Staying at home can be hard when you’re dealing with home allergens. Here’s how to turn your home into an oasis of fresh air.
If you’ve been self-isolating at home, you’ve likely noticed a few areas around the house that could use some love and attention. If you’ve been sniffling or sneezing while spending so much time in your home, you may be dealing with home allergens.
You might perform regular home cleaning chores and use an air purifier but still struggle with in-home allergies. Fortunately, learning about common home allergens and how to remove them could help you experience some relief.
Common Home Allergens
Dozens of household allergens may be contributing to your pain and suffering. Frustratingly, allergens are typically minuscule particles that float through the air. You can breathe them in or track them indoors with you.
Some of the most common household allergens include:
Dust
Mold
Pollen
Pet Dander
Tiny, microscopic particles of these allergens can enter the home on clothing, hair, or skin. The act of opening your front door could cause some differential air pressure, resulting in an unavoidable intake of air.
So, while you might not be able to prevent allergens from altogether entering your home, you can recognize them and seek out their hiding places. In the case of dust, pollen, and dander, the collection locations tend to be fabrics and surfaces.
Mold can be more challenging to track down and eradicate, but most species flourish in damp, dark areas. Checking your bathroom, kitchen sinks, and basement areas could help you save time when attempting mold removal and remediation.
How to Reduce Home Allergens
Reducing home allergies is not a simple task. It requires constant vigilance. Taking a few days off from your regular cleaning schedule could result in a small build-up of in-home dust, dander, and pollen.
Before you know it, you could find yourself battling a seemingly endless parade of sneezes, sniffles, and watery eyes. To reduce the number of allergens in your home, you’ll need to perform some occasional and some daily maintenance.
Some simple steps you could take include:
Changing Your Air Filter
Vacuuming and Dusting Often
Investing in Indoor Plants
Hiring Professional HVAC Cleaners
To help you avoid any wasteful chores or tasks, we’ve decided to list these actions in order of their usefulness. For example, vacuuming and dusting is an effective solution to long-term home allergens.
But these cleaning tasks could be relatively pointless if your AC filter is filthy. As such, it’s crucial to follow these steps in the order that they’re listed.
1. Changing Your Air Filter
The very first thing you’ll want to do is check your home’s HVAC air filter. If you can’t remember the last time you changed your air filter, it’s probably overdue for cleaning or changing.
The majority of HVAC air filters are disposable and should be replaced at least every three months. Homes with smokers, dirtied ovens, and other interior pollution may require more consistent filter replacement.
If you notice that your air filter is brown, sooty, or covered in dust and lint, you should seek an appropriately-sized replacement as soon as possible. Allowing allergens to build on your filter contributes to home allergens.
A dirty filter can also cause your air conditioning system to work harder, resulting in higher utility bills. Even if you’ve gotten your zone control down, you might be paying an overly high electric bill if your air filter is dirty.
2. Vacuuming and Dusting
Daily vacuuming and dusting could help you get rid of home allergens. Many of the common allergens found inside of homes settle onto surfaces and into the carpeting.
By vacuuming your floors and wiping down your furniture, you’re ridding your home of a significant amount of allergens. These tasks only require to spend between ten and thirty minutes cleaning each day, and they could help you enjoy a cleaner home.
However, when vacuuming and dusting aren’t enough, it may be time to visit your local garden nursery.
3. Investing in Indoor Plants
There are several species of indoor plants that could help you enjoy clean, oxygenated air. While some of these could be toxic to your four-legged family members, many are pet-safe and exceptionally effective.
In general, ferns that grow well in partial-light or low-light environments tend to thrive indoors. These plants can absorb airborne toxins, including carbon monoxide, and replace them with fresh, breathable oxygen.
If you’re attempting to purify your home’s air without the use of expensive equipment or scent-masking sprays, investing in the right indoor plants could be the ideal solution.
4. Hiring Professionals
A team of professional HVAC technicians should be able to help you keep your HVAC system in excellent shape. This maintenance extends to your system’s cleanliness.
When all else fails, professional technicians will be able to help you improve your home’s air quality while reducing the number of airborne allergens. Besides, it’s vital to maintain your HVAC system to keep costs low and your household happy.
Enjoy Cleaner Air Today
Dust, mold, pollen, and pet dander can all contribute to interior allergies. Sadly, avoiding all of these allergens can be nearly impossible. But by recognizing and targeting them, you could help limit their spread throughout the home.
If you’ve been suffering from home allergens, you may want to change your AC air filter, vacuum/dust every day, invest in air-cleaning indoor plants, or hire a team of professionals to clean your HVAC system.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more about HVAC maintenance and cleaning, please contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you.
