Discover practical strategies to improve indoor air quality, prevent respiratory issues, and maintain a healthier home environment through regular cleaning and maintenance.
The following is a guest post from my bloggy friend Megan Isola. Interested in having a guest post on my website? Click here for my guest post submission form.
Breathe Easy: Essential Steps to Improve Your Home’s Air Quality
Your home is supposed to be a place of safety and well-being, protecting you from the outside world. What you may not realize is that it can make you sick if you don’t take steps to maintain the interior and remove the things that irritate your respiratory system. Letting dust, dirt, and debris build up results in a lower indoor air quality and an uncomfortable living environment.
It’s easy to prevent airborne contaminants from taking hold in your home with a little effort. Regular cleaning of the interior and its contents works by removing their buildup and keeps your home fresh. The following tips will help you create a cleaning schedule, where outside assistance is needed, and explain the importance of why you should take action against letting dust collect in your home.
Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
Homes tend to be closed environments that don’t have the best air circulation. This is because the HVAC system recycles the air in the house to maintain a steady temperature. Air contaminants get trapped inside the home and create poor indoor air quality (IAQ). The occupants of the home breathe in more respiratory irritants and become more prone to coughing, sneezing, and dealing with respiratory infections. Allergies can also impact someone who has lymphedema in the form of increased swelling from fluid retention.
The best way to improve IAQ is to engage in a multipronged approach to clearing the air. That includes using a HEPA filter on the furnace, air purifiers, regular vacuuming, and keeping up with pet hair.
Deep Clean Your Home Twice a Year
A deep clean consists of cleaning areas and items that you normally wouldn’t get to during a normal clean. Instead of vacuuming or wiping down, you go further in the form of washing, scrubbing, and reorganizing. These actions get rid of dust and dirt that has built up around the house, and escape regular cleanings. Some of the deep cleaning actions include:
- Moving items that have been in one place for a long time
- Pulling furniture out of position to clean underneath
- Shaking out and refolding everything in the linen closets
- Wiping dust off ceiling fans
- Dusting home decor
- Vacuum or dry-clean window treatments
- Washing area rugs
- Wiping down ceiling moldings
The goal is to clean as many areas of the home as you possibly can. Doing this twice a year lets you find areas where dust collects, find mold if it’s made its way into your home, and get rid of airborne irritants.
The Importance of Cleaning Your Window Treatments
Cleaning your window treatments has already been mentioned above, but it’s important to address the many reasons why they should undergo frequent cleaning. The major reason is the fact that they’re used to block out light and air, and they’re very effective at their jobs. They’re also good at trapping contaminants that would normally float around in your home. This is also a good reason to clean them frequently.
Dust, pollen, microscopic insects, and more are caught by the fabric used for window treatments. Once they’re caught, they stay there and decay over time. This results in unpleasant odors, dulls the color of the fabric, and even degrades the condition of the treatments. Not to mention the fact that the collected debris can be released into the air when moved.
Make it a point to clean your curtains as part of your regular cleaning schedule. Vacuuming the fabrics and the floor underneath is usually sufficient for a monthly clean, but don’t hesitate to send them out for dry cleaning if your efforts don’t seem to be sufficient.
Minimize Dust With Regular Vacuuming
Making a habit of vacuuming will help you keep your home feeling clean and fresh for longer. This goes for carpets, area rugs, and even wood floors. The reasoning behind regular vacuuming is that it prevents the buildup of dust, dirt, and debris, all of which can become airborne and create a smell.
Many contaminants, such as dirt and crumbs, are friable. That means they are easily ground down into smaller pieces that get pushed into carpeting and scatter across a wood floor. Not only is the resulting debris unpleasant to walk on, it can also make your house dirtier, smelly, and bring down the IAQ in the home.
Take a moment every week to run the vacuum over your flooring to get rid of anything that has been tracked inside. You don’t have to be aggressive with your efforts, but you do want to be thorough. As time goes on, you’ll find your home stays clean, and the environment feels good.
Have Your Ductwork Cleaned Once a Year
Contaminants cling to the metal of the ductwork and aren’t dislodged by the force of air from the HVAC. Over time, the ductwork gets dirty, creating the perfect environment for more dust to collect and bring in creatures such as dust mites, insects, and spiders. They can clog up your ductwork and bring down your indoor air quality if left to proliferate.
An HVAC professional has the tools and skills to properly clean your ductwork and keep your HVAC working as it should. Scheduling them for an annual cleaning has multiple benefits in the form of improved air quality, pest elimination, and optimal air flow. Your home feels and smells better, too.
Make Sure Your HVAC Systems Undergo a Checkup
HVAC systems are most effective when they’re inspected by an HVAC technician. A technician is trained to look for problems that can affect their operation and fix them before they get worse. Regular maintenance also helps ensure your system runs energy efficiently, reducing utility costs while keeping your indoor air cleaner and healthier.
Open Your Windows on Nice Days
HVAC makes it so the windows and doors have to stay shut in order to maintain the ambient temperature. As previously mentioned, this serves to trap contaminants inside. Open the windows and doors on a nice day to exchange the air, and let the sun shine in to help warm your rooms. Your home will feel refreshed by the time the sun goes down, and it’s time to close the windows and doors once again.
Keeping Your Home Clean Helps Keep It Healthy
Improving the health of your home begins with taking steps to improve the indoor air quality, but it doesn’t stop there. Scheduling regular HVAC service, getting the ducts cleaned, and engaging in regular deep cleans are all factors that keep the home and its occupants healthy. Regular cleaning also results in the need for less intensive cleaning over time due to the fact that not enough time has passed for dust to collect.
Taking the time to clean is a necessity to keep health problems from developing and stop the home from looking and smelling bad. Instead of looking at cleaning like a chore, consider it an opportunity to make your home a welcoming place that feels good.
About the Author
Megan Isola holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and a minor in Business Marketing from Cal State University Chico. She enjoys going to concerts, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with friends.
