read on for the answers:
How to tell if the air quality in your home is poor
Whether it’s contamination from construction materials following a recent renovation, badly maintained ventilation systems, more time spent indoors, poor air circulation, or the presence of molds and microbes; all of these factors can cause the air quality in your home to take a nosedive. What’s even worse is that many of these problems are tricky to detect.
Let’s look at some of the symptoms caused by bad air quality in the home:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Sinus congestion
- Nausea
- Sneezing and coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Allergies and hypersensitivity
- Nose, eyes, skin, and throat dryness and irritation
What can you do to improve the quality of air inside your home?
One of the first things you can do to help improve the air quality inside your home is to ventilate it regularly, and keep it as clean as possible. Other things you can do include:
- Clean your HVAC filters – you may need the help of a HVAC technician for this, and annual assessments by a professional should be carried out to assess the health of the entire system
- Clean your clothes and sheets frequently – do this often to minimize the spread of dust mites
- Burn beeswax candles – these release negative ions as they burn, making them excellent when it comes to air purification. Ions cause dust, pollen, pollutants, and other nastiness to be pulled into the candles or fall to the floor where it can be vacuumed during a standard cleaning.
- Avoid keeping plants indoors – these can foster mold growth and may even trigger allergies with their pollen.
Use air purifiers – these little devices can help combat allergens and other pollutants in the air.
- Try a dehumidifier – serving a similar purpose to air purifiers, these are more effective at controlling high-moisture areas such as bathrooms and basements.
- Use eco-friendly cleaning products – much more affordable than they used to be, they’re a lot less likely to contain allergy-inducing particles than regular cleaning supplies, and you can make your own very easily, too
How can you eliminate airborne germs?
While the solutions listed above will go a long way to eliminating airborne germs, you can also consider doing the following two things:
- Get a 3-in-1 air purifier – these are equipped with a special germ-destroying filter, a charcoal filter that removes unpleasant smells, and a UV-C light to wipe out airborne viruses and bacteria
- Get an ionizing purifier – these plug into a car’s cigarette lighter, and can be useful if you commute long distances every day
Regular cleaning using hypoallergenic products is a great way to improve the overall air quality inside your home, and with the help of a professional cleaning company, you can indulge in fresher, cleaner air without having to set foot outside.
