Airborne allergens are difficult to eliminate inside any home, and if you suffer from asthma, Hayfever or experience any breathing issues, they can quickly and easily aggravate your symptoms.
While hiring a regular cleaning service is a great way of being able to breathe cleaner air inside your home, there are several things you can do yourself to minimize their presence, and here are 11 tips you can try:
- Vacuum regularly
Adding vacuuming to your regular cleaning schedule can make a huge difference, and by whizzing around your home with the vacuum cleaner a couple of times a week, you can limit airborne allergens and minimize their spread.
- Dust properly and regularly
If there are areas of your home that can’t be vacuumed (although the attachments on a vacuum cleaner are usually pretty good for getting into and under smaller spaces), then you must make sure to dust them regularly. Just make sure you use a damp microfiber cloth so that you’re not simply spreading the dust and allergens from one place to another. Start at the top of a room, and work your way down.
- Replace air filters regularly
You may need to seek specialist advice from a HVAC expert, but generally speaking, filters will need to be cleaned or replaced on a regular basis, and having the entire system assessed and cleaned periodically, is a great way of minimizing allergens, too.
- Don’t bring outerwear, into the home
While this doesn’t mean literally leaving coats and shoes outside your home, it does mean trying not to bring them into the main area of your home. If you can. Have shoe racks and coat pegs immediately inside the doors to your home, so that members of the household and any visitors or guests don’t track allergens into your home on their outerwear.
- Keep clutter to a minimum
Simply put, the less clutter you have, the less surfaces there are for dust and other allergens to settle on.
- Wash linen often
Bedding is notorious for attracting bed mites which can aggravate a number of health problems, so be sure to wash and change them at least weekly.
- Avoid opening doors and windows
Instead of flinging your doors and windows open on warm days, it’s better for the health of the air inside your home, if you switch on the air conditioning and start circulating clean air around.
- Buy an air purifier
These are great for helping to make the air inside your home purer (as the name so rightly suggests!), and for anyone with allergies, these can be a great investment.
- Groom pets frequently
Pet dander and hair is a troublesome irritant inside homes, but by regularly bathing (always check with a veterinarian to determine an appropriate bathing schedule for your pet) and grooming your pets (and outside if possible), you can minimize the amount of hair and dander that gets spread around your home.
- Get a handle on humidity
Dust mites and mold thrive in warm, humid climates, and as these are known allergens, you should try to keep the temperature of your home at between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce their presence.
- Don’t forget to clean blinds and drapes
Blinds and drapes can be real havens for dust, and thanks to their proximity to windows, they can accumulate pollen and dust far quicker than anything else in your home; clean them often to prevent this from happening.
It does take a certain degree of effort to keep allergens to a minimum inside your home, but your lungs will thank you for it!
