No one wants to come home to a space that doesn’t protect them from the elements. You should be able to rely on your home to give you a break from the outside elements, and offer you a break from pollen and dust. Unfortunately, houses can also become traps for all sorts of allergens. Dust mites can live and thrive in household fibers, and pet dander can get trapped in the fibers of household rugs. Mold spores can get airborne, and get trapped in household fibers as well. Just because a room looks clean,
doesn’t mean that all the allergens are gone. Clutter and surface level dust isn’t what’s going to help your family be allergy symptom free, and help everyone breathe easy. Understanding the structure of deep cleaning will help families be proactive in dealing with the root cause of household allergens. If you do a deep clean of all the hidden areas of your home, coupled with routine air duct cleaning, you can ensure your family has a clean and healthy area to breathe easy all the time.
Allergy-Triggers Hide in Places You Can’t Always See
Many homeowners think that keeping a residence clean means putting away toys and wiping up spills, but that doesn’t touch on the microscopic triggers for allergies. Dust mites, which are microscopic and can’t be seen with the naked eye, thrive in heavy fabrics and furnishings, as well as in mattresses. The allergic reactions can vary and include eczema flare-ups and sinus infections.
Mold spores are everywhere and can rapidly colonize damp areas like window tracks and utility rooms. Undisturbed mold can release thousands of spores into the air.
Animal dander (skin cells) can also be problematic. The proteins can stay airborne for several hours.
The accumulation of these allergens can aggravate asthma and cause chronic respiratory problems, especially for the very young, the old, and the infirm.
There are fundamental differences between deep cleaning and regular cleaning that people often overlook.
All the regular cleaning does is preserve the appearance of order, and prevent surfaces from becoming cluttered with dirt. For example, regular cleaning includes washing dinner dishes, or sweeping the floor. These habits help control clutter, but they usually don’t remove embedded dirt and allergens.
The “deep” in deep cleaning refers to cleaning hard to reach areas that regular cleaning often neglects. For example, the area behind large appliances, baseboards and door frames. Deep cleaning can also include steaming fabric sofas and mattresses to get rid of dust mites.
What makes deep cleaning different from regular cleaning? The main difference is in depth, how often it occurs, and the reason it is done. Daily or regular cleaning preserves the appearance of a residence, while deep cleaning removes contaminants that affect the health of the occupants.
Hidden Hot Spots That Require Routine Sanitation
There are areas within a home that act as allergen hot spots. Heavy window draperies and roman shades collect airborne pollen and dust. Shaking these fabrics disperses the collected particles into the living space. Removing these allergens is important and can be done with routine laundering of the fabrics or by steaming.
Allergens also collect in carpeting and plush rugs. Soil and dust collect in carpet fibers and backing. Only the tips of carpet fibers come in contact with the vacuum and suction, thus standard vacuuming does not dislodge the contaminants embedded in the fibers and backings. Using a HEPA filter on the vacuum, helps collect the small dust and allergens.
Like the sweat and humidity that upholstery collects, fabric surfaces of furniture also provide a microclimate for the multiplication of allergens. Sensitive individuals may be affected when these areas are used by the family. Allergens may be removed from the fabric by vacuuming, flip over and wiping down the surfaces every few weeks.
Professional Air Duct Cleaning Is Crucial
When surfaces and fabrics are wiped down or washed, the visible parts of your home are cleaned. The air that circulates through the home, on the other hand, moves through a system of concealed passages. The HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system functions as the respiratory system of the house, pulling air from different rooms and conditioning it before it is redistributed throughout the house.
Dust, pet hair, drywall, and mold can build up on the walls of your HVAC ducts over a period of time. When your furnace or air conditioner kicks on, it pushes air through the ducts, and in the process, stirs up the dust and other contaminants and distributes them through your house.
Breaking this cycle requires professional air duct cleaning. Negative air machines, along with mechanical brushes, are used by professionals to scrub the walls of your HVAC ducts to remove built-up contaminants.
Restoring the HVAC air ducts through professional air duct cleaning restores the airflow of your system, and in the process, the conditioned air that is distributed through the house is free from contaminants.
Maintaining Long-Term Air Quality
Long-term air quality improvement requires the combination of extensive deep clean sessions and the implementation of proper household protocols. Prevention is the key focus of the high-level air management system and involves certain habits that keep irritants from taking footholds in the household.
Upgrade HVAC Air Filtration
The standard fiberglass furnace filter is designed to catch large debris (like lint) to protect the mechanical components of the HVAC system, and allows smaller allergens to pass through. A pleated air filter with a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) between 8 and 11 captures pollen and pet dander and allows air to flow through freely. Ensure to replace these filters every 60 to 90 days.
Control Indoor Relative Humidity
Mold spores and dust mites thrive and multiply in elevated indoor relative humidity. In order to eliminate their survival and reproduction, humidity levels in the home must be maintained between 30-50%.
Implement Shoe-Free Living Areas
A significant percentage of outdoor pollutants are carried into the household on the soles of shoes. The placement of an industrial brush mat at the entryway to the household and implementing a shoe-free policy significantly reduces the level of pollutants carried into the household.
Transforming Your Living Space for Lifelong Wellness
Clean indoor air is essential for restorative sleep, daily energy and family’s overall health. Continuous surface cleaning is not enough to eliminate all allergens, especially the deep-seated. There’s a functional difference between deep cleaning and regular cleaning. Deep cleaning is understood to be the solution for removing biologics and other triggers that can cause and sustain health issues.
Without cleaning your air ducts, the best you can do is clean the surfaces, leaving all the debris in your air ducts. The air moving through your rooms could actually be working against you.
You can control your living environment. As a first step, evaluate your home to identify potential dust reservoirs. Next, create a bi-monthly deep sanitation schedule to focus on biologics and triggers you can’t normally see. Lastly, call a local, trusted professional to evaluate your ventilation system.
You are taking control and taking proactive measures to make your home a clean, rejuvenating, refreshing and safe space for everyone. You will feel better knowing you’re doing all you can.