Got allergies? While you can’t completely escape allergens in your house, you can manage allergies with home cleaning. The trick is focusing your cleaning efforts and keeping allergies in mind. After all, there are day-to-day allergens as well as those seasonal issues. Whether your family is affected by dust mites, mold, pet dander, or pollen in the air, a clean home can truly be a sanctuary. When you manage allergies with home cleaning, you take control and find relief.
Where Are the Allergens in Your Home?
Allergens are everywhere. In fact, it’s almost impossible to have a completely allergen-free home. A survey published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found at least 6 allergens were detectable in more than more than 50% of homes.
Allergens in your home can be found on hard surfaces such as furniture, counters, and tile and hardwood floors. They get trapped in your fabrics: bedding, curtains, upholstery, rugs, and carpet. Some allergens attach themselves to your hair, shoes, and clothing. And when you pick up pollen outside, it travels inside quickly!
Follow these tips to clear out allergens and manage allergies with home cleaning:
Don’t Collect Dust!
Dust mites, the tiny bugs that live in dust, are the most common triggers of allergies and asthma symptoms. To really grab them, you need a treated cloth. Without it, you’re just moving around dust—and the mites who live in it. Once dust is in the air, it stirs up coughs and such, but more importantly, it’s still there. You just cleaned everything and didn’t even eliminate the dust mites.
Dust mites also love to cozy up in fabrics, especially bedding. But what they don’t love is heat. So wash your sheets, blankets, and pillowcases weekly in hot water that’s at least 130ºF. Follow up with a hot dryer to keep mites at bay.
While you’re diligently dusting furniture, shelves, tables, and knickknacks, remember to wipe down leather furniture too.
Just Suck It Up
We don’t mean accept your home’s allergens; we mean literally suck them up by running the vacuum! Frequent vacuuming, at least weekly, will help get rid of all kinds of allergy triggers, including pet dander, pollen, and dust. Vacuum carpets, throw rugs, draperies, and upholstered furniture. Plus, move furniture and area rugs and vacuum underneath. Remember to also vacuum hard-surface floors, especially in corners where dust tends to collect.
The best way to manage allergies with home cleaning is to use a vacuum with a HEPA filter. This high-efficiency particulate air filter traps small particles so they aren’t released back into the air.
Say No to Mold
Mold and mildew don’t just look gross; they’re bad for you to breathe! Keep a clean bathroom, kitchen, laundry area, mudroom—and any other room with water—so mold and mildew don’t stand a chance. If you have a pool, pay special attention to where water gets tracked into your home and drips on the floor. Dry up water when you see it to prevent mold and mildew from growing. And regularly scrub or clean floors, counters, sinks, tubs, showers, shower curtains and doors, toilets, and other surfaces to keep mold at bay.
Keep an eye on your refrigerator, which can be a haven for mold. Inspect, wipe, and clean around the rubber seal, in the dripping pan, and anywhere excessive moisture collects. It goes without saying to toss old food before it becomes moldy too.
Finally, have a peek around your toilets and under your sinks on a regular basis to make sure you don’t have any plumbing leaks or drips that could cause out-of-sight mold growth.
Manage Allergies with Home Cleaning
Phew! That’s a long list of things to keep clean so that your home doesn’t exacerbate your allergies. At this point, you’re probably thinking you don’t clean your home often—or well—enough and might be ready to throw up your hands. Before that happens, contact us.
Carnation Home Cleaning uses green home cleaning products to get your house sparkling fresh and manage allergies with home cleaning. Our cleaning products don’t have the chemicals and fragrances that can aggravate allergies. Everything we use is eco-friendly: cleaning products, vacuums with HEPA filters, and deionized (DI), neutral water that is as clean as water can be. Family owned since 1991, we’re 100% committed to helping you keep your home clean and your family healthy.
