Tag: healthy living

Healthy Home Allergen Treatments for Spring

Posted on April 18, 2018 by - Healthy Home

Protecting your home from allergens is simpler than you may think, however, some time and financial investments may need to be made in order to keep your allergy symptoms to a minimum and to reduce medical expenses. Preventative tools and products are worth the investment when it comes to allergies.

The goal is to create a safe, dust-free place where your body and lungs can rest after exposure to air pollution and other impurities. Cleansing the bedroom is a great place to begin since 30% of our lives are spent sleeping. Here are some tools and tips to follow.

The first step is to invest in an allergen-free pillow. Even though down pillows are soft and comfortable, they can aggravate allergies.  You can also find allergen-free pillowcases to create a barrier between you and the pillow.

Mattresses are the perfect breeding ground for dust mites. They love dark, warm and moist conditions. Start by vacuuming your mattress twice a month by using an upholstery tool to vacuum the top and the sides. After vacuuming, mattress covers are the best defense against dust mites. Similar to allergen-free pillowcases, a mattress cover will create a barrier between you and the mattress that will allow air to flow but will keep out dust mites.

The next step is to use a high quality, HEPA filtered vacuum when cleaning your bedroom and home. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. HEPA filters force air through a fine mesh to trap harmful air particles like pollen, pet dander and dust mites. Vacuuming at least twice a week with a HEPA filtered vacuum will help keep your bedroom dust free. Be careful when choosing a new vacuum as some are marketed as “HEPA-like” and may not be truly HEPA filtered.

Using a HEPA air purifier in your bedroom will also help prevent dust. When you’re out of the home, turn the air purifier to its lowest setting and turn it back up when you return. Purified air will help you sleep soundly and help your lungs rest after fighting polluted air during the day.

Next, dust your bedroom with a soft, large-loped microfiber cloth with a spritz of water. This tool will pick up dust and hold onto it. Aerosol cleaning products contain irritants that can aggravate allergies and should not be used in the bedroom. By using a microfiber cloth, you can clean your bedroom quickly without using toxic chemicals.

Fabric curtains and draperies harbor dust mites. You can either remove them completely and replace them with non-fabric blinds or shutters, or remove them at least twice a month and place them in the dryer on a hot setting. The heat will kill dust mites and remove dust and dirt.

Although this last tip is a major investment, it will help reduce allergens, dirt and germs in your home. Remove wall-to-wall carpeting in your room and replace with hardwood flooring. Carpets absorb dust and hold onto it. It’s very difficult to rid carpet of dust, dirt and allergens completely. Once carpet has been removed, you can use small area rugs. They will need to be placed in the dryer at least once a week to remove dust.

Keeping dust and dirt to a minimum within your home is the real goal when protecting yourself from allergens. These tips and tools will help reduce dust and allergens within your home and will lead to decreased medical costs and better health.

For more information on how you can protect your home safely, visit Leslie's website!

Celebrate Our Earth This April

Posted on April 5, 2018 by - Healthy Home

This year, we celebrate the 48th Earth day across the world. In 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson decided to create an official day to celebrate the Earth and raise awareness of the environmental concerns he had after the devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara that year. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. An incredible 20 million people attended celebrations and festivals around the country. It was a national event that was held to demonstrate support for the environment. The stage was set by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Book which raised public awareness and a concern for all living organisms. The book was sold in 23 countries and began a worldwide movement. It shared Carson’s compassion for the future of the planet and all living things on it. Since then, Earth Day is recognized every year across the world. At Maid Brigade, we’re proud to keep our earth healthy by using green cleaning products that are safe for the environment.

In 1990, a campaign began which would make Earth Day a worldwide event. This brought the environmental issues to a world stage that included 122 countries and over 200 million people. EarthDay.org states, "Earth Day is the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year, and a day of action that changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.”

Earth Day will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020.  There are ways you can celebrate this special day in your own home.

Here are some things you can do:

  • Plant a tree in your backyard
  • Check the air pressure in your tires and make sure they are at the right levels for the best gas mileage.
  • Donate your clothing instead of throwing them out.
  • Try growing your own organic garden. You can start with an organic herb garden.
  • Wash your laundry in cold water and dry them on a line.
  • Lower the temperature on your hot water heater by 5 degrees.
  • Buy energy efficient light bulbs for your house.
  • Have an energy audit done in your home. This audit can be free.
  • Invest in a reusable coffee cup.
  • Use earth-friendly cleaning products.
  • Switch your bills to e-bills so you use less paper.
  • Check your faucets for leaks.

Be on the lookout for more of our earth-friendly tips this month!

For more green cleaning and green living information, check out Leslie’s website.

 

 

At home allergy treatments

Posted on March 28, 2018 by - Healthy Body, Healthy Home

Dealing with dust allergies is a battle that affects many people, especially during the spring. To win the battle you need strategies that will help reduce the triggers in your home. Creating safe spaces where your lungs can “rest” is the key. Allergists refer to our immune system as a bucket that fills up over time. When our buckets become full we deal with allergic reactions. Each of us have different sized buckets, but we all need places in our homes where we can let our immune systems rest from dust, pollutants and irritants. Here are some things you can do in your home to create a clean and safe environment.

Cleaning more often – A simple, inexpensive step is to dust and vacuum more often. People in Europe use their vacuum to do most of their dusting. They use the dusting brush and go over all the wood and fabric surfaces with the vacuum. This makes cleaning quick and easy as well as very efficient. The vacuum captures and holds the dust. Wiping the dust with a dry cloth can put the allergens back into the air which defeats the purpose of cleaning.

Plants – Indoor plants are not only beautiful to look at, they also help clean the air we breathe in our homes. In fact, NASA calls plants “nature’s life support system”. By adding a potted plant like a Peace Lilly or Spider Plant to your home you will be naturally removing allergic toxins in your air. Place plants in the most used areas of your home, such as the living room and bedrooms..

Air purifiers – Our indoor air has been shown to be  much more polluted than the air we breathe outdoors. We spend 90 percent of our time indoors, so it’s important that we clean it constantly. During most of the year we keep our windows closed to keep out the cold or heat. With limited air exchange we end up breathing the same air over and over again. Using a HEPA rated air purifier throughout the house will remove the allergens and keep pollutants to a minimum.

Mattress and pillow covers – We spend more than a third of our lives sleeping so an important place to focus on air quality is in the bedroom. Starting with your bed, find encasement covers for your pillows and mattresses to keep dust mite allergens away from your body. For some allergy sufferers, investing in hypoallergenic pillows and bedspreads may be the best solution. Down pillows are soft and very comfortable but can trigger allergies while you are sleeping.  Wash pillows and blankets often in very hot water and dry on a hot setting to kill dust mites and remove their droppings

Remove stuffed animals and draperies – Dust accumulates in fabrics. Since we don’t dust or wash our draperies every time we clean, they tend to collect a tremendous amount of dust which can be a trigger for those suffering from dust allergies. Stuffed animals also collect dust in a child’s room and can trigger an allergic or asthmatic reaction. The safest alternative is to completely remove drapes, curtains and stuffed animals - especially in the bedroom. Instead, use hard window treatments such as window blinds and shutters. If your child has trouble parting with their favorite stuffed animal, place it in a pillow case once a week and wash it in hot water and dry on a hot setting.

Considering hard flooring vs carpeting – Carpeting, like draperies, are dust magnets. Even the best vacuum can’t remove all the dust and dander from a carpet. Allergist recommend removing all the carpeting in a home and replacing it with hard wood flooring.  Hard floors are much easier to keep clean and the dust can be kept to a minimum. However, removing carpet throughout a home and replacing with hardwoods can get expensive. For a more economical solution, we recommend a professional carpet cleaning to reach the harmful dust mites hidden below the surface.

HEPA rated vacuum – Make sure you have a high-quality vacuum that has a HEPA rated filtering system. There are many different vacuums advertising they are good at removing allergens, but make sure you research the brand before making a purchase. There are only a few vacuums that are rated HEPA. Remember that you want to look for a vacuum that is rated HEPA not a vacuum that uses HEPA rated filters. A vacuum rated HEPA cleans the surfaces it touches as well as the surrounding air you breathe.

Dust mite sprays on furniture – Some people ask if dust mite removal sprays work and the answer is yes, but you need to be careful should someone in your home also have a chemical sensitivity. Spraying your fabric furniture with these sprays will kill the dust mites living in them, but they also add another type of pollutant to your air.

Keep humidity low – Dust mites like dark, moist environments so keeping the humidity low in your home is a great way to combat dust mites naturally. Use a dehumidifier all year round to keep the moisture in the air below 50%.

Keep pets out of the bedrooms – We all love our pets but their dander can be a trigger for someone dealing with allergies or asthma. Keep pets out of the sleeping area of someone dealing with allergies.

For more green cleaning and green living information, check out Leslie’s website.

For other allergy and asthma health tips, read these blogs:

https://maidbrigade.com/blog/support-your-immune-system
https://maidbrigade.com/blog/5-tips-to-get-you-through-an-earlier-allergy-season