Six ways to keep your homes air clean this winter

The quality of your home’s air tends to get worse in the winter months. Cold weather can prevent you from opening your doors and windows to keep the draft from coming in.

You’ll also spend more time indoors in the winter. Here are six ways you can keep your home’s air clean this winter.

Crack a Window

Cracking open a window is the most cost-efficient way to clean out your home’s air. It might get chilly, but you can try it out for just a few minutes at a time, so you don’t waste your heat. Try doing it a few times a week to air out your home.

This will get the air circulating in your house, and get some of the pollutants out. Be sure to open the windows when there isn’t too much outdoor activity just outside your home. If there is landscaping, snow blowing, or heavy traffic, wait until these activities die down, so you don’t let in more impurities indoors.

Houseplants

Growing indoor houseplants is an excellent way to purify the air. Houseplants are the best solution to getting more oxygen circulating in your home. You can reduce the levels of carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, xylene, and benzene by adding some potted plants to spruce up the décor.

Some of the top plants that people add to their indoor plant collection include the peace lily, English ivy, snake plant, Chrysanthemum, devil’s ivy, Dracaena, Gerbera Daisy, and bamboo palm. But do keep in mind that when not tended to regularly, the plants can develop mold. Also, be sure to check and see if anyone you share the home with is susceptible to plant allergies.

Essential Oil Diffusers

Some essential oils are great for cleaning the home air. Oils from eucalyptus, rosemary, and clove reduce bacteria and dust mites. Peppermint, chamomile, lavender, basil, and tea tree oils are also great for air purifying. They smell great and improve the air quality in the house.

Air Purifier

Purchasing an air purifier for your home is perhaps the most effective way to get impurities out of your home during the long, dormant months. Part of the issue is that your house will collect dust and dirt over time, but dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming becomes hard to do because it will kick up particles in the air. You can clean your home with an air purifier without worrying about these issues. People with allergies and asthma are more sensitive to unclean air.

Cook With High Heat Oils

If you cook at home often, the air will be smokier. You can turn on the fan but also swap out lower smoke point oils for higher ones. Low smoke point oils like extra virgin olive oil burn faster. High smoke point oils like canola, sunflower, safflower, peanut, avocado, and corn. Reducing the burning will prevent less smoke from filling the air in your home and reduce impurities.

When you cook, be sure to turn on the fan or open the kitchen window to circulate the air out. While high cooking oils have less smoke than low cooking oils, you want to get rid of any smoke in the house immediately. It not only protects your health but also prevents food and smoke smells from sinking into your clothes.

Change Your Filters Regularly

Some heating systems have air filters that need to be changed regularly. Check and see if your heating system is a forced-air system. If so, the filters must be changed. The same goes for the air conditioner. See if it has a filter. Replacing these filters regularly will prevent added pollutants such as dust, mites, and bacteria from circulating in your house.

These are the six ways you can keep the air in your home pure: airing out the house, raising houseplants, diffusing essential oils, installing an air purifier, cooking with high heat oil, and replacing the air filters.

Other practical ways to keep your air clean is by not wearing shoes in the house since you track in bacteria, dirt, and dust that get kicked up into the air, as well as not lighting incense or candles with the windows shut. Although the weather might be cold, don’t be afraid to step out every once in a while to get some fresh air.

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