We all love the fun parts of living indoors — relaxing, playing, cooking, reading, comfortable retreat. But along with all the good times comes a bit of necessary upkeep. Staying on top of indoor air care—like tidying up your bedroom, cleaning the bathrooms, clearing the kitchen and making repairs—means your indoors is supporting your living and health.
Lucky, there’s no boundary that says you have to make housekeeping any harder than it has to be. Tap into the wisdom of these tried and true tips, and you can tackle your indoor chores more efficiently. Life. Is. Busy! Right!
No matter what kind of daily housekeeping chores are on your list, you can bet there’s a way to make it faster, more effective, less expensive, or all three!
1. Open, Shut Case for Curtains
Maintaining natural light in a space as small as your bedroom means you’ll be opening the curtains every day. You can keep recirculated dust and odours from getting into your furnishings by opening the doors and windows, covering the entry with fly screens keeping debris, pollen and bugs outside.
Bringing that lovely natural light and air flow in keeps those particulates and mustiness out of your indoor air, reduces the stress on your cleaning and vacuuming systems and helps keep it healthier longer. Cleaner air also means you’ll have a hand in balancing air quality too.
2. Make ‘Down’ Beds
Want to keep moisture, bacteria, mould and dust mites from populating your mattress? Make down your bed, that’s right, pull the covers down to the foot end of your bed neatly, your kids will love you for it, or even fold down the covers at the foot end.
Your mattress will dry and make it easier to get air and natural light to it, and feeling clean and healthy. For best results, wash your sheets and pillow cases weekly in hot water, especially if you use your mattress one third of your day or have an extra person or two in bed with you.
3. Dry Up Spills
One of the most overlooked areas of proper indoor air quality is treating your material surfaces right. Exposed as they are to constant wear and tear, spills and moisture, surfaces can develop a musty or mouldy smell if they’re not dried properly.
You can keep the micro-organisms away by using a simple vinegar and water solution to clean your hard surfaces. In a spray bottle, combine 4 parts fermented white vinegar to one part water with a dash of dish washing liquid, and use it to clean the hard surfaces every 30 days.
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4. Pop on Slippers
Maintaining your indoor air quality can be tricky. You can make it a little easier by starting with the cleanest air possible.
When you’re coming indoors from out, take your shoes off at the entry door. If you don’t want to go bare footed or can’t pop on socks and slippers, place a door mat on both sides, one outside and one in your entry area so the incoming debris, chemicals, dust and all manner of contaminants are trapped in the mats and not carried into your bedroom or into bed.
5. Remove Dust From Your Interior Surfaces
The secret to truly clean indoors is frequent dust removal. Aside from a weekly mop of the floors and a regular vacuum clean, you can keep your indoors in tip-top shape by giving them a thorough micro fibre cloth capture.
If you prefer a damp micro fibre cloth capture, you can add a couple of your favourite essential oils and add it to your own spray bottle. Be sure to give the room a good going over with the sprayer, and dust well to avoid the dreaded “oops, missed that corner”.
6. Keep Room Clear from Mould
You might know them best from biology class, but moulds aren’t just handy for processing food or making beer. These furry little decomposers get around to the strangest places—including your bedroom.
Moulds indoors work the same way most outdoor moulds do: they break down and digest organic matter. Indoors, some mould spores will be found floating through the air and in settled dust. However, they will not grow if moisture is not present.
Dry spills, air and surfaces, your indoors will be cleaner, and your housekeeping will work more efficiently. Low humidity also keeps your indoors free of the “furry, mouldy look” that can sometimes form at the bottom of bed heads, chair and desk legs and inside wardrobes
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7. Get a Healthy Air Flow
Maintaining your indoor air’s science can be tricky. You can make it a little easier by starting with the cleanest air possible.
When you’re airing your home, open your windows and doors, opposite and diagonally. If you don’t have this cross ventilation, place a fan in your room so the breeze will blow air around the room and out the entry door.
Sometimes, quality indoor air care is about hoping for the best, but planning for the worst.
With proper care, your indoor building materials can have a long and healthy lifespan. But nothing lasts forever.
Always spend an extra bit of time checking the joins between skirting boards and floors, windows and frames, cornices and ceilings, just in case. There is nothing like unwanted air gaps to allow in dust and moisture. If these materials deteriorate, you can seal them or replace them in your spare time and keep the indoor air quality without missing a beat.
8. Minimalise
Having a bedroom that is de-cluttered and more minimalistic, it’s easier to see dust and water ingress that may develop. There’s nothing hidden.
Gather clutter that belongs elsewhere, and put it into a bag, and take it our of the room to either be disposed of, re-homed or up-cycled.
De-cluttering towards minimalism can actually help with creating a healthy lifestyle and maintaining good air flow that enhances good health, rather than create a toxic environment. Fresh is best.
9. Dust Mites Might be Right Under Your Nose
You may know fluff about dust and dust mites, at best, they are an allergy for some people. These little skin eating spiders get around to the darkest, warm, humid places—including your mattress, pillow and doona, carpet and soft materials.
Dust mites indoors love living where you do: they break down and digest your skin cells. Indoors, some dust mites will be found wandering through carpets and in settled dust. However, they will not grow if skin and moisture is not present.
Air out your room, let natural sunlight in, your indoors will be cleaner, and your housekeeping will work more efficiently. Low humidity also keeps dust mites low in number
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10. Get Real Clean, Vacuum
Another secret to truly clean indoors is regular vacuuming. Aside from keeping your bed made down, regular vacuum clean your mattress, at least 3 or 4 times a year, you can keep your bedroom in a clean state. If you prefer your essential oil, drip a few drops on a cotton wool ball and you can dab the scent around on furnishings, bed head and bedside drawers. Be sure to give the mattress and base a good going over with the vacuum, and dust well between slats and behind the bedhead. Vacuum the carpet underneath the base, especially near the feet.
Using the power head attachment, vacuum your mattress while it’s unmade. Switch to the crevice attachment and vacuum around the bedhead, the bedroom where the floor meets the walls.
Return to the power head attachment and vacuum the carpet properly. Always spend a bit of time going in both directions along the floor. There’s nothing left behind.
Watch our video on how to vacuum your home professionally here.
To get your bedroom truly clean, make it a priority, you’ll eliminate dust, banish clutter, and ensure this room in which you spend so much time is a comfortable retreat. Put your bedroom first.
Towards healthier living, Carol Parr <3
Our passion comes from pure necessity that we can all live natural and healthy lives, we can all contribute to human wellbeing and preservation and determine the future health of our children and their environment tomorrow.
As a result of working with us, women and their families thrive, work places and their personnel prosper, mouldy / chemical / electrical sensitive occupants heal. They’re healthier, they’re alert, they’re happier, more relaxed, more productive, and enjoying life.
Together we bring about healthy indoor environments and create rooms that provide calmness, healthy sleep, relaxation and restored energy for you and your family, create workplaces that provide ideal personnel attendance and elevated productivity.
By returning indoor spaces to more natural conditions, we strengthen you and your family and your personnel’s mind, body and spirit. It’s nice that it also sustains our planet’s ecology, you’d agree.
PS: Check out our latest enterprises here:
www.facebook.com/MiteyFresh/ and here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carolparr
References:
Platts-Mills TAE, Chapman MD. Dust mites: Immunology, allergic disease, and environmental control.
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL 1987;80:755-775. Online. Available: https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(87)80261-0/pdf August 29, 2018
