Our air isn't as clean as it used to be. With the rise of cars and the hustle and bustle of big cities, we have been pumping pollution into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. As more and more pollution rises into the air, we have been faced with worse and worse air quality.
Even though we can't easily clean the pollution circulating the outdoor air, we can at least clean the air in our homes. There are several ways to improve indoor air quality.
Common Air Pollutants
Many kinds of pollutants get distributed into your home's air, so it's essential to determine which air pollutants are the most common.
One of the most common is the exhaust from cars and other motor vehicles. This is a vast problem in larger cities but can also cause problems in smaller towns. Wherever there are a lot of people driving to the store, work, or any other place, you will be faced with pollution clouding the air. So much so that in 2020 when world-wide lockdowns were in place, the quality of outdoor air drastically improved. Unfortunately, it is very common for the outdoor pollution to make it’s way inside our homes.
Cigarette smoke and/or second-hand smoke is also a very serious pollutant. Even if you are not the one smoking, you will experience secondhand smoke, which is just as harmful as smoking a cigartte yourself. Not only will you be experiencing poor air quality due to cigarette smoke, but you are also exposing yourself to many health risks.
Ozone is also a troubling air pollutant. If you have ever received an air quality alert from the weather source you follow, that alert could have been because of high ozone levels. Ozone from machinery and factories can become heavy in the air and cause breathing problems for many people.
Even our pets can add to the air pollutants we experience in our homes. When our pets go outside, the fur on their coats will pick up things like pollen, pollution, and dust. Then, they bring those contaminants inside the home, affecting our indoor air quality. If you suffer from allergies, your pets may be bringing those allergens directly to your home.
Many more forms of air pollution, from carbon monoxide to lead, can get into the air. These pollutants are commonly from sources like vehicles, machinary, and factories.
Ways to Improve Air Quality
Again, even though you can't improve the air quality of your entire city, you can at least improve indoor air quality and enjoy a home with clean air. Follow these recommendations to give your home better indoor air quality.
Monitor Indoor Air Quality and Baseline Metrics
The first step to improving indoor air quality is to figure out your air quality. You can purchase air quality monitors for inside your home. When you get this system set up, it will help you determine what is in your air and if there are any harmful contaminants. Monitoring your air enables you to find the problems so you can address them. Once you know what contaminants are in your air, you will know whether improving your air quality will be easy or difficult.
When you first get your monitor system set up, be prepared to check the metrics several times a day to see how air quality in your home changes. Take note of what pollutants are in your air at certain times of the day. You might find patterns of when certain pollutants enter the house and how they may relate to the weather.
When you begin taking note of the patterns, you might discover areas where your indoor air quality can be drastically improved. You may even discover that your breathing issues have more to do with allergens, rather than with just dust.
Monitors give you a better idea of what is happening with the air quality in your house so you can better address the problem.
Change Your Air Filter
Everyone should have an air filter in their air conditioning unit. Filters help remove air pollution from your home. Airzey, in particular, makes it easy to have clean air and never be without a clean filter when you subscribe.
Airzey’s subscription service helps you stay on top of your indoor air quality. All the work is done for you by Airzey so you can continue to have clean, fresh air without any added stress.
Dust and Vacuum Regularly
Dust, pet dander, and pollen can build up inside your house. All these things can make breathing difficult, especially if you have asthma. Removing all the harmful particles in your home through dusting and vacuuming is essential.
When dusting, get a duster that traps and locks everything it picks up. That way, you are not sending dust mites and dead skin cells into the air when you disturb the dust.
You can purchase vacuums that do a great job picking up allergens and pet hair. Getting specified tools can make breathing and cleaning much easier, especially if you have trouble breathing because of these pollutants.
Reduce Allergens
When you open a door or window in your home, allergens can float in from the outside. These allergens can cause many indoor air quality problems.
Reducing the allergens in your home is as easy as running an air purifier. Using air purifying systems will suck the allergens out of the air and give you better air quality in your home.
Allergies can be made worse by outdoor air pollutants that end up inside your house. Not only will this trigger your allergies, but it can also trigger asthma attacks.
Turn on Fans
Air purifiers are not the only things that will circulate the air in your house. The fans in your home were also made to circulate air, which helps regulate the indoor temperature. Fans help reduce the chance of your air getting stale and also reduce dust buildup on objects, further improving the indoor air quality.
Keep Carpets and Rugs Clean
The tactile nature of carpets and rugs will trap indoor pollutants. Dirt, pet hair, pollen, mold spores, and many other pollutants get brought in from the outside and rubbed into the carpets or rugs in your home. These pollutants then get trapped, causing triggers for allergies.
Vacuum the carpets and rugs in your house frequently. If your rug can be machine washed, make sure to add that to your laundry routine.
Sometimes, you will need more than a vacuum to make sure your carpets are clean. When needed, you should get a machine made specifically to clean carpets. Carpet cleaners will use a specific detergent to wash and pull out all the pollutants trapped within the fibers. Your carpet will get a deep clean, making breathing much easier inside your home.
Manage Humidity
Humidity can cause a lot of changes to air quality. Too dry and it's difficult to breathe, but too much humidity can also harm air quality.
If your home tends to be extremely dry, you will notice in your skin and in your ability to breathe. Dry air feels rough and will dry out your throat and nose. This will then cause irritation and possible inflammation.
For super dry air, you can improve air quality by getting a humidifier for your house. A humidifier will pump water vapor into the air so your throat and nose can be better moisturized.
Too much humidity in your home will also cause poor indoor air quality. If too much humidity gets trapped in your home without any way to filter it out, mold can grow. Most commonly, mold will grow in the dark spaces of your house when there is too much humidity. However, mold can also grow on walls, crevices near the ceiling, near the floor, and almost anywhere there is plumbing.
Mold is irritating to breathe in, but it can also be dangerous. It is one of the biggest health hazards when it comes to indoor air quality. Luckily, high humidity in homes can be fixed. You can eliminate excess humidity by opening windows to bring in dryer air and move out the humid air.
If you don't want to open windows, you can purchase a dehumidifier that works by sucking the water vapor from the air.
Add Plants to Your Home
ALT TEXT: Plants help to improve the air quality
Plants do wonders for our homes. They make the space more visually appealing and are also very effective at improving indoor air quality. Plants regulate the outside air and also the air inside our homes.
A plant, especially snake plants or peace lilies, will take in indoor air pollutants and produce fresh air in its place. Plants are natural air purifiers as they "breathe in" our carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the air to "breathe out" clean oxygen.
The more plants you have, the better the air quality in your home will be. Just remember that you have to take care of them. Having dead and rotting plants in your home won't do anything to remove indoor air pollution. Instead, it can add pollutants to your air during decomposition.
If you want to add plants to your home that clean your air and give you something as it grows, try growing vegetables or herbs.
Use Gentle Products in Your Home
Things like harsh fragrances and cleaners can make it difficult to breathe in your home. Each fragrance and cleaner that you spray, whether it's a laundry product or a scented candle, will introduce tiny particles into the air. Some people are very sensitive to these particles.
Instead of using strong-scented products and harmful chemicals, use gentle products. You can find affordable, gentle cleaners at your local store. Some laundry detergents don't have any fragrances and, therefore, will leave your clothes smelling truly clean.
The more gentle the product is, the better it will be at not emitting particles into the air that will get breathed into your lungs. If you've had a hard time breathing while cleaning with bleach or another harsh cleanser, it is because you are breathing in highly irritating particles. The more gentle the product, the safer it will be.
When purchasing a cleaning product or any other product that will release particles into the air, check the ingredients and see if that product is something you want to breathe in. Avoid things like harsh fragrances and flammable ingredients.
If you can't avoid harsher products, make sure you have a window open or your vents open to filter out some of the particles being emitted.
Become a User of Airzey's Air Filter Subscription
If you have been considering getting a new air filter or wondering if an air filter subscription service is for you, give Airzey a shot.
Airzey offers a subscription service that delivers air filters to your front door when it's time to replace your current filter. This takes the guesswork out of replacing your air filter and ensures you always have a fresh, clean filter in your AC unit.
