Your home is your haven; your safe space, but sometimes it can be less good for you your family, and even your pets, than you would like to think. There are so many nasty things that could be lurking in the very fabric of your home making you feel less than you best that it is important that you do everything you can to make your space as healthy as it can possibly be, so you can breathe easier, and truly live your best lives as a family.
With that in mind, here are some very simple things you can do to build a healthier home right now:
Keep pollen out of the home
In the allergy season, it is really important, if any of your family members suffer from hay fever, that you do what you can to keep pollen out of your home. Luckily, this is really easy to do by taking simple precautions such as drying laundry indoors, keeping doors and windows closed, brushing clothing and shoes before you bring them inside, and cleaning your pets’ fur before they come inside from the garden or walkies. You might not be able to eliminate every speck of pollen, but the less of it you bring indoors, the better you will all be able to breathe, so it really is worth the effort.
Take shoes off
One of the most common ways to introduce all manner of bacteria, allergens, and pollutants, which can make it more difficult to breathe, and potentially cause various illnesses, into the home is via the shoes. When you spend all day walking around, much of it outdoors, your shoes can pick up so much pollen, dirt, and grime, and that can so easily be transferred into the home if you leave your shoes on. So, invest in lots of comfy slippers, leave them by the door and encourage your family and guests to take off their shoes and pop them on if you want a cleaner, more hygienic home going forward.
Use an air purifier
Of course, when it comes to breathing easy, perhaps the best thing you can do for your whole family is to invest in an air purifier, so be sure to check out Molekule on Facebook. No matter what else we do, we still need to breathe in air and that air can be polluted by various chemicals from vehicles, cleaning products, plants, pet dander, and many more things besides, If you or a family member are prone to asthma or allergies, this impure air can cause significant problems, but a good air purifier will filter out as many of those potentially dangerous particles as possible so you can breathe in the freshest air possible when you’re at home, at least.
Install vent fans
It’s really easy for mold and mildew to grow in vent spaces should the humidity levels rise about 50 percent, and should that happen, your respiratory health and chance of a nasty infection will rise significantly. Luckily, it’s really easy to minimize the chance of this happening by installing fan vents into crawlspaces to keep the air circulating and stop the areas from getting too moist.
Keep pests at bay
Pests, whether they be rats, mice, or ticks and fleas carried by your animal companions, can pose a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of your whole family, so you will obviously want to do everything you can to keep them at aby.
Start by filling any holes or cracks that they could get through with caulking. Then, make sure that any foodstuffs that may attract them are placed into sealed containers where they cannot be easily got at. If you have pets, you should also be sure to give them flea and tick treatments every month, or as directed by their veterinarian. If you do have an infestation, then call in the professional exterminators asap because the longer they’re around, the more likely it is they will infect you with something nasty.
Filter your water
We all like to think that the water we get from the faucet is `s clean and safe as possible, but unfortunately, this is not always the case and our home water supply can ve filled with all kinds of contaminants including lead and chlorine, Although these are usually present in small amounts only, if you are already sick, they could make matters worse. As a result, you may want to think about investing in a water filtration system for your drinking water. If that’s too expensive, then a basic water filter pitcher, which uses charcoal to purify your drinking water, is a simple and effective solution too.
Remove BPA
Containers that have a BPA lining are very common in many kitchens across the world, but they have been shown to leach BPA into the foods that are placed inside them, and since BPA has been found to be potentially hazardous to humans, especially children, it is a good idea to replace them with safer alternatives such as BPAS-free plastics and glass. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
Install an outdoor vent fan
If you currently have recirculating vent fans in your home, although it may be expensive to do so, you might want to think about replacing them with outdoor vent fans instead. Why? Because outdoor vents will actually remove various pollutants from your home, whereas recirculating ones will just keep pumping the same old air into your environment, which is obviously less healthy, especially if you have cold or virus which is airborne.
Choose copper
In the kitchen and bathroom, instead of using ceramic or stainless steel, where possible, use copper instead, Not only is copper more attractive in the home, but it is also naturally antimicrobial, which means it will help you to keep germs at bay. So, from pans and cutlery to sinks and countertops, copper is a fantastic solution that will help you to maintain a healthier home.
Open the windows
If you do not need to keep pollen out, and if you do not live n a busy main road or in close proximity to some other outside pollutant, one of the best things you can do to make your home healthier is to open the windows and let that stale air out, while also letting fresh clean air in, Turn your air purifier on and the efect will be even more dramatic.
Get yourself a few house plants
House plants are not only extremely attractive, but they also have many healing qualities, For example, many pot plants are able to purify the air you breathe within your home, Plants have also been shown to lower the heart rate and reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety, so if you don’t have at least one plant in each room of your home, you really should think about changing that right now.
Sweep the chimney
If your property has a fireplace and a chimney, you will need to ensure that it is regularly swept, not only to minimize the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be seriously damaging to the health and even fatal, also to minimize air pollution causes by ashes which can affect breathing negatively when allowed to get into the air and thus be distributed around the home.
Use a steam cleaner
Steam cleaners are a great home appliance to have because they are much better at loosening dirt and killing off various bacteria than water and cleaning products alone. They are particularly good at cleaning wooden floors, but be sure to also mop with a microfiber appliance to pick up and remove any pollutants like pollen,m after steaming, too.
Run a dehumidifier
In areas like the bathroom, which tend to get moister than the rest of the home it is a really good idea to run a dehumidifier, which will take much of the moisture out of the air and prevent condensation, mold, and mildew from forming, which will really help you all to breath a lot easier and prevent your home from looking unsightly due to mold infestations.
Check paint for lead
Many older homes in the United States still have lead paint on the walls, and this is, as I’m sure you will know, far from ideal, especially if you have young children who could conceivably end up consuming flaking paint, so if you are in any doubt whatsoever, it is a good idea to have paint tested for lead and expertly removed if any is found to be present.
Keep it clean
At the end of the day, just ensuring that your home is as clean and tidy as possible is one of the best things you can do to create a healthy home, so get all the family involved in doing their chores and keep your space as safe as possible.
As you can see, there are so many potential hazards lurking in your home, but there are also so many simple things you can do to minimize, if not eliminate, them, and make your home as healthy as possible. So what are you waiting for?
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