Easy & Effective Ways to Purify Your Indoor Air Quality
on Apr 04, 2017, Updated Jul 18, 2020
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
You might not think a lot about your indoor air quality, but did you know that indoor air quality is often worse than outdoor air quality? Radon, second hand smoke, mold, and VOCs {volatile organic compounds} emitted from paints, pesticides, cleaning supplies, and furniture are often found in homes. All of these toxins when coupled with tight houses that don’t pull in enough fresh air to counter balance the dangerous emissions can be a dangerous combination.
*Many thanks to Venta Airwasher for providing product to facilitate this post. All opinions are mine. This post also contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my site at no cost to you.*
According to the CDC, 24.6 million Americans have asthma, an increase of 4.3 million people from 2001 to 2009. Accoridng to this 2009 study from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, poor indoor air quality contributes to the increase in asthma cases. Sadly, the number of people with asthma continues to rise.
Easy & Effective Ways to Purify Your Indoor Air Quality
Luckily, there are lots of easy and effective ways you can purify your indoor air quality. A lot of them are even free! Here’s my top 12 list for how to improve your indoor air quality.
What are you waiting for? Make simple changes today to help everyone in your family breathe easier.
- Vacuum – carpets and rugs are great hiding spots for dirt, dust, pollen, and pet dander – all allergens which contribute to breathing problems and asthma.
- Wash your sheets regularly – dust mites are also really problematic when you sleep so make sure you wash those sheets and pillowcasee on a regular basis.
- Dust your house – I know you might not like these first three suggestions. I don’t enjoy these cleaning tasks that much either, but they do help keep your home clean and particle free, so it’s important to do each of these first three tasks to keep as many allergens out of the house as possible. 😀
- Include live plants in your decor – NASA research shows indoor plants can be natural air purifiers with leaves and roots working together to air pollutants.
- Switch to nontoxic cleaners – get rid of those artificial fragrances and toxic cleaning chemicals.
- Get rid of plug-in air fresheners – YUCK! I know you might think these plug-in things make your home more inviting, studies show emit 20 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including seven regulated as toxic or hazardous under U.S. federal laws.
- Enforce a no-shoes policy in your home – one of the top ways pollutants come into our homes is via shoes. I know first hand how tough it can be to ask family and friends to remove their shoes, but you can make it easier by providing a bench to sit on, a basket with socks or booties, and a rug to collect any dirt that may be on their shoes as they walk in.
- Make your home a no-smoking home – I’m sure this goes without saying, but smoke in the home is nasty and toxic. I don’t even really need to address this, do I?
- Test for radon – any home can potentially have a radon problem. Radon is a radioactive, odorless and colorless gas that increases your risk of lung cancer as it escapes from the dirt in the ground and infiltrates your house. Tests are cheap and easy and radon mitigation is very effective.
- Choose a builder or remodeler who understands indoor air quality if you are in the market for a new home – Unfortunately, not very many home builders study advanced building science or know that much about indoor air quality. If you’re in the market for a home or home remodeler, do your own research and question your builder. What’s the plan to seal your home? How does your builder plan to bring fresh air into your home and manage moisture? If you ask these questions and your builder has no answers, it might be time to find a new builder.
- Keep a healthy level of humidity in your home – dust mites and mold love humidity, but super low humidity dries out your skin and can cause headaches. Keeping the proper level of humidity in your home is a must!
- Use an air purifier – remove dust and mites, germs, and odors to help keep your indoor air healthy.
Benefits of the Venta Airwasher
Not all air purifiers are equal, so when you decide to add one to your home, make sure it does what you want it to do. Air purifiers are great because they minimize allergens, germs, and odors and can help keep dangerous toxins at bay. But they can also be a pain in the rear too. Some air purifiers are noisy, a lot of work to maintain, and use filters that are expensive to buy and mean more garbage to throw away.
Enter the Venta Airwasher! It’s both a purifier and a humidifier in one and it uses NO FILTERS! Developed in Germany over 30 years ago, it’s the number one air purifier in Europe and it’s also being used by NASA for the upcoming Mars missions too! I love that it’s made using green energy, from recyclable material, and that it takes very little energy to actually run this air purifier. The Venta Airwasher works by washing and trapping particles out of the air in your house. It’s another natural way to boost your immune system because it traps and removes bacteria, and it works with aromatherapy as well!
If you have headaches, dry skin, cracked lips, dry eyes, and warping wood, you might want to try out the Venta Airwasher. We have the LW 45 in charoal grey which purifies up to 800 sq ft of living space. It fits right into our decor and you don’t even really notice it.
Many thanks to Venta for sending over their amazing Airwasher. If you’d like more information, please head over to the Venta website. Feel free to leave any questions on the blog too! I’ll get you an answer if I don’t have one. 😀
Indoor air quality actually matters to stay healthy.
This post having really good stuff. Thank for sharing Michelle Marine.