Is your baby always coughing even though nobody in the family smokes? Are your allergies acting up regardless of the season? Do you suffer a bit of eye irritation that sometimes your head hurt a bit?
If your answer is yes, then I suggest you check your indoor air quality. If you didn’t know yet, the air inside your home is 2 to 5 times more polluted and toxic than the air outside.
Yep, you read that right.
The causes? They come from the things that you use and do every day. Synthetic chemicals from your air fresheners and pesticides. Harmful chemicals that come from the foams in your furniture. Carbon monoxide from your cooking.
What seems like normal and unalarming health issues may have serious health implications and you might not be doing anything about it!
Here you are making sure everybody gets their yearly checkups and arming your kids with the best safety gadgets there are, but you’re failing at protecting them while you’re all inside the house.
So, after you improve the ventilation at your home, the next step is for you to purify your indoor air. Here are some of the best practices that we have compiled for you.
Installation & Ease of Use
Our tips involve choosing home items that you may be already using. So chances are, you wouldn’t have a hard time figuring how to use them.
Cost
The items mentioned here range from $10 to as much as $600. It really depends whether you go for a natural cleanse or a technology-aided cleanse.
Step 1: Add Air-Filtering House Plants
NASA uses these plants to clean their air in space stations; use them to clean your indoor air.
If you’re a plant person, this is another good reason to hoard more plants.
But what we suggest is not just pick a random plant that will look good inside your home. Pick the air purifying plants, which, according to NASA (yes, it’s the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), are the most effective in removing the toxins from the air.
Here are some of the plants they suggest
- Peace Lily (they have nice flowers)
- Varigated Snake Plant
- Spider Plant
- Red-edged Dracaena
- Dwarf Date Palm
- Boston Fern
- Bamboo Plant
Aside from these plants’ special powers, most of these plants will instantly transform your space into a modern urban garden that’s cool to hang out in. And you don’t have to drive and buy them. You can even order a set of these filtering plants online.
And oh, don’t forget to open your windows. Your plants need some fresh air and a few the sun’s rays. Plus, opening your windows even for just 5 minutes a day reduces the build up of the toxins inside your home.
Recommended Products
Step 2: Install purifiers in strategic spots
Target areas where your pets hang out or where there’s smoke—whether it’s from the cooking or cigarettes.
If you have pets or smokers at home or if you cook every day (and you have a small, closed space), an air purifier is a must-have. And I’m not saying that only people with asthma attacks should have them.
Pet dander can cause you to develop asthma-like symptoms. Cooking (especially with a gas stove) produces a harmful level of nitrogen dioxide. And do we have to talk about smoking? Formaldehyde is found in cigars and it’s carcinogenic.
Okay, so how to deal with this?
Position an air purifier where these agents of toxins normally are. For example, your kitchen. Your living room that’s covered in carpet. The room beside your patio, where you or any family members smoke.
Also, make sure that the air purifiers that you’re getting have the ability to deal with these toxins and can clean the area where you placed them. For example, the Blueair 211 Purifier can cover medium-sized rooms that are anywhere between 400 to 600 square meters. And they can capture 99% of airborne pollutants including odors, smoke, allergens, mold spores, and pet danders.
Recommended Products
Step 3: Invest in kid-friendly purifiers
They’re cute, quiet, and most of all, safe to be left working with your babies or toddlers.
The air purifier that you plan to be in your kid’s room or baby’s nursery deserves a separate section. Because we’re talking about leaving it with your kids a.k.a. those little creatures with peaking curiosity that tells them to touch everything. And oh, did I mention that these little creatures are most likely to be awakened with even just the lightest creak of your floor?
So yes, you may need different air purifiers in their bedroom.
For example, this GermGuardian Air Purifier reduces odors, fights germs, operates quietly, and projects a colorful night scene onto your little one’s ceiling. Awww, ain’t that cute?
Recommended Products
Step 4: Go for salt lamps and beeswax candles
They naturally clear the home of pollens, dust particles, and ions that cause sluggishness too!
A natural way of cleaning your air is by using salt lamps and beeswax candles.
Salt lamps produce negative ions, which attracts pollens, dirt, pollutants, and allergens. These atrocious particles are apparently positively charged. In other words, salt lamps rid the air of the harmful stuff so you can breathe in fresh, healthy air. Plus, they really look cool — a glowing huge chunk of crystal that gets you in the mood to relax. You can also choose to hold your favorite candles with Himalayan salt rock candle holders if you can’t give up your favorite scent.
Beeswax candles also do almost the same thing in getting the pollutants from the air. You don’t have to worry about the odor or smoke either. Beeswax candles burn with almost no smoke or scent. And they burn slowly, so you don’t have to buy them all the time.
Recommended Products
Step 5: Clean carpets and AC’s regularly
You wouldn’t like to know what your carpets and ACs hold if you don’t clean them often.
Your carpets and air conditioners might be killing you and you wouldn’t know they’re the culprit.
Nasal congestion, breathing problems, fatigue. They all can be due to your contaminated AC that you managed to only clean twice in the last year. A research suggests that “there may be some microorganisms growing in the system that may have some subtle effect on certain people.” This is gross, but just think that a badly maintained AC is a rich breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. A handheld vac like the Himasy Cordless Vacuum will help you clean it fast.
Same with your carpets. This article called it a “toxic sponge”. So clean these often. If you’re too busy to clean, you can get a handy carpet assistant like the iRobot 960, which can navigate multiple rooms and can be controlled by Alexa.
And, if you want to reduce common toxins by 60% at once, just use a doormat and leave your shoes by the door! That’s according to an EPA study.
Recommended Products
Now that you know the serious implications of having a dirty indoor air, it’s now your responsibility to do something about it. Don’t take the common sneezes and coughs lightly if you have been experiencing it for a while now.
A combination of these tips will help you reduce the toxins in your home right. So yeah, I won’t hold you for long now. I know you’ve got plants to buy and purifiers to move and carpets to clean.
Breathe in the good!
If you enjoyed reading this, then you’ll surely want to know another way of keeping your home safe from dangerous lurkers.
Ideaing empowers you to live smarter. Our team researches and recommends only the best smart gadgets, and we may earn a small commission if you buy through our site. Our writers maintain strict editorial independence and integrity. Ideaing is independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own. Learn more about us.
{{ commentsCountView }}
Drop a Comment