Make Your Home An Allergy Free Haven

Wet Winter = More Allergens

We had a very wet winter in Sonoma County this last year. With an intense winter rainfall comes increased spring and summer pollen. It seems like this year even people who never had allergies are sneezing, having a scratchy throat, and having runny eyes! Medications can help, but they make you drowsy and only treat the symptoms and not the cause. What can you do to make your home a haven from allergens? If like many of us you would like to stop your nose from being congested, the headaches, and other allergy symptoms, read on! We have some simple tips for you today that will give you a better chance of making your home allergy-proof.

Where You Sleep

We spend about a third of our day in bed sleeping. So your bedroom is a great place to start in making your home more allergy free.

• Clear the clutter. More clutter gives dust and dander more places to settle.
• Invest in a good quality room air cleaner. Make sure to buy one with a larger capacity than the square footage of your bedroom.
• Change out bedding often. Change your sheets once a week.
• Buy zip-on dust mite covers for your pillows and mattress.
• Vacuum your mattress a few times a year.
• Run a humidifier in your bedroom and keep the humidity at 45% but lower than 60%.

Your Flooring Choices

Many homes we have lived in have wall to wall carpeting. That means to surfaces to trap dust and dander; the carpet and the pad underneath.

• Be sure if you want wall to wall carpeting to shampoo your carpet at least once a year or have a professional do it.
• If possible, replace your wall to wall carpeting with hardwood floors or tile that is impervious to allergens.
• Take your shoes off before entering your home. So many germs and allergens are carried in on our shoes into our homes. This is a great approach for stopping allergens before they enter your home. It’s a nice excuse to buy a fashionable shoe rack and have slippers for your family member to wear inside the house.
• Install doormats or boot mats at each entry door into your home and also inside the door so you have two ways to wipe your shoes clean if you aren’t going to take your shoes off before entering your home.

Cleaning Your Floors

Once dirt, allergens and dander have entered your home, it’s important to find the most efficient means to regularly clean your floors. This a great excuse to upgrade your vacuum, hardwood floor sweeper and floor or carpet shampoo system.

• HEPA filters are a must for trapping allergens that are on your floors, carpet and area rugs.
• Make sure your vacuum comes equipped with a good edge cleaner, so you don’t miss vacuuming close to your molding, a great trap for dust and dander.
• If you have dogs or cats make sure your vacuum is specifically up to the task of picking up large amounts of fur and dander.
• In between weekly vacuuming, invest in a robot vacuum specifically geared to your your household and how you live to keep your floors cleaner between major vacuum jobs.

Central Heating & Cooling

Remember to replace the filters in your heating and cooling system following the manufacturer’s suggested timing. With room air cleaners, figure you will be changing out filters at least once a year on a good quality unit.

Drapes Are Dust Magnets

This is a great w=excuse to invest in some pretty molding for your windows and ditch the drapes. If you are in love with your drapes, follow some of our suggestions below.

• Have your drapes cleaned at least once a year. Or choose machine washable drapes, they will save you money over the years.
• Use a vacuum wand on your drapes at least twice a month to remove trapped dust.
• This is a great time to invest in beautiful blinds or shades for your windows.
• Dust can be removed weekly from blinds using a brush tool.

Check Humidity So You Don’t Grow Mold

Humidity to a certain level in your house is a good thing. But realize too much of a good thing does send the air around you out of balance. In the winter many times we think of adding humidity to dry air so our homes are not a breeding ground for bugs, but most of the year, some ideas on preventing mold in your home.

• Keep your air temperature between 68 and 72 degrees during the day.
• Evening temperatures can be kept at between 60 and 67 degrees for good sleep.
• Keep relative humidity in your home at 50%. At 50% your home is not a good breeding ground for mold or bugs.
• Close doors and windows during the heat of the day and use an air conditioner and dehumidifier to keep room temperature and humidity optimal.
• Clean away mold with a 5% chlorine bleach solution on safe surfaces and be sure to wear a mask.

Probably one of the best methods of keeping your home allergen free is having Crystal Clear Home clean your home at least once if not twice a month. Then you can have your robot vacuum doing the work between our visits. Make you summer more carefree and let our team at Crystal Clear Home clean your home this summer and really enjoy those long days after work instead of cleaning your home. Give us a call at 707-827-3316 to see what specials we have to offer.