10 easy tips to improve indoor air quality

Why is Indoor Air Quality is Important?

When you think of pollution, you may think of harmful substances released from cars and industrial manufacturing sites near highways or industrial areas.

But when you think about it deeper, you realize that in reality, the bigger danger is in our own homes. When you consider the amount of the time you spend at home, if you do not take the proper precautions, you and your family can be at health risk for indoor air pollution.

What causes indoor air pollution?

To answer this question, everything from cooking to air fresheners, and from smoking to cleaning products may cause air pollution.

The severity of pollution depends on how often, and how you repeat the tips followed below.

How can you control it, or can you even control it?

Yes, you can. As the saying goes: an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. You should keep a clean home and good maintenance habits to improve indoor air quality.

We will go more into detail about the tips on ensuring cleaner air quality in your home by describing the problem and how to prevent it below.

Radon Gas
Smoking
Doormats
Make laundry often
Replace air filters as directed
Get a quality vacuum and maintain it well
professional deep cleaning
Increase ventilation and fresh air intake
Don’t use aerosols
Eliminate mold and mildew

Now... What is Next?

1. Radon Testing

According to EPA, Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that’s produced by decaying uranium.
You can find radon in all soil types and tiny levels of radon gas found in the air we breathe every day.
Radon becomes a problem when it enters your home, and basement and gets trapped with nowhere to escape.

Long-term exposure to radon can cause lung cancer and it is second leading cause, right after smoking..
Most states require radon testing before house purchase by law.

How can you fix it:

To know if we have a radon issue we have to test it first. There are companies that do the testing, there are also DIY test kits available if you will like to do it yourself.

If Radon levels are in exetremly high, you have to hire a professional services to fix the issue.

But in most cases of lower levels, if we circulate the air enough in our homes, we will limit our exposure to quantities that may harm us.

2. Smoking

As we all know by now, smoking is BAD for your health and it causes a major health issues.

It’s a leading cause of lung cancer acording to John Hopkins Medicine, but secondary smoking is also bad as smoking.
Don’t expose your loved ones to thousands of hazardous chemicals that come out of tobacco.
In a worst-case scenario, make sure you smoke outside only to limit the effects.
This will prevent odor, yet another negative effect of smoking.

Smoke odor is not appealing for a prospective home buyer.
It is a tedious and expensive process to remove smoke odor from a home.

3. Doormats

You bring in a lot of unknown particles into your home from the soles of your shoes, depending on where you have been.

When walking outside, you are unaware of the potential hazardous pollutants you may step right into.
Everything from pesticides to oil and dust to particles of plastic, you name it. You can find the traces in the sole of your shoe.
Even if you have a doormat, that doesn’t guarantee that all the dirt leaves behind on the mat.
The grooves in the rubber sole of your shoes are still prone to bringing pollution into your home and lowering indoor air quality in your home.
According to GoodHousekeeping.com doormats are the simplest, easiest, and most effective way to improve indoor air quality.
All you have to do is get accustomed to wiping off your feet before entering your home.
If you’re looking for something more effective, then you should take off your shoes before entering your home. A recent study shows you can cut 80% of the dust/dirt entering your home only by having doormats on all the primary entrances.
Getting used to wiping your feet before entering your home is the most important part of this action.
This percentage goes up to 98% when you take off your shoes before entering your home.

4. Make laundry often

It is important to clean your sheets at least twice a month says GoodHousekeeping.com.

This will cut dust particles in the air and cut down on allergens.

It is important to clean your sheets often if you have pets that climb on your bed. Their fur contributes to the allergens in your air, but if taken care of, they can reduce.

Also, curtains attract dust and absorb odors over time, which is why to clean them.

You should clean them every 3 to 6 months, depending on how thick they are, for your air to stay as fresh as possible.

5. Replace air-duct filters

While cycling the cool air that keeps you fresh during the summer and the hot air that keeps you toasty during the winter, air filters accumulate dust and air pollutants.

If you do not change these filters, they will stop doing their job and your air quality will reduce significantly, besides possibly causing problems to your AC unit.

Make sure you change your AC filters as directed to prevent any of this.

6. Get a vacuum with a HEPA filter

Make sure you have an excellent quality” brush propelled” vacuum cleaner if you want to go one step further, buy it with HEPA FILTER.

Most vacuum cleaners contain filters that need to wash out or changed periodically. This needs to be done because a clogged vacuum doesn’t work to its full capacity and cannot pick up dust and dirt from your floors.

Secondly, the accumulated dust in the filters can end up right back onto your floors. Don’t forget, your vacuum will work well depending on how you maintain it.

The most expensive vacuum in the world with a clogged hose cannot do the job it made for.

7. Periodic professional cleaning services for deep cleaning

Have your upholstery, tile, rugs, wood floor, and carpet professionally clean , as often as recommended for their manufacturers.

Just as your air filters collect the dust from the air, all small particles that float on the air eventually will land on your flooring and upholstery.

Between the professional carpet cleanings, your carpet will serve as a secondary filter holding dust and particles between the carpet fibers.

Vacuuming will be enough up to a certain extent, but after some time it will be necessary to deep clean them professionally.

We also recommend that after new flooring installation or refinishing, for homes to ventilate at least 3 days for chemicals off-gassing to discharge from your home.

Tile, laminate, and hardwood floors can also collect dust on the surface.

Cleaning your floors at least once a week will eliminate these particles from ruining the air quality of your home. We highly recommend it to use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and brush, which provides maximum suction and prevents dust from circulating in the air while the vacuum turns on.

Mopping your tile floor often as possible is also a suitable option to stop dust from rising.

We do not recommend sweeping to be a viable cleaning method; it will lift off more dust than you will pick up. Vacuuming is recommended 1-2 times a week by professionals depending on household size and cleaning habits, etc.

These are some ways to ensure a safe and clean household for you and your family!

8. Feel the fresh air through your windows.

You should open windows to let the fresh air in is essential for your health, especially homes with small children. Nothing beats a healthy home like fresh air!

If your home is recirculating the same air without access to new air, your home is prone to odors and unwanted particles.

Even during winter, it is important to open windows for air circulation, even if it is for 30 minutes to an hour.

Just turn off your AC/ Heater system early in the morning and open up a few windows.

Fill up your lungs with fresh air and your lungs will thank you later.

Kitchen fans also circulate air from odors while cooking and baking to cut down the cooking fumes. These cooking fumes can be gas from your stovetop or your oven, both of which are harmful to breathe.

Turn on your kitchen fan while you are cooking to prevent potential air contaminants from settling in your air.

9. Keep an eye out for leaks!

Although this one might not be as obvious, moisture can cause mold and mildew and therefore harm your loved ones.

The most common type of moisture may result from leaks. Keep up with your plumbing and in case of any leak, take care of it right away. Moisture can cause mold and as a result, poor air quality.

Depending on your location, your home may be more humid than others. If your home doesn’t have central AC, it may be a wonderful idea to invest in a dehumidifier.

Central ACs come with built-in dehumidifiers and they help maintain a consistent level of humidity in your home for you to feel at comfort and lowering the possibility of mold and mildew build-up.

10. Stay away from aerosol sprays

Aerosol sprays (air fresheners , ppaints etc.) contribute to air pollution according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are especially bad for the ozone layer. Imagine how bad they must be trapped inside your home. Air Fresheners contain up to 400 ingredients, some of which are toxic and most harmful chemicals.

Instead of using harsh scents like these, use alternatives such as essential oils or other natural products. It is better to open the window and let the fresh air into your home.

Also, if you have a paint project, avoid spray painting inside and take your project outside and wear a mask for more protection.

We also recommend it is also after the major paint jobs to ventilate your home for at least 3 days to get rid of the chemicals that come out of the paints.

Besides all these major points, there are also some minor things we would like to remind you to keep the indoor air quality under control.

Dry Cleaning: Leave your dry cleaning outside least for 24 hours before entering it home.
New furniture: We recommend 3 days of airing for off-gassing.
Pesticide Pollution: Organic pesticides are strongly recommended.
Pet Dander: Bathe your pets often as possible to cut pet dander as much as you can.
Indoor plants: It will help to improve air quality in your home by converting Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen.

Keep up with these tips!

Air quality should be your number one concern for the safety and health of your loved ones.

To guarantee this, it is important to follow most, if not all, the key points listed above.

You want to keep in mind avoiding harmful chemicals while also making sure your home stays clean to improve your air quality and reduce the air pollution within your home.

These simple and essential tips will provide peace of mind to you and your family by living comfortably and happily.