It’s allergy season, which means it’s important to take the air quality in your home into consideration. Do you know what sort of contaminants are floating around the air in your home?
Chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and ammonia can come from common household items and pollute your home’s atmosphere without any visual warning. Be prepared to fight the pollutants whether you can see them or not—use these 6 ideas to improve your indoor air quality naturally:
Beeswax Candles
Paraffin and aromatic candles can be harmful to the air quality in your home, but beeswax candles are a great alternative. Not only do pure beeswax candles burn with almost no smoke or scent, they actually clean the air by releasing negative ions into the air. The negative ions can bind with toxins and help remove them from the air. Beeswax candles are also effective at removing common allergens like dust and dander from the air, making them helpful for those with asthma or allergies. Bonus: beeswax candles burn more slowly than paraffin candles, so they last much longer.
Air Purifiers
Air Purifiers can remove up to 99% of the dangerous air pollutants invading your home. There is a wide variety of purifiers you can choose from including HEPA Air Filters, UV Light Air Purifiers, and Air Exchangers. One of these whole-home systems will be much more effective at allergy prevention and health protection than individual units that clean the air in one room. Only a centralized system allows you to reach and treat all of the air in your home.
Salt Lamps
Himalayan salt lamps attract water molecules from the air, therefore also trapping dirt, pollen, and smoke particles that are carried in water vapor. Once the airborne contaminants have been locked in the salt, clean water is then re-released, thus purifying the air. Bonus: The negative ions produced are said to neutralize electromagnetic radiation from household electronics (such as computers and smart phones) and even prevent the build-up of static electricity.
Eliminate Harsh Chemical Cleaners
In recent years, cleaning products were responsible for nearly 10% of all toxic exposures reported to the U.S. Poison Control Centers—120,434 of these exposures involved children under six, who can swallow or spill cleaners stored or left open inside the home. Remove harsh cleaners from your home and instead try making a sanitizing natural household cleaner using essential oils.
Plants
NASA partnered with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America for a study using houseplants as a way to purify the air in space facilities. They found that several plants can filter out common volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This practice can also be applied in our homes to improve indoor air quality back on Earth. Aloe, spider plants, and snake plants are just some of the many houseplants that can improve indoor air quality.
Keep it Clean
Dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, moping—whatever you have to do to remove the naturally occurring dirt and dust from your home. While these other ideas are great solutions, it would be hard for them to be completely successful on their own. Do your due diligence and get those dust bunnies trapped in the corners out of there before they start floating around in your air.
Fresh Air
This one’s a no brainer. Leave your windows open whenever you’re home and it’s nice weather outside. This will leave your whole home feeling refreshed and renewed. Open windows on opposite walls to create a nice cross-breeze and really get fresh air circulating in your whole home.
These ideas are all great options to improve air quality naturally and instead of adding to the problem with any other so called cleaning chemicals. If you’re still suffering from unclean air, contact the professionals at Blue Ox. Our expert technicians are available to help with any of your indoor air quality concerns. Contact us today to learn more and schedule your appointment online.
