The trees are blooming and the air is much warmer now. The pollen counts are going up; our doors and windows are open more often. Outdoor dust and debris is coming inside. I covered allergy sufferer's tips (<-click there) in a previous blog, but for now, I want to talk about the entry ways, hall ways and stairwells. These generally narrow spaces contain people coming and going, creating air rising and falling. Temperatures rise and fall in these areas due to the windows and doors; this area also collects everything that comes in from outside. If we can keep up with dusting and vacuuming this area, the rest of our home will be cleaner and less buggy.
* Keep a door mat on both sides of all outside door. Shake them out often, always outside. Don't shake out anything indoors, even fluff your pillows outside. The goal is to replace the air inside the pillow with fresh air and to expel the old air with enough umph to take dust with it. Do that outside; that's where the fresh air is and where you want the puffed up dust to go.
* When you vacuum, be aware of where the suction is blowing out. Uprights usually blow up or out in a diffused way. Canisters sometimes have the air blow out the back and across the floor behind you, blowing dust everywhere. This dust is not dust coming from inside the vac, by the way. If there IS dust blowing out of the vacuum, you have a real problem. Change the vacuum cleaner bag and the filter that protects the motor from gathering dust. The dust I am referring to is the dust on the floors, walls, baseboards, etc, that we intend to vacuum up. Keep the blowing air coming from the vacuum from blowing the dust behind you by pointing the blow end of the vac out the open door. Vacuum the entire entry way, slowly enough to give the dust time to be pulled off the floor. I vac the baseboards each time and the walls every few months. The finest dust from sticks to walls and everything. Once that area is all vacuumed, I bring the vac in and point the blow end into the cleaned corner so it does not blow any dust around. I advance, room to room, making sure the blow end is always blowing where I've already vacuumed. Usually, I hand wipe uncarpeted stairs and point the blow end of the vac over the stairs when vacuuming the second floor.
* Let's think about what the dust is made of. The first thing that comes to my mind is dried animal poop. There's a lot of it out there. How about auto exhaust? Those particles are blasted so fine in the violent environment of the combustion engine, that is is too small for the cilia in our lungs to properly expel them, making it very bad to breath. Other ingredients in the debris from outside are: salted sand from the streets, ground gravel and tar, dirt in general, which is alive with various bacteria and other microbial creatures and dead soil from an over fertilizing/insecticiding neighbor. Insects, pollen, fur and feathers: it's all moving on the air and coming in on our shoes, clothes and skin.
* Have you seen old photos of farm folk wearing big bonnets, aprons and scarves? All that garb was protection from pollen, too much sun, and wind. They'd always shake themselves off and take their hats off before coming inside. I've experienced the difference in homes where shoes are taken off at the door and homes who have shod feet throughout. There is a very big difference. Take your shoes off at he door. If you are going out to garden, play, etc, and will gather a lot of the outside on you; have a damp cloth waiting for you at the door. Wipe off your legs, arms and face before proceeding into the house. This may sound like an extreme measure to some, but someone out there is setting themselves up with a little wipe station, where a great new habit is going to be installed. Have a wipe for the shoes, too.
* I clean and polish my shoes as I watch TV at least once a year; usually when I put the winter ones back in the box and bring out the summer ones. Keep in mind, aerosol suede cleaners are volatile and very bad to breathe. Wiping your shoes with a damp cloth will do your them a world of good; a toothbrush, damp with mildly soapy water, should do any fine tuning. A nail brush works well on suede, fabrics and felt but don't scrub any more than necessary. Stay engaged with what your hands are doing. Brushing dried dirt off the surface and fluffing up suede or felt nap are finesse moves; not muscular at all. Only use as much water as necessary and let them dry before storing.
* I encourage everyone to get as much fresh air as possible by standing up straight, breathing deeply and know that to have clean, fresh indoor air you must: eliminate sources of pollutants, clean the air you have and bring fresh air in from the outside. Be careful about which windows you open. Upstairs windows and windows not facing the street would be good choices. If you know the prevailing wind direction for the day, use that to your advantage by opening the windows to the breeze. Air out the attic and basement when the air is fresh and not humid. I changed the air in the basement this week I used a box fan and aired out the whole basement in half an hour. I'm not looking forward to the expense of running the dehumidifier all summer, but it's worth it Keeping the air dry will prevent mold.
* To clean the air you have, use houseplants and run a humidifier or dehumidifier as needed. If you use an air purifier, know that if it's in a corner or if your room is cluttered at all, it's not circulating much air. During the hottest and coldest months, it is useful to have small fans set up or use ceiling fans to mix the heat and coolness, keeping the air fresh and a more comfortable overall temperature. It is more effective to push and draw cold air than warm air, as it is heavier and more dense.
Enjoy the springtime, it's an easy transition compared to most.
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