5 CLEANING HABITS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME’S AIR QUALITY

We are all aware of the harmful outdoor pollutants that threaten the environment and overall health of our planet. However, indoor pollution poses just as much of a threat to our health as outdoor pollution. Are you wondering how you can reduce indoor pollution in your home? Well, the team at OnTime Service is here to help with 5 cleaning habits to improve your home’s air quality!

Know Thine Enemy

One of the greatest weapons in your arsenal to keep pollution from invading your home air is knowing your enemy! There are many different types of indoor pollutants that can be vanquished with specific cleaning tasks. Among the most harmful and prevalent in homes are lead (found in dust), formaldehyde, radon, pollen, dander, and other volatile chemicals from many commonly-used cleaning products. To eliminate these pollutants from your indoor air, here are some cleaning habits you can adopt:

1. Keep Outside Pollutants Outside

First of all, you should address the outdoor pollutants that can be tracked into your home. Not only can pollen be brought in on clothing and hair, but pesticides and dirt can be easily tracked into your house on shoes. An easy way to counteract this problem is placing a large floor mat at every door entrance into your home. Furthermore, we recommend enforcing a “leave your shoes at the door” mandate for all who enter your home. Regularly clean these mats and the area around your entryways to keep dirt and outside chemicals at bay.

2. Clean Your Floors with a HEPA Vacuum

Secondly, you should invest in a vacuum cleaner that has HEPA filters, as they are the most effective in picking up and retaining particles. Additionally, you should use a vacuum with strong suction and rotating brushes for optimum cleaning. Also, we recommend vacuuming high traffic areas of your home several times in one cleaning session and vacuuming your entire home two or more times each week. Lastly, you should wash out your vacuum filter regularly to keep it working efficiently.

3. Mop Up What Your Vacuum Leaves Behind

While vacuuming your home on a regular basis is an effective way to pick up most of the dirt, dander, and dust that can accumulate, sometimes you can leave some behind. Therefore, we recommend using a microfiber mop and dust cloths to clean the dust and dirt your vacuum leaves behind. Furthermore, we recommend ditching soaps and cleaners, and just using plain water to capture lingering dust and allergens.

4. Maintain a Healthy Humidity Level

Because dust mites and mold thrive in moist environments, it’s important to keep your indoor humidity at a healthy level. To keep dust mites and mold at bay, we recommend maintaining a 30%-50% humidity level. A tried-and-true method to attain this humidity balance is using a dehumidifier and air conditioner to reduce moisture, especially during summer months.

5. Switch Up Your Cleaning Products

An alarming number of commonly-used cleaning products emit dozens of harmful chemicals into the air. In fact, many conventional laundry detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets contain formaldehyde as an ingredient! Furthermore, that lemony-fresh scent you associate with a clean home often comes from products containing a synthetic fragrance that can emit over 20 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. Consequently, you should consider ditching these cleaning products for natural options, some of which you can even make yourself.

Maintain Your Home Like A Pro

Although these cleaning habits to improve your home’s air quality will deliver some fantastic results, a greater step toward cleaner air starts with a professional touch. If you are ready to take a significant step toward improving the quality of your life with some improvements to your home, the experts at OnTime Service are here to help! Chat with us on our website or call us at 205-942-1405 for our Birmingham location, and at 251-272-3595 to speak with the team at our Mobile Bay location!

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