Fresh air is essential for comfortable living, but getting that air is not always a guarantee, thanks to all the pollutants. There are home pollutants such as dust, fire retardants, and chemicals that won’t allow you to enjoy the fresh air.
Poor quality air has various effects on the body, including breathing problems, flu, asthma, and lung issues. But your hands are not tied when it comes to getting fresh air. There are natural ways to improve indoor air quality and keep your entire family healthy.
1. Maintain a Clean House
You can ensure you have a consistent quality fresh air supply by working on the cleanliness of your entire house, including the floors. Ensure you do a thorough cleaning of your floor rugs and carpets regularly.
Woodward Heating Air Plumbing can help Salem, Aumsville, and all of Marion County residents install the best equipment for home air purification. We can install an air scrubber for you, which can eliminate dust, bad smells, and pet dander.
2. Leave Your Shoes Outside
Make it a custom to remove shoes or boots outside before coming into the house. You can place a mat at the door and inform your visitors to remove their shoes. To make it easy for everyone, have some clean sandals at the door that everyone can put on.
Make it a rule in your house that no one enters the house with their shoes, and it will eventually become a culture. Have a shoe rack next to the door where you can safely keep your shoes. This simple habit will reduce the number of air contaminants getting indoors and keep pollutants at bay.
3. Choose Your Furniture Carefully
The materials that make up your furniture can also contribute to low-quality air in your home. To be safe, choose furniture that doesn’t have harmful glues with dangerous chemicals. Inquire about the type of treatment chemicals used on the furniture’s wood. If you happen to find one made using formaldehyde, it may be a good idea to avoid it.
If a family member suffers from allergic reactions, avoid furniture with lacquers as a finishing product. Protect your loved ones from contaminants that can affect their health by paying attention to anything that comes to the house, no matter how beautiful it looks.
4. Check the Humidity Levels
You can’t miss mold or dust mites in a moist place. High humidity levels are dangerous to your health. You should work on ways to reduce it and lower the moisture levels indoors. Air conditioners and dehumidifiers can help lower the humidity levels by cooling the air. Get in touch with Woodward Heating Air Plumbing for recommendations of quality air conditioners and dehumidifiers for your home.
Another way to maintain perfect humidity levels indoors is by repairing any leaking water pipes and regularly opening your windows. Keep checking the house to find areas with high moisture content and solve the problem before it gets out of hand.
5. Smoke Outdoors
Whether you’re a smoker or not, spare a smoking zone outdoors where your guests can smoke freely and enjoy their time. If you make the mistake of allowing anyone to smoke indoors, you and your family members’ health will be at stake. To be safe from diseases like lung cancer or asthma, be strict on using the smoking area.
Remember, the smoke from a cigar is an air pollutant. It contains harmful chemicals that are detrimental to your health. Have the smoking zone far away from the house since smoke can diffuse back into the building.
6. Avoid Cleaning Detergents With Fragrance
You can decide to go the natural way by using homemade cleaning detergents with natural scents. Use natural cleaners such as lemon or baking soda for cleaning instead of store-bought detergents. These homemade cleaning agents help you achieve sparkling clean and fresh air.
When you use any of the scented cleaning products, you’ll be inhaling harmful chemicals. The fragrances will linger in your indoor air for a long time exposing you to polluted air. If you find it hard to use natural cleaners, buy scent-free detergents.
7. Introduce Plants Indoors
Plants not only act as a decorative addition to your home, but they can add medicinal value as well. Having plants indoors can help purify the air. Plants are capable of absorbing various toxins that generally interfere with the air quality. Don’t plant poisonous plants that pose a danger to your child or pet. Growing Aloe Vera and corn plants isn’t a bad idea.
8. Ensure Your House Is Radon Free
How can you tell if the air in your house contains radon? You can conduct various tests for the soil in your place to ensure its radon free. Radon is a colorless and odorless gas that’s in most soil types.
Inhaling this gas exposes you to higher chances of acquiring lung cancer. It can mix with the air in your house since it can escape from the soil through openings in the flooring and foundation. Radon can affect both new and old homes, so you should consider getting a radon test even if you’re living in a modern home.
9. Choose Paint for Your Walls Carefully
You should know the kind of paint on your wall as some of them can have nasty effects on your indoor air. Some paints produce gases that result in allergic reactions. Others produce fumes that cause dizziness, headache, and faintness. For your safety, use paints with a “zero VOC” label. If your wall paint has dangerous chemicals, consider repainting it with a better one.
10. Ditch Paraffin Candles for Beeswax
The typical candle consists of paraffin and contains petroleum that isn’t good for your health. When using these candles, the smoke they produce can cause breathing problems. To be safe and avoid polluting the air indoors, use beeswax candles.
These candles will improve the mood in the house and keep away allergic reactions. Beeswax candles are also capable of purifying the air to eliminate different kinds of pollutants.
11. Stop Using Aerosol Sprays
Another great way of ensuring that you’ve got high-quality air indoors is by stopping aerosol use in your house. For your safety, pick on aerosol free products like hair spray, furniture polish, and deodorant. In case you intend to paint anything using spray paint, do it outdoors.
12. Improve Ventilation
A well-ventilated house has quality air flowing in and out. One way to ensure proper ventilation is to open windows and allow fresh air from the garden to come in. If the outdoor air is not that fresh, you can use trickle vents to purify the air that gets inside the house. Also, consider using exhaust fans that remove pollutants from the house.
Get Help from Experts
It’s never easy getting fresh air indoors, even with the right heating and cooling equipment. There are always pollutants waiting, and it’s your job to stay on high alert. Luckily, Woodward Heating Air Plumbing will be at your service to ensure your home gets efficient indoor air quality solutions in Salem, OR. You can also look to us for heating and AC repair, fireplace repair and maintenance, gas piping, and new construction. Get in touch with us today and unlock great deals and promotional pricing for your HVAC services.