More Ways to Improve the Health of Your Home

As well as eliminating harmful chemicals, there are other ways to improve the health of the home. The more time you spend creating a healthy home environment, the healthier and happier you and the family will be.

Not sure where to start? Below, you’ll discover more ways to improve the health of your home.

Invest in an air purifier

Ensuring the home’s air is clean is one of the most important steps when making the home healthier. This can be achieved with a good quality air purifier. These help to eliminate fine particle matter from the air. This has been linked to heart disease and lung issues. However, when purchasing an air purifier, make sure you’re getting the best quality. Some won’t be able to remove the smaller fine particle matter.

Open your windows regularly

Good ventilation is also important for the health of the home. For this reason, you’ll want to make sure you open your windows frequently.

Even in winter, you should open the windows once each day to allow fresh air to circulate around the property. If you have air filters in the home, you’ll also want to replace these frequently to ensure they are working correctly.

Take shoes off outside

Taking your shoes off after a long day is one of the nicest feelings. However, do you tend to take them off inside the home? Most people remove their shoes inside, but this means you may have trodden some harmful toxins into the home.

Instead, it’s best to remove your shoes before you get into the house. This may not be easy when it’s raining and wet outdoors. However, you could always take them off on the welcome mat just inside the home.

Add more plants to the home

Plants are one of the best natural ways to remove harmful toxins from the home. They can help to purify the air and eliminate carbon dioxide.

Not all plants and flowers will boost the quality of the air. So, you’ll want to focus on ones that do such as Areca palms, rubber plants, peace lilies and Aloe vera.

Switch to soy candles

Do you frequently use scented candles to enhance the smell of the home? If so, you could be unknowingly adding harmful chemicals into the environment. The Petroleum based paraffin candles are the worst culprits for toxic fumes. Instead, opt for 10%% soy candles or other vegetable-based candles. These don’t produce any harmful chemicals at all.

Give the home a spring clean

When was the last time you gave your home a full spring clean? If you can’t remember or it was a long time ago, now’s the time to give it a big clean.

Cleaning the home regularly is one of the easiest ways to reduce harmful chemicals in the home. It eliminates dust, dirt and debris which could be a haven for bacteria. Ideally, you’ll want to try and do a big clean once a month. However, if this isn’t possible every few months should be enough.

Filter tap water

Tap water can contain a lot of nasty chemicals. To ensure yours isn’t contaminated, it’s worth investing in a water filter. When you drink the filtered water, you can rest in the knowledge that it doesn’t contain anything harmful.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to improve the health of the home. Paying attention to the cleanliness of the home, while focusing on air quality will help to make it a much safer space. The more effort you put into cleaning the home and making it a healthier place to be, the better your quality of life will be.

Common Toxins to Remove from the Home and Get Rid of them Safely

Although it’s practically impossible to eliminate your exposure to chemicals completely, there are ways to minimize the risks.

Some toxins are much more harmful than others so eliminating from the home is essential for your health. Here, you’ll discover some common toxins to remove from the home and how to get rid of them safely.

VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds)

VOC’s can come from a range of sources in the home. They vaporize easily and add gas pollutants into the environment. The amount of VOC’s in the home has been recorded as being over 400. As they are found in so many household products, VOC’s tend to be more common inside than outside of the home.

The most common risks they present to your health include:

⦁ Eye or respiratory tract infections

⦁ Dizziness

⦁ Headaches

⦁ Increased risk of cancer

⦁ Damage to the liver, kidneys or central nervous system

They are often found in new home furnishings and carpets, plywood, interior paints, cleaning fluids and deodorants to name just a few.

The main way to safely eliminate VOC’s from the home, is through ventilation. Ensure you open your windows frequently, particularly if you have just painted the home. You’ll also want to keep the humidity and temperature of the rooms low.

Another tip is to look for products which are advertised as low VOC. Mold is a common household problem, yet it can be extremely harmful to the health. Caused by excess moisture levels and a lack of ventilation, mold can quickly grow and spread throughout the home.

Many people are sensitive to the effects of mold. However, symptoms are usually mild including coughing and wheezing, nasal stuffiness and skin irritation. If left untreated, the health effects experienced could be much more severe, particularly for those with asthma.

The earlier you spot and treat a mold problem the better. Leave windows open at least once a day, invest in a dehumidifier if you live in a moisture prone area and fix any leaks as soon as possible to prevent it from forming.

Pesticides are commonly used to keep pests under control in the home. However, they can also be found in other unexpected areas too. Some pesticides have been detected in around 50% to 95% of foods in the US. So, you could be consuming them as part of your daily diet.

Avoid using bug sprays and lawn pesticides wherever possible. You’ll also want to pay attention to the labels of the food you purchase and try and find foods which don’t contain this harmful chemical.

Heavy metals Over time, harmful chemicals found in heavy metals such as lead, aluminum and cadmium, can gather within the soft tissues of the body. The trouble is these metals are commonly found throughout the home.

Some of the most common sources of heavy metals include types of seafood, drinking water, antiperspirant, lead paints and preserved wood. They can lead to health problems such as Alzheimer’s Disease, nausea, abnormal heart rhythm and fatigue.

To limit your exposure, make sure you install water filters in the home, avoid eating high mercury content fish and avoid buying treated wood products. You’ll also want to check for lead paint in the home, as well as avoid buying any products constructed from PFC.

These are just a small selection of the most common toxins to remove from the home. All of the toxins mentioned above can have a severe impact on your health in the long term. So, eliminating them now will ensure you and the family stay safe indoors.