How to Keep Home Interiors Feeling Fresh

No matter how much you love hanging out at home, staying inside for long periods of time can feel stifling. Many try their best to keep home interiors looking pleasant, put together and feeling fresh.

This can feel especially important when compounded by hours spent indoors. Fresh interior air will have a significant impact on the moods of yourself and your loved ones, and it will play a huge role in the functioning of our immune systems. But if you’re hardly going outside, what are some strategies to keeping the interior air alive?

Keeping interiors fresh isn’t too difficult, as long as you follow these simple suggestions! So, if you’re ready to breathe in some new air, keep reading!

How to keep interior air fresh

1- Open windows and doors

Of course, this may seem like an obvious suggestion but everyone has to start somewhere and opening your windows and doors is an excellent place to begin. When it’s chilly outside, the last thing we desire is opening up our windows and letting the cool air into our otherwise cozy interior.

However, opening windows and doors is critical to interior air quality, as it allows for proper circulation of the existing air inside your home as well as proper ventilation of any stale air that is stuck. If it’s Spring or Summer, then go right ahead and pull those windows open wide! Make sure to leave them open for a total of 30 minutes, as this will allow enough time for ventilation.

If it’s a little bit colder and you’ve got the heat on, do turn your heat off before opening your home up to exterior air. It’s easiest to work room to room in a scenario where it’s cold outside, so you’re not letting too much heat escape. If you’re living in the middle of a busy city or adjacent to a busy street, may we suggest opening windows during the evening and night when traffic has lessened? This will also allow you to avoid unwanted dust and debris finding its way into your home.

Looking for other ventilation methods? Consider these articles for further information on this subject:

• The importance of a well-ventilated home

• How to clean your ventilation ducts

• Roof ventilation guide

• All about the heat recovery ventilator

source: mariakillam

2- Green dream

If you’d like to both purify your air and add a visual refresher to your interior, we’d suggest investing in some plants for your home. Plants help to keep the air fresh by filtering pollutants from the air, including airborne toxins, dust and germs that are found in a variety of things we use on a daily basis. Of course, unless you cultivate a small forest inside your kitchen, the impact of plants on your interior air will be minimal. 

Here are some suggestions for the plants that work best to purify interior air:

• english ivy ;

• dragon tree ;

• spider plant ;

• snake plant ;

• Aloe vera ;

• broad lady palm ;

• chinese evergreen.

Do be certain with any plant you choose to include in your interior decor that you research proper care methods including the amount of sunlight and water each need to survive.

source: hd.disleksiyiz

3- Minimize pollutants and chemicals inside the home

Many homeowners don’t even realize how many pollutants and chemicals they’re willingly bringing indoors. Although it’s now common knowledge that many commercial cleaning products contain harsh chemicals, there are plenty of other household items that may slip under the radar. This includes the following:

• scented candles ;

• paint ;

• hair products ;

• dry cleaning solvents ;

• formaldehyde found in disinfectants and adhesives as well as particleboards ;

• synthetic fragrances found in laundry products ;

• dish soap ;

• air freshener.

Most fragrances are derived from petroleum products, and when emitted into your home, can have a serious adverse effect on air quality. Although most of the products listed above are essentials, we’d recommend looking for fragrance-free or naturally scented products. In place of air fresheners, consider using lemon slices and baking soda. Discontinue the use of anything aerosol while inside the home; this includes hair spray, carpet cleaners, furniture polish and so forth. 

4- Manage humidity levels

If your home often feels damp or sticky, this could point to a moisture issue. Excess moisture in the home may not seem like that big a deal, but it actually has a huge impact on interior air quality. Rooms like the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room are major factors in how much moisture sits in the air, so do be certain these rooms have proper ventilation and take extra precautions to wipe down surfaces or open doors and windows following bathing and cooking.  

We should also mention that dust mites and mould are attracted to moisture, and thus, it’s crucial to keep interior air moisture between 30% and 50% so that allergens are kept under control. Here are some tips for keeping moisture levels where they should be:

• When cooking, crack a window open or be sure to use an exhaust fan;

• Vent your dryer to the outside or dry clothing outdoors on a line;

• Fix leaks in plumbing to avoid a buildup of moisture;

• Avoid overwatering plants.

Also check out the following article: What to consider when choosing a bathroom fan.

source: elvin.clothiesly

5- No smoking zone

Our last and final point should be obvious, but we think it’s important to make clear that smoking inside the home will greatly compromise indoor air quality. Cigarette smoke is poisonous and contains over 400 chemicals. This is important information for the person smoking as well as anyone ingesting second-hand smoke.

Ingesting cigarette smoke can lead to respiratory problems, ear and throat infections, cancer, and heart attacks. If you’re a smoker and not interested in quitting at this time, make sure that all smoking is done outside of the home and never indoors!