Anyone suffering from allergies knows how troublesome they can be. You can’t really control what’s going on outside the home, but you can at least take some steps to improve things inside. With a few simple adjustments, you can help to keep your home free from allergens, thereby making it a more comfortable place to live for anyone with allergies. Here are X strategies that you can use.
Vacuum Often
One thing you’ll need to get into the habit of doing is vacuuming the home regularly. Allergens are in the air and they will settle into your carpets over time. You may not even notice the allergens in your home, like pet dander or dust, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. By vacuuming regularly, you can remove these allergens from your floors and furniture. Get yourself a reliable vacuum and make sure you are using it at least once a week. If your allergies still don’t improve, try adding in more vacuuming sessions.
Don’t Forget to Dust
Most of us remember to vacuum every once in a while, but sometimes we forget that we need to dust too. Dust accumulates in all areas of your home, making it important that you regularly clean it away. Move furniture around, inspect hard to reach places and don’t leave any dust behind. Even a small amount of dust can make life uncomfortable for people with allergies, so you’ll have to be on extra high alert for any dust throughout your home. After you dust an area, it’s a good idea to go over the floor around it with a vacuum to pick up anything that might have fallen.
Groom Your Pets
For those of you with pets, you don’t have to kick them out of the home in order to deal with your allergies. Instead, you’ll just want to pay closer attention to their grooming. For example, you should regularly brush your dog or cat to pick up any loose hairs, so that they don’t wind up on the furniture or floor. You should also look into working with a pet groomer. To find a pet groomer, you should head over to your favorite search engine and type in something like “dog grooming Houston.” This will give you some options in your area, which you can then research to find the best one. Pet grooming is a great way to give your pets the best, and when you combine this with the allergy benefits, it’s an easy decision to make.
Keep Windows and Doors Shut
A common allergen for a lot of people is pollen. When Spring rolls around, there may be a lot of pollen in the air outside your home, depending on where you live. To fight this, you should make sure your windows and doors are always firmly closed. Seal any cracks around the edges of your windows and install door sweeps to close up any gaps. Opening a window even a little bit can allow a breeze to come in, which in turn will bring some pollen along with it. Deal with pollen only when you’re ready for it by keeping it where it belongs – outside the home.
HVAC Maintenance
Finally, it’s important that you remember to perform regular maintenance on your HVAC system. Within your HVAC system is an air filter. The system pulls in air from around your home, passes it through this filter, then returns the temperature adjusted air back into your home, with the pollutants removed. However, over time these air filters will become clogged. When this happens, they will become less effective. The result is an HVAC system that doesn’t work as well – which costs you more money – and which doesn’t catch as many pollutants. If it’s been a while since you’ve replaced your HVAC air filter or had the entire system cleaned out, it could be the cause of your indoor allergies. Make it a point to replace your air filter soon, or call in an HVAC maintenance team to have them clean the entire system and replace the filter for you.
Don’t Suffer from Indoor Allergies
You may not be able to remove allergies from your life entirely, but you can at least make life more bearable within your home. It will take some additional attention to the cleaning and maintenance of your home, but nothing that will take you more than a few minutes for each. If you’ve tried all of the above and you’re still having a problem, you should talk to your doctor for additional advice. But hopefully, the above solutions will be enough to keep your allergies under control and you can go back to living comfortably within your own home.