Safe and Sound

Keeping Allergies Out of Your Home

Allergy treatment begins at home with prevention. Many people with allergies will choose to stay indoors as much as possible when pollen season hits, but they can forget about things like dust mites, pet dander, and even cockroach waste. So while you may think you’re escaping the outdoor pollens and mold, you might be locking yourself inside with equally problematic allergens.

There are few key things you can do to improve indoor air quality. The first is to control your contact with indoor airborne allergens through cleaning and mitigation. Keep surfaces in your home clean and uncluttered so dust mites have less surface area to live on and dust at least once a week. If you have allergies, wear a mask while doing housework. Use a cloth that is damp or treated with polish for dusting and if you are particularly sensitive, leave the house for several hours after cleaning it.

Vacuum once or twice a week. Vacuuming helps keep allergens low, but poor quality vacuums could put dust into the air. Look for certified asthma and allergy friendly vacuums as they have shown to trap allergens better than normal vacuums, preventing them from being blown back into the air.

As you look around your home, remember that bare floors and walls are best, especially in the bedroom where you spend so much time breathing deeply as you sleep. Try to avoid wall-to-wall carpet if possible. If you must have carpet, use low-pile options or throw rugs you can wash. When you or your family and guests come inside, ask them to remove their shoes. It seems like a small thing but we track pollen, agricultural chemicals, and mold into the home on our shoes so this will help you keep your home cleaner and healthier.

Make sure to keep fabrics in your home clean and vacuumed, from your sofas to your drapes. In fact, it’s best to avoid heavy drapes and overstuffed fabric furniture if possible. Replace drapes and blinds with roll-down shades or washable curtains. You will be amazed at how much dust settles on your curtains and blinds. Another source of allergens can be bathmats and area rugs in places that are damp, like bathrooms and laundry rooms. Make sure you are changing these out regularly and washing and drying them on high temperatures to kill dust mites and mold. You should also be washing those comfy throw blankets on a regular basis.

Bare floors and walls are best, especially in the bedroom where you spend so much time breathing deeply as you sleep.

Use a cloth that is damp or treated with polish for dusting and if you are particularly sensitive, leave the house for several hoursafter cleaning it.

Another great way to control allergies is to use zippered allergen-resistant covers on your pillows, mattresses and box springs. These covers are very effective in controlling your contact with dust mites. Encasing mattresses works better than air cleaners to reduce allergy symptoms. Wash your bedding, uncovered pillows, and stuffed toys in water 130 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter each week. Dry them in a hot dryer cycle to kill dust mites. You should also think about replacing your mattress if you suffer from allergies. They become old and filled with dead skin (something dust mites love to eat) and moisture from body fluids so they do need to be replaced if you are sleeping on a traditional mattress. Mattresses can actually be a huge source of toxins in the home so look for ones that are hypoallergenic or organic.

Wash children’s toys frequently to keep dust and allergens to a minimum. When they are done playing, store them in boxes and bins with lids to help keep them dust free. When picking a toy, look for ones made and filled with natural fibers. Some children are allergic to things like polyester, a common material found in stuffed toys, so try to find alternatives.

And don’t forget about environmental allergens. The fragrances and chemicals used in detergents, cleaners, candles, and air fresheners can be huge contributors to allergies and asthma. Make sure you are using natural and unscented products in all areas of your home. Laundry detergent can be particularly problematic to find a clean option that won’t irritate your skin and allergies. If you find yourself missing candles and air fresheners, look for beeswax candles scented with essential oils. You can also use diffusers with essential oils to purify the air in your home and to create a great smelling environment. Just do you research - some oils aren’t well tolerated by pets.

While we all love our furry friends, they can be a source of allergens. There are many allergy friendly breeds available today but know that no animal can truly be completely hypoallergenic. People with pet allergies are allergic to animal dander which are shed skin cells that all animals have. Some animal dander has fewer allergenic proteins which may lead to fewer or no symptoms so do your research before making the commitment to a pet. You will have to assess your needs and then put in the work to mitigate the pet dander. One way to keep allergies at bay is to keep pets out of the bedroom. Close the doors to bedrooms when you are not home to keep pets out and cover vents with dense material like cheesecloth to stop dander from making it into your heating and cooling systems.

Also remember that animal allergens are sticky so wash and change your animal’s favorite furniture and toys often. Bathing and brushing your pets often may reduce symptoms but avoid grooming your pets if you have animal allergies and have a professional help you instead. Long-haired pets can also bring pollen inside in high pollen seasons like spring and fall, so keep pet friendly wipes by the door and give them a quick once over when you come in from walks and play time.

The next thing you can do to help reduce the allergen load in your home is control the air quality as much as possible. The gold standard for air quality is good ventilation for your indoor areas but adding an air filtration to your home to capture allergens is helpful. While HEPA filters for your air conditioner will help, you might need to purchase separate air cleaning devices. There are several technologies air purifiers employ for reducing indoor pollution but there are two that seem to be the most recommended by experts.

Unlike mechanical filters, activated carbon filters use activated carbon to capture certain types of odor-causing molecules, so if you want to combat pet and food odors this is a good option.

Mechanical filters are the tried and true favorite as they use fans to force air through a dense web of fine fibers that trap particles. You will want to look for ones with HEPA or HEPA equivalent filters, which are certified to collect 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 micrometers in diameter. These filters also remove larger particles like dust, pollen, and some mold spores when they are in your home’s air. Mechanical filters don’t help with gasses or odors. And they can be expensive to maintain.

Unlike mechanical filters, activated carbon filters use activated carbon to capture certain types of odor-causing molecules, so if you want to combat pet and food odors this is a good option. Activated carbon doesn’t combat particles so to compensate, many of these air purifiers will have a secondary mechanical filter. Activated carbon filters get saturated faster than mechanical filters, and require replacement more frequently—every three months, as opposed to every six to 12 months for mechanical filters.

Another way to reduce allergies is to reduce humidity as much as possible as both dust mites and mold love to grow in humid environments. Make sure wet spaces like bathrooms are well ventilated and your AC is efficiently pulling moisture from the air. If you live in an older home or have an older AC unit, consider purchasing a dehumidifier. These are very effective but do need to be emptied if you are unable to route the collection tank into a sink or drain. You can also purchase humidity monitors for your home. In humid areas it can be hard to judge how humid the inside of your home really is, (indoor air almost always feels less humid than the outside), but you still might have a higher than normal humidity level in your home. Monitors will help you gauge these levels. If you want to learn more about mold and how it can affect your health, take a look at our article on toxic mold in the home and ways to get rid of it on page 37.

If after implementing some or all of these allergen beating strategies you still find yourself or a loved one suffering from allergies inside, then seek professional help and get you and your home professionally tested. A doctor will be able to help you figure out what you’re allergic to and it might be the allergies come from somewhere else - like food sources for example. A food allergy could be making your environmental allergies worse. You should also have a professional air quality test performed. There might be sneaky allergies hiding in places you can’t see like attics, basements, and crawl spaces that will need professional cleaning and remediation.