Sneezing, itchy eyes, sniffling, blowing your nose, it’s not fun and can really drag down your day.
This is especially the case when your allergies follow you into your home. But how does that happen, you’re not outside any more, why are they persisting? Well, allergies are caused by a number of different things such as dust, pollen, pet hair, and more.
This issue can be exacerbated when the home isn’t frequently cleaned. Dust, pet hair, outside pollen, and more build up on surfaces, ruining your home’s air quality.
To help prevent this situation in the future, let’s look at five ways you can reduce allergies inside your home.
Probably the most important tip on our list, you need to be consistently wiping down fans, air vents, and other areas where air is being stirred up.
Fans especially get really bad when they haven’t been used in a while. When when you finally use them, that dust which was collecting up there gets thrown around the room. This is the case for air vents as well; dust builds up on the vent, then when the AC kicks on it blows that stuff all around the room.
We highly recommend that you quickly wipe down any of these areas at least once a week. If they aren’t used frequently, maybe even twice a week. This is easily one of the largest causes of allergy flare ups because that dust (which is made up of pollen, hair, skin cells, and more) is just accumulating every day.
When it comes to allergies, one place people don’t think about much is your bed. Dust mites, which are commonly found on covers, pillows, mattresses, carpeting, and furniture are also contributors to your indoor suffering.
But, don’t worry, there’s an easy solution! All you need to do in order to reduce the allergens in your bed is to frequently wash your pillowcases, sheets, and covers.
Regardless of allergies, it’s a good idea to wash these things because you’re sleeping on or in them every night. Our tip is to wash your bedding at least once a week in hot water. This kills any germs or allergies that have been living in your bed.
Pets, in most cases, love being outdoors, but that means they are carriers for allergies that you’d prefer to stay outside. As they’re running through bushes, rolling around, and digging they are picking up all kinds of no good allergies and bringing them inside.
The solution? You should be washing your pets once a week to clean off any allergies that are still stuck to your pet’s fur. While it may be a little more work for you, it will reduce the chances that your allergies flare up one day.
Vacuuming is a great way to control areas that accumulate a large amount of dust. To see the best results, try vacuuming once or twice a week to avoid any meaningful accumulation. We know it’s some more work, but in our opinion, it’s best to put in the extra work rather than suffer from allergies.
Just remember, not all vacuum cleaners are made equal. We highly recommend spending some extra money on a high-quality vacuum that can get the job done properly. Try and find a vacuum that uses a HEPA filter, these will catch more allergens than other types of filters, preventing further allergies.
Finally, cut off the allergies before they enter your home by keeping your windows and doors closed as much as possible. Even if you have a mesh screen behind your window, those were designed to keep out bugs and not small allergens, so you aren’t totally protected.
If the pollen count is high, keep your windows and doors closed (even if the weather feels great).
As a rule of thumb, it is generally a good idea to keep your windows and doors closed in the morning, more specifically between the hours of 5 am and 10 am – this is generally when plants are letting off the most pollen and other allergens.