Keeping up with your Indoor Air Quality could be a challenge. The Air Quality inside of your home can be between two and five times more polluted than the outdoor air. If you add that we spend mostly 90% of our time in our homes, that makes Indoor Air Quality a major concern for many of our customers. Everyday we receive questions like: How can I improve the indoor air quality in my home? How can I reduce the pollution in my home? What do you recommend to reduce allergies?
To keep your family healthy and reduce the pollution inside of your home, there are many things you can do. You need to make sure your house is well ventilated. These eleven tips are only a few simple steps you can follow that will help you.
Tips to improve indoor air quality and allergies.
- First, if you are a smoker, we recommend lighting up your cigar outside. Cigars are very harmful; never allow anybody to smoke inside your house. There is no safe level of secondhand smoke, which means the cigar smoke will affect you the same as if you smoke. What happens when you smoke inside is that nicotine odor gets stuck on your walls, causing a strong odor which is one of the biggest causes of poor indoor air quality. If someone in your house suffers from asthma or allergies, this odor will only make everything worse for them. That is why we recommend not smoking inside.
- Another important tip is to change your air filter. We all know we have to change the air filter every two or three months, but sometimes we just forget to do it. If you change the air filter monthly, this will help keep your air ducts clean, and the air will be cleaner. Also, because the filters are clean, the unit will work more efficiently and last longer. We recommend checking your air filter every month, and if you see there is a lot of dust, go ahead and change it. You will notice the difference.
- Air duct cleaning is something that you should not overlook. The air ducts can trap a lot of dust and dirt. If your house is older than 10 years, we recommend you call a professional air duct cleaning company, like ours, to inspect your vents and do the cleaning. If you want to know what signs to look for, go to your return vents, which are the longest and usually placed on the bottom close to the floors. If they are dusty, you should call a professional to inspect and clean them.
- Next, get an air purifier if you have allergies. The Air Purifier or (Air Scrubber) is designed to pull in the air in your house, and this machine has a HEPA filter that will completely trap dust and pollutants in the air, expelling only clean air. The air will be purified, and you will be breathing fresh and clean air.
- HEPA filters for your vacuum and air scrubber are another important tip, especially if you have allergies. The HEPA filter is the most powerful filter to trap pollutants, dust, pet dander, etc. If you are concerned about your allergies, before purchasing a vacuum cleaner, make sure it comes with a HEPA filter; this will help you clean more of the air.
- Another tip is to vacuum more often, at least twice a week. In carpet construction, we have the backing of the carpet and the fibers. Fibers on the carpet work as a filter. They trap all the dust, and by vacuuming, you are removing all the dust and pet dander from your carpet. Sometimes we think hardwood floors are better for people with allergies. Unfortunately, that is not accurate. Hard surfaces don’t help with allergies because all the dust is in the air; hard surfaces cannot trap dust, so you will end up breathing that dust.
- Hire a professional carpet cleaning service and have your carpet cleaned professionally within 18 months.
- Do a spring or fall cleaning: Regular cleaning keeps your house in good shape but is not as deep as a spring or fall cleaning. We recommend doing one of those. By doing so, you collect all the dust that is deposited every day on areas that are not cleaned regularly. If you move your furniture, you will see what we are talking about. Move the furniture, clean baseboards, and you will be impressed with all the dust you will find.
- Bathe your pets. This is another very important tip. Pets, like humans, have dead cells in their skin. By giving your pets a bath or brushing them, you are removing pet dander. Controlling pet dander will help reduce asthma and allergies too.
- Keep the humidity low. By keeping the humidity level between 30 and 50 percent, you will help improve indoor air quality. If the humidity goes above 50 percent, there is a good chance that mold will grow in dark places. Having low humidity will keep the risk of mold low. Try to keep it down; a dehumidifier can help.
- Our last tip is to open your windows. If you think the air quality outside is worse than the air inside, it probably isn’t. We recommend checking the weather and air quality in your area and opening windows and doors. If you are painting, opening windows and doors will be the only way to remove that strong odor.
Improving air quality can be frustrating if you don’t know what to do, but if you follow these simple tips, you will notice the difference. Your house will be less dusty, and your lungs will feel much better. We hope this helps, and if you have any questions about our Air Duct Cleaning Service, give us a call at 502-365-6779.
You can contact Rodriguez Cleaning & Restoration if you need any cleaning service.
