10 tips for improving air quality in your home

By Melanie Hearse | June 1, 2014
10 tips for improving air quality in your home
Research has found the majority of indoor spaces are a whopping four times more polluted than outdoor air and many Aussies spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Considering poor indoor air quality, or IAQ, can cause a range of health effects from fairly mild symptoms including tiredness and headaches through to unexplained health problems and severe allergic reactions, it’s worth investing in a few improvement measures. 
Here’s 10 tips for improving your indoor air quality:

1. Dry up

Mould is terrible for air quality and it flourishes in damp or humid conditions. But by keeping your home dry and attending to any trouble spots quickly you can keep it under control. 

2. Use exhaust fans around steam

During hot showers or baths, while cooking or when the clothes dryer is running, use your exhaust fan. Ensure the underlying cause of any mould spots are treated – check for leaks near doors, for example. 
Harsh chemical cleaners are likely to simply cover the colour and not remove the mould. So instead, spray with vinegar or sugar soap and scrub or wipe while damp (dry brushing will release it into the air and very likely up your nose or on your skin).

3. Go smoke free

Cigarette smoke, including second hand smoke, is a toxic pollutant that can spread around your home and reduce air quality. Don’t allow smoking anywhere in the house as it sticks to fabrics and don’t allow smoking near open windows or near doorways as it can travel in. 

4. Keep your filters clean

Regularly clean or replace filters on air-conditioning units and carefully dust the entire surface of the unit with a damp or electrostatic cloth.

5. Keep doors and windows closed

On high pollen count days pollen will come straight through the window and spoil your indoor air quality. If you have someone in your home with severe allergies, it may be worth getting out into the garden and removing weeds or high allergen plants.

6. Ditch the carpet

Carpets and rugs are bad news for air quality as they collect dust, dander and cockroach droppings. If you do have carpets and can’t feasibly remove them, vacuum once a week – a machine with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system may help reduce the amount of allergen being released into the air.

7. Keep it clean

A good damp or electromagnetic dusting across all surfaces is necessary to improved air quality. A dry duster is more likely to fling dust into the air. 

8. Be careful and sparing with household chemicals

Many can affect wellbeing and cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea, lethargy, congested nose and sinuses, asthma and skin rashes so go for natural products where possible.

9. Be wary of mulches

They can be a source of mould, so avoid having them around your doorways or windows, and don’t use mulch in indoor pots.

10. Smarter heating and cooling

Adequate ventilation, avoiding evaporative cooling and heating and having adequate insulation can help improve the quality of the air in your home.

Find more

blog comments powered by Disqus