Clearing the Air!

I am not the world’s best housekeeper.  I once heard someone who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness say that they gained considerable clarity about their priorities upon receiving such news. She said she wished she had the time back she’d spent cleaning and was certainly not going to spend her remaining time doing so.  Since hearing that, I have moved cleaning much farther down on my priorities list.    I suspect my mother would vouch for that as when she last visited, I think she could have written her name in the dust on nearly every surface in my house!  The day after she left, I was actually home during daylight hours.  With the sun shining in I was able to see just how dirty the place was and like it or not, cleaning had to move up on the priority list. 

It was so dusty in our house, I was surprised no one was asthmatic from all the dust.  Home indoor air quality is one of the reasons why cleaning is important.  The five major indoor environmental triggers are secondhand smoke, dust mites, pet dander, mold and pests.  With many people spending 90% of their time indoors, it is important to learn how to protect our indoor environment to reduce asthma triggers.  The USDA has a great resource called Help Yourself to a Healthy Home that can be downloaded from the web. 

Of the five major triggers, I can at least cross secondhand smoke off the list of concerns at my own home, but I know not everyone can.  We commonly think of tobacco smoke, which with more than 40 carcinogens, is fairly well known to wreak havoc on the function of breathing.  Some other sources of secondhand smoke can be from fireplaces, candles and gas stoves.  Limiting the use of fire in the home and using exhaust fans over gas stoves can help improve indoor air quality. 

Dust mites are not quite as obvious, partly because they are too small to be seen and can be found almost everywhere in the home.  Some ways to reduce dust mites and in turn improve indoor air quality are to wash sheets and blankets weekly in hot water and use the dryer, keep indoor humidity at levels between 30-50%, when replacing flooring consider hard floors instead of carpet and vacuum often, even your furniture and mattresses.  It is also a good idea to replace pillows every five years and to limit stuffed animals in bedrooms.  For those items that cannot be washed, consider freezing.  I’ll admit that in my house cleaning fury recently, I did find my husband’s duffle bag in the chest freezer. It wasn’t there to kill off dust mites.  In that case I was concerned about bed bugs, but that it is another story entirely that I’ve been itching to share.  It was funny to open the chest freezer and find the duffle bag.  Apparently I haven’t been cooking or cleaning, since it has been in the freezer since a hotel stay in November. 

Of all the indoor air quality concerns, I get calls about mold the most.  Mold problems come from excess moisture, so the very first step is to find the source of the moisture and then work from there.  Outside of leaks and other unusual problems, we end up with moisture in our home daily from showers and baths.  Be sure to run the bathroom fan.  With mold, if you see it or smell it, clean up with a bleach solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water.  Another suggestion is to limit houseplants, especially in bedrooms, to avoid molds. 

At my house the pet is a pest, so it is hard to distinguish between the two, but either can be an asthma trigger.  If possible, keep pets outdoors.  Keep pets off beds and out of bedrooms, particularly in rooms where someone with asthma sleeps.  It is also a good idea to keep litter boxes, pet beds and cages away from sleeping rooms.  Try to keep pets off fabric covered furniture.  Vacuum often with a HEPA (High-efficiency particulate air) vacuum.  As for the pests, you don’t really want them in your sleeping rooms or other areas of your home either.  Some ways to manage for pests are to reduce clutter, clean up spills and crumbs promptly.  Caulk and seal areas where pests can get into the home.  Make the place just a little less hospitable for the pests.

My husband wondered if making the house inhospitable to his mother-in-law would work.  I actually wonder, with as dirty as the house was last time she was here, if she will ever return. If only people would visit after I cleaned and not before!  Of course, I’d rarely have company that way.  Whether or not your mother visits, I hope the indoor air quality tips will help you clear the air around your house.