Allergens in your home

You’ve been cooped up all winter, but with spring on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about a deep clean of your home. Even in the winter months, allergens can build up, and you might even notice dust flying around if you have pets. Here’s a condensed list from WebMD to keep dust mites and other allergens at bay:

Air

·      Do not use window or attic fans, which bring air containing pollen, mold spores, and other allergens into your home.

·      Use air conditioning so you do not have to open windows. This will help reduce the amount of pollen and mold spores that enter your home.

·      Use an air cleaner with a special high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. This can help remove some allergens (such as pollen or animal dander) and tobacco smoke from the air in your home.

 Furniture, carpets, drapes, and bedding

·      Avoid carpet, upholstered furniture, and heavy drapes that collect dust. Avoid furniture covered with fabrics. Use pillow and mattress covers made from a tight-weave fabric that keeps out dust and mites.

·      Use furniture made of wood, plastic, leather, or vinyl (including vinyl mattress covers) that you can wipe clean. Note: Vinyl mattress covers can be uncomfortable to sleep on.

·      Remove rugs and wall-to-wall carpeting. Talk with your family about this and about how this will affect family life. If you cannot or do not want to remove carpeting throughout the home, consider removing it only in the bedroom.

·      Use smaller rugs (throw rugs, area rugs) that you can wash.

·      Replace drapes and blinds with roll-down shades or washable curtains.

·      Remove "dust collectors" from bedrooms, such as stuffed toys, wall hangings, books, knickknacks, and artificial flowers.

Cleaning

• Damp-mop hard floors (tile or hardwood, for example) once a day.
• Dust and vacuum once or twice a week to remove the buildup of allergens. Use a dry cloth to wipe hard surfaces such as countertops, tables, and other furniture.
• Vacuum the carpets and cloth-covered furniture to get rid of as much dust as you can.
• Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter or a special double-thickness bag, which collects dust-mite particles and pollen. Standard paper bag filters may allow the stirred-up allergens to escape back into the room.
• Dusting and vacuuming stir up dust, making the air worse until the dust settles. Wear a mask if you do the cleaning yourself. If possible, try to have someone without allergies do the cleaning.
• Consider wet-vacuum cleaning when possible. This can help remove allergens from carpeting because it actually washes the carpet. Also, consider steam cleaning carpets when possible. In addition to cleaning the carpet, the heat of the steam kills dust mites.

Controlling dust mites

Dust mites are visible only through a microscope. People are allergic to dust mite droppings, not the dust mites themselves. Allergy to dust mites is a year-round problem.

• Keep the house aired out and dry. Dust mites do well where humidity is greater than 50% but do not do well in dry conditions. Try to keep the moisture level (humidity) below 50%. This may be difficult in some seasons and some climates. Plants and fish tanks add to humidity, so keep these out of the bedroom.
• Dry vacuuming doesn't pick up dust mites. Consider steam cleaning carpets when possible. In addition to cleaning the carpet, the heat of the steam kills dust mites.
• You can buy chemicals (ascaricides) that kill dust mites and that you can use on carpeting and furniture. But many experts do not consider them effective enough to be worth the trouble and expense of using them.
• Wash bedding, including pillowcases and mattress covers, in hot water [130 °F (54.4 °C)] every 1 to 2 weeks. You can also dry bedding at high temperatures.
• You can limit your contact with dust mites by using allergen-proof covers on your mattress, box spring, and pillows, and washing them regularly. This works well as part of an overall plan to reduce allergens in your home. It is not enough to use mattress and pillow covers without some of the other methods mentioned above.

Kitchen Organization

It’s easy to have your kitchen cabinets get out of control. Each week you’re probably going grocery shopping and adding more to the mix, then the husband goes looking for something (or the kids do), and your organization method has gone out the window. Fool-proof that cabinet with some of these tips.

Grab and go sacks are a lot easier when you prepare them in advance. This way, you have less little hands grabbing handfuls of pretzels, fruit snacks, or crackers. Find see-through baskets with handles and organize smaller items like snacks, dinner sides, pasta and sauces. Label the containers if you’re able, so there will be no excuses (less excuses?) for lack of organization.

Photo Cred: tidymoms.net

Many organizers often forget about useable space on the pantry door. Utilize that space to store canned goods, soda and more. You’ll be surprised how much extra room you’ll have in the pantry, and how much easier it will be to take inventory of what canned goods you have on hand.

Boxes upon boxes of pasta, candies, and baking goods. It seems the supply never ends, until you go to make something for dinner and realize you’ve run out. Use glass containers to store and display dried goods and keep track of what you have and what you need to buy on your next grocery run.

You can easily double your cabinet space by investing in hanging, attachable under-the-shelf racks. Store dinnerware, smaller boxes, napkins, or even utensils.

Pots and pans and their corresponding lids never fit well in any cabinet it seems. Invest in lid organizers that either sit in the bottom of a cabinet space or attach to the inside of the cabinet door. Save even more space by finding unique ways to hang pots and pans, such as above a large window or from an island light fixture.

Use small curtain rods to hang bottles of cleaning supplies below the sink. You’ll save room for other items, and have a better idea of what supplies you have and what you need to buy the next time you’re out.

Prepping Your Home for Spring

It was a rough winter—let’s face it. As Western New Yorkers, we’re accustomed to the bitter cold and consistent piling up of snow. Many of us enjoy it, and for those of us who don’t, we do our best to tolerate it. We plan for the season’s arrival each year, but we often cannot predict when the season will change over—after all, Groundhog’s Day is kind of a joke, right?

Not knowing when the beautiful spring season will arrive can leave our wardrobes and our homes a bit vulnerable. While we can’t help you with the wardrobe conundrum, we can give some guidance as to how to prepare your home for spring after a particularly nasty winter. 

  

1. Get up there and inspect your roof. Check for loose or warped shingles and make sure your gutters are all in place and unclogged. Remember – April(ish) showers bring May(ish) flowers, so you’ll want to make sure your home is protected.
2. Clear debris away from drains outside. Again, with the rain on your doorstep, you’ll want to be sure there’s proper flow away from your home.
3. Check your window and door seals. These can really take a beating over the winter, so examine the exterior caulking on all seals to be sure they’re still watertight.
4. Patch up cracks. You’d be surprised how damaging ice and snow can be, especially on your driveway and sidewalks (and if you hire a plow service). Patching up cracks will prevent further separation and will also keep water out.
5. Check your home’s grading. With snowdrifts, uneven snow melting and other elements, your yard may not be sloped properly, and could therefore put your foundation at risk. Roll out your lawn if need be, to prevent sitting water.

Don’t wait too long to inspect your home’s condition. Do you have any other tips to share on prepping your home for the spring season?