10+ Allergy Easing House Cleaning Tips for a Healthy Home

Our home is our fortress. It creates the perfect comfort zone and makes you forget about the outside world. After a long day, we all love to cuddle on the sofa and tuck in with our favourite old blanket. But as comfortable as it is for you, it is as much for the allergens surrounding us. Even though they are unseen by the naked eye, even the most comfortable home can turn into a nightmare when allergy easing measures are not taken.

These unwanted housemates should be tossed out of the house regularly. For people with allergies, cleaning now and then cannot achieve the needed results, leading to severe complications. It is a vital part of any allergy treatment to allergy-proof the household. Although it takes a little more time and effort to implement new and allergy easing house cleaning methods, you will start to feel much better as soon as you have developed this new routine.

Allergy Causing Cleaning Products

Be careful which cleaning products you will be using because they can backfire and trigger irritating symptoms. These irritations can cause identical symptoms as allergies :

• Skin rash
• Asthma attack
• Itchy and watery eyes
• Sneezing

Standard cleaning solutions that can cause potential irritation to contain – ammonia, formaldehyde, sodium hypochlorite, and d-limonene. These chemicals can be found in cleaning products for furniture polish, dish soaps, oven, drain and glass cleaners, disinfectants, etc. Before buying the product, read its label and check for these ingredients.

For people who suffer from allergies, the best products to use when cleaning their homes are those containing non-toxic substances. In this line of thinking, green products are suitable. Vinegar and soda bicarbonate can get almost anything cleaned. You can use vinegar and salt to clean surfaces, baking soda to remove odd scents from the carpet. You do not have to get obsessed with cleaning to eliminate the allergens in your home since it is almost impossible to remove them altogether. When cleaning, wear a mask to protect yourself.

What Are the Areas of a Home That Cause the Most Allergies

Here are some of the areas in a home that homeowners often forget to clean, leading to more allergy triggers in the air:

Walls and ceiling

How often do you think of cleaning your walls and ceiling? It seems logical that as dust does not fall on the walls and ceiling, there is no need to clean them. That is untrue, especially for walls covered with wallpapers or other rough surfaces which, over time, gather microscopic dust invisible to the naked eye.

Even after perfectly cleaning all surfaces in your home, you might still experience allergies and the cause can be the dust that’s left on the walls and ceiling. When walking, you stir the air and it blows off the dust on the walls and sets it off in the air.

Books and magazines

Lots of dust can accumulate on top and in between your bookshelves. In order to clean them properly, take them off the shelves and dust them separately. This might be a tiresome cleaning task, but it should be done regularly if you have any allergies to dust.

Stuffed pets

If you have stuffed pets, bean bag chairs or other spacious cloth objects at home, you should often dust, vacuum and thump them to keep the dust from getting deep in the fibre where it will constantly disperse allergens in your home.

Change filters often

The filters in your vacuum cleaner, air humidifier, air conditioner, kitchen hood and especially air filter are all designed to stop different particles from getting into the air you breathe at home. However, if not cleaned regularly, they themselves become the source of air pollution. Make sure to clean them often, according to the manual instructions on each appliance.

Toilet tank, concealed shower box and other

Dangerous and common allergens are mould and mildew. They thrive in areas with high humidity such as the bathroom, toilet, garbage disposal unit and even your potted plants. In order to deal with those two allergens, make sure to have your fans and dehumidifiers working properly. Water hungry plants and mildew allergies cannot coincide.

Don’t forget your wardrobe

Another place where we often neglect while cleaning is the wardrobe. Think of how many clothes there are, each made from different materials, each one being in contact with different places, people and pets.

It is advisable to dust your wardrobe inside out, taking the clothes out, including all drawers, in order to sanitize all surfaces and keep allergens to a minimum.

Finally, your bed.

We spend a third of our life on our beds, there are lots of particles, food, bodily liquids, dust and other debris that, although microscopic, settle in our bed covers and mattress and create an environment that breeds various allergens such as dust mites, dust, viruses, mould and more.

Here are some ideas how on clean your home and keep your allergies under control.

Allergy Easing Tips for the Living Areas

To keep the dust at a minimum, vacuum at least once or twice a week. Make sure your vacuum cleaner has a small-particle or HEPA filter. Such a thing is needed to prevent passing out the allergens from the regular filter. It will not be an efficient cleaning that way because everything you have sucked with the vacuum will go straight in the air again.

Encase your pillows in dust-mite proof covers. Wash the blankets and sheets regularly in 50℃ water. This temperature is hot enough to kill the dust mites. Also, if you have children with allergies, wash their stuffed animals too.

Try to wash the carpet with fragrance-free detergents and also not with shampoos. It is possible from the leftover moisture to cause mould growth or increase the pollen in your house.

How to Allergy-Proof the Kitchen

Try to avoid high piles of dishes in the sink. Keep your kitchen clean and wash the used appliances as soon as you are done using them. Store the food in sealed boxes and regularly clean the fridge inside. Empty the recycle bins frequently, and at least once a week, place a piece of bread with vinegar for one night on the bottom of the container to sanitise it. When cooking, use an exhaust fan to remove cooking fumes and reduce the moisture. Regularly check for leaks and, if any, try to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Bathroom Cleaning for Fewer Allergies

Minimising the moisture is of high importance. Use exhaust fans or just open the windows when you’re taking a shower. Clear and disinfect the bathroom whenever it is possible and keep it well ventilated. Wash the shower curtains at least once a month. An alternative is to buy curtains that contain antifungal agents. If your walls are covered with wallpapers, try to switch to tile or paint the walls. Mould can quickly grow underneath the wallpaper.

Allergy Easing Tips for the Bedroom as Well

On average, a person spends about 8 hours in his bedroom. It doesn’t matter if you sleep alone in the bed or with your significant other. There are always microscopic mites. To avoid them as much as possible, enclose the mattress and all pillows in allergen-proof cases. Change those big and heavy curtains with window shades instead, or, if you do not wish to part with your favourite curtains, try to launder them in hot water once a month. Your four-legged friend is also a walking dust mop. Try to prevent sneaky entrances in your bedroom.