The quality of the air you breathe has a massive impact on your overall health. Some health issues can be entirely cured by breathing cleaner and fresher air. However, this might not be easy, especially nowadays, because the air is full of dust and debris that find their way into our respiratory system. This is why learning how to purify the air in the home from dust can save your life.
In this article, we’ll tell you about some of the best tips that can help you enjoy clean and dust-free air at home. We’ll also suggest a few amazing products that will improve the quality of indoor air.
Indoor Air Pollution
According to the EPA, the air inside the house is way more polluted than the air outside. People often get this wrong, thinking that outdoor air is full of smoke, smog, pollen, and allergens that make it less healthy to breathe.
Because of the traffic and factories, people mistakenly think that they’re safe inside their homes, not knowing that the indoor air can be more dangerous. The truth is that medical and scientific research proves that the number of indoor pollutants and contaminants is sometimes 2 or 5 times higher than outdoor levels. In extreme conditions, indoor pollutants can be even 10 times higher than outdoor debris and contaminants.
The air gets into your body through the nose and passes through various filtering stages until it reaches the lungs where it’s finally clean. However, breathing dirty air will strain your lungs and can lead to serious health issues.
Why is Indoor Air Pollution More Harmful?
Indoor areas don’t allow the pollutants to dissipate, so pollutants build up and can be more harmful. Here are some reasons why the air inside your house might be extremely unhealthy to breathe.
- Some contaminants can find their way into your house when you open the windows or doors. These include pollen and dust. Although they are natural, they can be quite irritating, especially if you suffer from allergies or asthma.
- Inside the house, the air might contain other irritants and contaminants like pet dander, mold spores, and even fumes from cleaning products. This is why you need a potent method to clean the air and remove these pollutants before they affect your health.
- Having an HVAC system without proper filtration means that the pollutants will keep on circulating inside your house and spreading from one room to another.
- Practicing bad habits like cleaning carpets without letting them air dry can create a suitable environment for bacteria and germs to grow.
- Without getting rid of dust, dust mites will get disturbed every time you use a vacuum cleaner or step on a carpet. These dust mites cause a lot of health problems.
- Not cleaning the house regularly allows dust to buildup and causes several health issues.
What Can Poor Indoor Air Do to You?
A lot of people are naturally spending more time inside the house due to their age, lifestyle, or health condition. These include children, stay-at-home parents, people who are chronically ill, and the elderly. These people might start to develop symptoms without knowing that they’re related to the poor quality of the indoor air.
Other people spend their time in offices or even working from home, so they need to make sure that they’re breathing fresh and clean air all the time. Here are some health issues caused by breathing bad indoor air.
- Bad air increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.
- The lungs and heart will be under stress, and this will affect their overall performance.
- Your lungs will start to have more damaged cells that are unable to repair themselves. As a result, the lungs will be aging faster than the rest of your body organs.
- Over time, you might start to experience a decrease in lung capacity and functions.
- Lungs will be unhealthy, which increases the risk of other health issues like asthma, bronchitis, and even lung cancer.
- Overall, breathing dirty indoor air will shorten your lifespan.
How to Purify Air in Home from Dust
Several tips can help you improve the quality of the indoor air in your home and keep it dust-free.
- Use a good doormat. This will trap the debris from outside the house, so your carpets, rugs, and floors stay clean.
- Take better care of your pets. Pet dander is a major source of dust, and proper grooming habits will help put this problem under control.
- Keeping the windows closed on a windy day will help reduce the amount of dust that gets into the house. We need to have fresh air all the time, but on windy days you’ll just end up with a huge amount of dust.
- Think about alternative flooring options. Getting rid of carpets might help you get rid of most of the dust in the house. Other flooring options like wooden boards and tiles are easier to clean because the fibers of the carpets trap the dust particles inside.
- Clean the pillows and mattresses. People clean the pillowcases and sheets, but they forget that dust mites can live under them.
- Regular mopping using plain water will remove most of the dust on the floor. It’s also more environmentally friendly than using chemical detergents.
Products that Can Help You Keep Your House Dust-Free
Luckily, some good products can help you improve the quality of the indoor air by removing dust and other natural and chemical contaminants that affect your health. Here are some of our top choices.
Air Purifiers
Air purifiers clean the air inside the room to make it fresher. They’re exceptionally helpful, especially for people who have pets or suffer from asthma. Here are some cool air purifiers to think about.
1. LEVOIT Air Purifier for Home
This air purifier is designed to cover an area up to 215 square feet, so it’s an excellent choice for home or office use. It features a pre-filter and HEPA filter and both trap the floating dust particles in the air.
Moreover, this air purifier has a built-in activated carbon filter to remove the bad odors. The three filters work together to catch up to 99.97% of the pollutants in the air, even the ones that are as small as 0.3 microns. It has a CADR rating of 140 for dust.
Unlike other air purifiers, this one doesn’t produce any ozone while cleaning the indoor air. It’s safe to use and will help you overcome a lot of respiratory health issues.
Larger particles like dust, pollen, and pet dander are easily caught and filtered, so you can enjoy fresh air all day long. The air purifier isn’t noisy, so you can safely use it in the bedroom. Moreover, the display light can be safely turned off at night without affecting the function of the air purifier. You can also set the time to turn it off after 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours.
There’s an indicator that lets you know that it’s time to change the filter. There are also three fan speeds available. You can personalize your air purifier by buying customized filters to remove mold, bacteria, toxins, and pet odors. You will have to buy replacement filters separately.
What We Like
- 3 filters to remove air pollutants.
- Ozone-free cleaning technology.
- Built-in timer and automatic shutoff feature.
- Three fan speeds.
- Low-noise operation.
- You can customize the filters based on your needs.
What We Don’t Like
- You’ll have to buy the replacement filters separately.
2. Hamilton Beach TrueAir Air Purifier
This budget-friendly air purifier features a 99% HEPA-Grade filter that captures dust, dust mites, pollen, and other allergens that negatively affect your health. It also traps mold and mildew spores to keep you healthy.
The permanent filter reduces the cost of maintaining this air purifier because you don’t have to worry about replacing it. It’s quite easy to clean to purify the air in a room that measures around 160 square feet.
Because this unit is portable, you can use it at home or in the office. You can also use it vertically or horizontally as it’s so versatile.
There are three different speeds that you can pick from. The whisper clean setting is the best to use at night, the medium setting for all-day use, while the quick setting allows for fast and more potent air cleaning. Without the filter, the air purifier can be used as a fan.
However, putting this air purifier together might be a bit challenging because the assembly instructions are difficult to understand. Moreover, you should be careful while assembling it as some of the parts can easily break.
What We Like
- An affordable air purifier with HEPA-Grade Filter.
- Permanent filter.
- Easy to clean.
- Three fan settings.
What We Don’t Like
- Assembly is difficult.
- Not that durable.
Doormats
A lot of the dust in your house comes from the dirt outside. Every time you come home or have a visitor, this dust gets transferred to your carpets and rugs. When you’re not careful while cleaning, the dust keeps on circulating in the air. A good doormat will solve this problem.
Gorilla Grip Original Durable Rubber Door
This durable and practical doormat is made of 100% high-quality all-natural rubber. It features woven polypropylene that traps the dust and prevents it from getting into your house.
The beveled rubber border keeps it in place, trapping moisture and dirt as the mat stays in place. The fabric has grooves that trap dust and other debris inside. These grooves rub against the sole of shoes to make sure that your carpets and rugs will stay clean.
Its sleek low-profile design is perfect for low-clearing doors. The mat is available in various sizes and colors to suit every single preference. It’s also quite easy to clean. You can simply shake it off or use a vacuum cleaner to remove debris.
However, this mat isn’t dog or cat-proof, and your pet can accidentally scratch the bottom. It can’t be cleaned in the washing machine.
What We Like
- Low-profile doormat for low-clearing doors.
- Made of 100% rubber.
- Traps dirt and dust in the grooves of the fabric.
- Available in various sizes and colors.
What We Don’t Like
- It’s not pet-proof.
- You can’t clean it in the washing machine.
Portable Vacuum Cleaner
Although people usually use the vacuum cleaner on their rugs, upholstery, curtains, and bedding are usually ignored. This is where most of the dust will stay trapped in the corners, eventually affecting the quality of the indoor air. A good hand-held vacuum cleaner will remove this dust and keep the air fresh inside the house.
BLACK+DECKER dustbuster Handheld Vacuum
This cordless vacuum cleaner is powered by a powerful lithium-ion battery for long-term use. The dust bowl capacity measures 13 ounces, so you can clean all the tight corners in the house.
Both the bowl and filter are washable, guaranteeing that dust won’t find its way back into the air. You can use the brush for upholstery or the crevice tool for the tight corners.
The wide mouth allows larger particles to pass through, while the cyclonic action keeps the filter clean and improves the operation of the vacuum cleaner. It delivers strong suction to trap all the dust.
It’s portable so you can use it at home or in the office, weighing about 2 pounds. Charging the battery takes some time, and there’s no battery-life indicator.
What We Like
- Portable and battery-operated cordless vacuum.
- Washable dust bowl and filter.
- Brush and crevice tool for tight corners.
- Strong suction.
What We Don’t Like
- It requires frequent charging.
- There’s no battery-life indicator.
Wrap Up
Keeping your house dust-free will have a huge impact on your health and the well-being of everyone in the family. A few easy tips can help you significantly reduce the amount of dust that you would otherwise inhale. Moreover, several products can help get rid of the dust and other contaminants that affect your health.
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