With
allergies, smoke and other pollutants, keeping the air clean in your home is becoming a bigger challenge. According to the EPA, the air in your home is 2 to 5 times more polluted than the outdoors. There are a variety of air filters on the market. Determining which one will work best for your situation depends on the pollutants and their levels you are trying to remove. Here are several methods that can be used to keep the air you breathe as clean as possible in your home.
Clean Your House
- The first step in keeping the air clean in your home, is to keep your home clean. Dust and clean regularly to minimize the irritants in the air.
- Keeping your house clean will help the filters work more efficiently and produce cleaner air.
Choosing an Air Purifier
- There are a variety of air purifiers on the market, but not all of them are effective in cleaning the air. When selecting an air purifier, look for the following stats.
- HEPA filters – find a product that uses a HEPA filter to get the most air cleaning power. Filters typically last a year.
- Activated charcoal – Filters with activated charcoal are excellent for removing odors from the air. They need to be changed every 3-6 months.
- CADR – CADR stands for “Clean Air Delivery Rates.” This measure the amount of air that is moved through the filter. If the CADR is too low, it will not be powerful enough to clean the air effectively. Look for rates of 250 or more.
Cleaning the Air with Plants
- The most natural way to clean the air is by using plants. There are a variety of plants that can help remove pollutants and provide healthier air indoors.
- Some plants that are good for cleaning the air are spider plants, ferns, English Ivy, Golden Pothos, Snake Plant, and several dracaena.
- There are fan-assisted planters for areas that need to quickly remove pollutants from the air. This fan works to draw the air through the dirt and is naturally filtered by the dirt and cleaned by the plant’s roots.
Air Quality Checks
- Home air quality checks can be expensive, but they are effective in finding the source of the problem. These are commonly used to find areas that are triggering allergies or related symptoms. They can successfully detect mold, fumes, or chemicals emitted by construction materials, paint, rugs, carpeting, etc.
- If the problem in your home is severe, contact an air quality consultant in your area to determine the source of the problem. They will then be able to recommend the best plan of action to clean the air and minimize or alleviate the problems.
Additional Tips and Advice
- For further recommendations, contact a professional who specializes in home air filters. They will be able to match the size of your home with the correct item to successfully remove the pollutants from the air. If you require a full-house filtration system, it is wise to have a thorough inspection
- Ion and ozone air filters should be avoided in homes with asthma sufferers. These can emit ozone into the air which can aggravate asthma.
- If you live in a home with smokers, pets or allergies, you will likely need to change the air filter more often for a more effective result.
My grandma always ‘aired out’ the house by picking a mostly warm, slightly breezy day and then opening up every window and door in the house for at least a couple of hours. It’s a good time to do any housecleaning that needs chemicals too, because none of the chemical fumes stay in the house.
Dirty fans and vents spread dust, especially in the winter with the heater on or in the summer with the air conditioner on all the time. And ceiling fans or desk fans need to be cleaned too.
I don’t let people smoke inside my house, because the stink from the smoke and everything in it stays behind when they’re done. Make smokers go all the way outside before they light up, and don’t let them stand beside a window or open door. If it’s rainy or cold outside, that’s their problem.
I have a vacuum with a Hepa filter, and it really keeps the allergens down inside my house. You have to make sure the vacuum has a quality filtering system, a lot of them are just cheap and don’t catch much. A good Hepa filter system will really help if you have hay fever or pets.
Have a professional come out once a year and blow out your central heat and air system. There are a lot of places in there that you can’t reach to clean. Be prepared to leave the house when they do it, though, especially if you’re allergic to dust!
An indoor plant like the Snake (mother-in-law’s tongue) plant gives off a great deal of oxygen compared to other plants. So you are literally cleaning your air with this plant.
A bowl or dish of white vinegar will help to reduce odors, especially from smoke.
Charcoal absorbs dampness and odor. Put some charcoal briquettes in a container where odors lurk.
Thank you for the tips on controlling odors. I am a smoker, and what I do is have small clay or terracotta bowls with lids filled with kitty litter around my home – bedroom, restroom, living room, my tiny office and my patio. If anything, you don’t see those black bottomed ashtrays, and I dig the cigarette butts way in the kitty litter so they don’t show, and when there are 5 to 6 in there, I dump the kitty litter in the trash and refill. It’s kind of neat, and you can get the kitty litter (and possibly the bowls with lids) at the 99 cents store.
Don’t let people smoke in your house if you have wallpaper and carpet because the smokey smell will be absorbed by your carpet and wallpaper.
I agree about smoking outside. My favorite idea for fresh air is having small lids from bottles or jars hidden all round the house (where they can’t be seen) filled with vanilla. Your home will smell like you have been cooking all day!