If you often experience shortness of breath, coughs, tightness in the chest, or wheezing while at home, especially when or after sweeping, dusting, or vacuuming, then it could be that you have dust allergies. Dust allergies also come with symptoms like sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, ‘itchy, red or teary eyes’, and itching. It is usually triggered by dust mites, mould, pollens, cockroaches, and pet fur or feathers.
You can rid your home of most of the triggers and reduce the occurrences of these symptoms by proofing your home against allergens. Here is how:
- Make Wise Landscaping Choices
If you understand pollination, then you already know that pollens are carried by both wind and insects. They can trigger allergic reactions. Therefore, you might want to cut down on your use of allergenic trees in your landscaping. Avoid birch, male ash, and male maple. Some low-allergenic trees you can go for, include female maple and ash. For your flowers, go for impatiens, scabiosa, astilbe, and hosta. Here are more low allergenic plants.
- Clean Your Air
Allergens like dust mite and pollens can thrive in the air while mould flourishes in moisture. So, your goal here is to reduce the amounts of allergens in your home by cleaning the air and reducing humidity. First, always keep your house well ventilated, and ensure that your ductworks aren’t leaky.
Also, you might want to get an air conditioning system with high-efficiency particulate air filter. The filter traps particles like pollens and dust mites and prevents them from entering your home by forcing air through its fine mesh.
Further, minimise humidity inside your home. If your AC works as a dehumidifier, then good. Pollens thrive in the morning and in windy conditions. Therefore, keep your windows closed at those times. You can also build a dog house to avoid keeping your dog inside your home and minimise the amount of fur floating around.
If you want to invest in a dehumidifier or Air Conditioning unit, why not visit Gear Hungry & check out the best ones available.
- Declutter Your Home
The laziness that is usually associated with cleaning is more about the clutters one has to move out of the way in order to clean than about the cleaning itself. Dust mites and cockroaches thrive when you don’t clean. So why not do yourself a favour and declutter your home? When your house is free of clutters, the easier it will be to clean it. Additionally, there will be fewer places for allergens to live in.
Therefore, remove those old damp clothes you no longer wear, the old newspapers, magazines, and any other useless item that can easily serve as a dust catcher. Remember that bedrooms tend to have more clutters. So be sure to give it thorough decluttering. Giving your home a thorough clean at the end of every week is also just as important.
- Avoid Dust Generators
Carpeting and fabrics break down fibres. This means that they can generate dust. You might want to go for a wooden or tiled floor instead. If you must use a rug over the floor, go for washable throw ones. Wash your curtains regularly. Don’t let them gather dust and make sure your vacuum cleaner has a HEPA filter.
While there are allergy medications and shots (immunotherapy), the abovementioned tips are your best self-mounted defence against allergens. Apart from that, a clean home is a great quality of healthy living. Therefore, adopt these tips and reduce your chances of experiencing a dust allergic reaction again.
