When you think about air pollution, the chances are you’re thinking about smoke or carbon in the air. In reality, air pollution includes anything that mixes with the air you breathe and has the potential to end up in your lungs. Anything from pollen to pet dander can contribute to an issue with indoor air quality, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to cleaning it up.
Here are a couple of ways you can help to reduce the causes of air pollution right at the source, ensuring your air purifiers don’t have to work nearly as hard.
1) Open A Window
There are many instances when the air in a home has remained stagnant for too long, and the air outside could actually be cleaner than the air indoors. Ensure you check the air quality index and pollen report for your area, then crack open a window if you don’t find it too cold. It is one of the best methods of exchanging air quickly.
2) Stop Smoking Indoors
Cigarette smoke is one of the worst contributors to indoor air pollution, and causes 3,000 deaths per year due to lung cancer in non-smokers through secondhand smoke. Simply changing your habits to smoking outdoors or stopping smoking altogether can not only improve the general air quality in your home, but will also allow your air filters to last longer and be more effective. Cigarette smoke tends to stick on fabrics and surfaces as well, which means they can have lasting effects in the home.
3) Give Your Pets A Bath
Pets release dander into your home, which can be near invisible to the eye, but permeates the air with tiny particles as small as five microns wide. Washing your pets and their bedding often will reduce how much of that dander is released into the air and into your lungs.
4) Exhaust Fans
Having a range hood in the kitchen to remove cooking fumes and a bathroom fan to remove steam from the shower are standard in most homes. Ensuring your dryer vents to the outside to minimize lint, and using window mounted exhaust fans can help to send allergens and pollutants outside.
5) Doormats And Shoes Off
It stands to reason that the more you leave outside, the less comes in, and the better your air quality is as a result. Some people also tend to wear their outside shoes indoors, tracking pollutants all around your house. Get in the habit of leaving the shoes at the door, giving whatever is on your shoes less opportunity to fly off into your air.
6) Change Your Air Filters
Your HVAC system doesn’t run on its own with no intervention. All HVAC systems have an air filter that will eventually get clogged with dust and dirt if it isn’t changed regularly, meaning it’s less effective at ensuring your air is clean. These should be changed regularly between one and three month periods. Similarly, your air purifiers and ionizers should either be cleaned or have the filters changed regularly to run at peak performance.
7) Avoid Chemical Products And Store Necessary Ones Safely
Air fresheners and other artificially scented products are chemically scented, and can be irritating to the nose. Cleaning products or glues can also give off potentially harmful fumes if stored improperly, making them very important items to ensure that they are sealed and kept in places away from living areas.
8) Vacuuming And Cleaning
Especially if you have a pet, they will release fur and dander into the environment on a regular basis. While keeping the amount of carpet you have in your home to a minimum can help avoid trapping a variety of pollutants, keeping on top of vacuuming these areas will make a big difference. Removing them is probably the best option, opting instead into harder surfaces like tiles or wood flooring that doesn’t trap pollutants. Use a microfibre dusting cloth on your hard elevated surfaces, as it will do a better job of collecting dust than your typical cotton rag.
9) Reduce Moisture
Using a dehumidifier can be a big help when trying to avoid having mold growing in your home. Mold needs water to survive, and depriving them of that will go a long way to ensuring they don’t propagate within your home, and thereby reducing the amount of mold spores in the air. This is also why proper ventilation in your bathroom is important to remove steam from the showers. If you have leaky windows or areas where water is getting into your home, it is of the utmost importance to have that fixed and prevent further water damage and allowing spores to grow.
10) Avoid Fires
Wood burning fireplaces will release soot and smoke into the air, which will contribute in a meaningful way to reducing indoor air quality.
These are just a few of the most common ways to reduce your indoor pollution, and keeping on top of the causes of your pollutants can go a long way towards having cleaner air. With the right prevention and a stronger commitment to uphold these measures, your home will feel cleaner, longer. If you are still worried about airborne allergens, HEPA purifiers and ionizers are good ways to help remove the majority of the remaining particles in your home, and are good options for the air quality conscious.
If you and your family work together, cleaner air in your home can become a reality sooner than you think!
