Reducing Allergens In Your Home

My husband suffers from allergies.  Living on the second floor of a three-story building, means that it gets warm in our home quickly.  In order to save on our energy bill, we try and keep the windows open to cool our home off.  In other words, all the dust and pollen from outside flows through our home.  It’s sort of a catch-22, we don’t pay a high electric bill to keep our air conditioner running, but I have a lot more cleaning to do, to try and reduce the allergens in our home.

Healthy Housekeeper Laura Dellutri offered up some tips on behalf of 3M for cleaning your home from top to bottom and making it healthier in the process.  Two of them really stood out to me:

Start at the Top:  Ceiling fans, tall mantles and bookshelves, and the tops of door frames tend to subscribe to the “out of sight, out of mind” motto.  Start at the top and work your way down, collecting all of the dust and dirt that falls to the floor while you’re cleaning.

Refrigerators:  Cleaning the refrigerator monthly will improve the safety and quality of your food.  (More on this in the next couple of weeks, here on Three Different Directions!)

Some of the things that we do in our home to reduce allergens in our living spaces are:

1. We don’t have pets.  I don’t even have allergies, but since we don’t have pets, cats in particular, I do notice the difference in the air in homes where they reside.  The cat dander lingers in the air, and by not having them, I’m sure it helps with my husband’s allergies.

2. We try not to use fans terribly much.  After all they just move the dust around, if you haven’t cleaned it up!

3. I vacuum.  A.Lot.  Since we have carpeted floors in our bedrooms and family areas, we spend the most time in those rooms. 

4. We change the air filter in our furnace every month (well…when we remember, lol!). 

Speaking of air filters, we haven’t tried these yet, but I wrote it down on the ‘Honey-Do’ list to pick up…

Filtrete Elite Allergen Reduction Filter from 3M:

• Captures 94 percent of large airborne particles such as pollen, smoke, dust mite debris and pet dander from the air as it passes through the filter
• Captures up to 40 times more microscopic particles than ordinary fiberglass filters
• Helps maintain airflow in heating and cooling systems, which may help prevent stress on the system and reduce the amount of energy needed to warm your home this Fall and Winter

Even better we can save some cash by mailing in this $3 Rebate for purchasing the filters before December 31st.

If you’d like to find out more information about the Clear Advantages program and sign up to receive coupons, tips and seasonal e-newsletters  visit www.filtrete.com.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Filtrete and received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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