I Always Seem to be Dusting and Cleaning My Home!
No one enjoys dusting and cleaning, especially when it seems like that’s all you’re doing. But dust is more than an unsightly thing that covers your furniture and ceiling fans. Dust contains microscopic spider-looking creatures called dust mites.
Dust mites flourish in homes. They eat the dead skin flakes that are shed by humans and pets, and they love dark, damp spots to hide and breed. With each person shedding up to 700,000 skin scales a day and the air ducts in your home acting as the perfect hiding spot, dust mites can overtake your home.
Dusting and dry mopping cannot rid your home of dust mites. It only scatters them. Many vacuums cannot eliminate these devilish creatures. Instead, they constantly resurface in your home and are one of the main triggers for asthma and allergy attacks.
If it feels like you never stop dusting, it’s often a symptom of poor indoor air quality. But there are ways to make the interior of your home a cleaner and more maintenance-free place to live.
I Have Family Members Who Suffer from Asthma and Allergies
More people suffer today from respiratory diseases and complications than at any other time. The two most prevalent respiratory problems people face are allergies and asthma. Almost everyone struggles with one of these ailments or knows someone who does.
- For allergy sufferers, there simply is no way to escape allergens. They are in every corner of North America and can easily and unexpectedly slip into your home.
- For asthma sufferers, you are not alone in dealing with your troubles. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, over 7.6 million children (5-17) and over 12.7 million young adults (18-44) suffer from asthma. It’s a debilitating disease that can affect every aspect of your life, and over 5,000 people die from it each year.
With homes that retain air better than ever, both allergy and asthma sufferers are being tortured. In their own residences, they’re being subjected to fungi, mold, and dust mites. All of these can trigger asthmatic or allergic attacks.
Asthmatics and people with allergies also must worry about chemicals and toxins that seep from the everyday items in your home like wallpaper, carpets, paint, and more! Vapors from these can affect those with allergies and asthma if they aren’t circulated out of the home. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the less people are exposed to these irritants and other environmental allergens, the less likely they are to develop and suffer from asthma.
To the right, is an illustration that can help you visualize the benefits of a clean indoor environment. Filling a bucket faster than it can drain causes the bucket to overflow. If the bucket is your body and the drain is your immune system, the overflow represents your reaction to the pollutants.
When you turn the faucet down, your immune system gains the strength needed to fight incoming pollutants. A cleaner indoor air system gives your body time to build resistance to outdoor pollution and pollution in other environments. What’s the result? You get fewer colds, flus, and allergic and asthmatic reactions.