“Find out secrets you have often overlooked in making your home much healthier and safer than it used to be.”
A healthy home is at the bedrock of a healthy lifestyle. Having a healthy home simplifies your life and cost.
Our home is a haven for us and the people we love. It is more than just where we eat or sleep. And yet, statistically, the home can be a dangerous place.
Ever since the pandemic, we have all become more conscious of creating a healthy home environment that can be safe for us and our families, yet there are many challenges in making this. Often, we casually accept the conditions of our homes without recognizing how much impact our homes can have on our health.
The presence of contaminants in our home, such as paints, solvents, mold, pesticides, radon, asbestos, and many others, can be easily overlooked. For most people, these materials might have been present in their homes even before they started living there, leaving us at risk of unaware problems.
These materials pose many common health issues like cardiovascular problems, elevated blood lead levels, respiratory problems like inhaling toxic chemicals, trouble sleeping and thinking, and watery eyes and nose if not taken care of.
This article will examine the often-overlooked secrets that can make your home healthier and safer.
How can you make your home Healthy and Safe?
There are several simple and affordable ways to make your home healthier, like removing debris dust and debris from the floor and surfaces, wiping down frequently touched areas, and rectifying safety issues and concerns at home.
Most experts believe that ventilation and water quality are homeowners’ most important concerns when trying to remain healthy and safe at home while being slightly less worried about toxicity, air quality, and virus transmission.
Let’s look at the secrets to overcoming these challenges and making our homes healthy and safe.
1). Maintain good air quality in your home.
The quality of the indoor air we breathe is vital to our longevity and vitality.
Many people are usually less concerned about the air quality they breathe. It is essential to preserve indoor air quality as air with high moisture levels causes difficulty breathing and leads to other issues such as mice, molds, and mites.
Yes, keeping your home aerated as much as possible is necessary. Still, humidity, extreme cold and heat, outdoor air pollutants, and allergens might pose a problem and adversely affect your family.
Here are some ways you can control all of these in your home for better air quality indoors:
- Make use of indoor air filters to remove contaminants in the air. They can help to reduce allergens and viruses while purifying your air.
- Make use of a kitchen exhaust fan that takes away cooking fumes. If you have the option, you should use an electric cooker over a gas stove to reduce indoor air pollution.
- You can also consider doing a crawl space encapsulation, as up to 50% of the indoor air comes from crawl spaces.
- Clear your floors, kitchen counters, and sinks regularly to prevent cockroaches; their droppings are common asthma triggers.
- Use a dehumidifier to keep indoor humidity low.
2). Keep your homes dry.
Damp homes will create a favorable environment for mold, bacteria, health problems, and even structural problems.
Mold and structural damage to buildings is caused by too much water in a building. It is then essential to handle any moisture concerns as soon as possible to maintain the conditions that create a safe and healthy living environment for your family.
Here are some ways you can reduce the moisture content in your home and keep it dry:
- Fixing the leaks in your roofs or plumbing
- Clear out your gutter so they can drain properly
- Dry wet surfaces such as walls, pipes, and windows immediately.
- Use bathroom and kitchen exhaust release fans to direct water vapor outside.
- Keep your bathroom dry to prevent mildew and mold from growing, and if you find any mold, clean it quickly with bleach cleaners.
3). Keep your home temperature controlled.
Living in the humid summer and enduring the drafty winter winds can be unhealthy and unpleasant for you and your family.
However, having a well-insulated home will help maintain consistent temperature throughout the house. Also, making your home more energy efficient can help to maintain a pleasant temperature inside your home.
Here are some ways to keep your home temperature controlled:
- Ventilating your home will ensure free air is entering your home.
- You can consider air sealing your homes to ensure less unconditioned air goes into your home.
- Insulate your home to maintain consistent temperature throughout your home, as insulation serves as a barrier to the outdoor environment.
- Regulate your home temperature through routine maintenance like cleaning and regularly replacing the filters in your air conditioners.
- Clean your chimney and woodstove before your first fire every year.
- You can also use fans during the summer, but your fans should be regularly cleaned of dust, especially if you or anyone in your home has asthma or allergies.
4). Keep your home environmentally safe.
Your home is more dangerous than you imagine, and adults can be as vulnerable as children. A safe home is free from chemicals, structural issues, trips, hazards, or fire.
It is essential to use caution around stoves or hot objects, slippery floors, especially those in the kitchen and bathroom, and exposure to medication and household chemicals.
Here is how to keep your home environmentally safe:
- To protect your children, make sure to cover every unused outlet to prevent the risk of electric shocks.
- Ensure you store all hazardous chemicals, medication, and firearms away from children and pets.
- Keep all pathways in your home clear of rugs and other trip hazards
- Set your water heater below or at 120 degrees to avoid burns to your children
- Install and make sure to test your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors regularly.
- Ensure dark areas in your home and well-lit
- Repair any home damage that can risk someone’s safety and health.
- To prevent fires, unplug all electrical appliances when the power goes out.
5). Keep your homes clean
An unclean home is a host for contaminants and irritants. If we want to have healthy and safe homes, we must regularly clean, as a house that is dirty or needs repairs can hurt people.
Beddings can become infested with dust mites or, worse, bed bugs. Also, shoes and pets can bring in pests and dirt, but by cleaning, we can remove dirt and germs from our homes.
Make it a habit to clean your home regularly, and you can involve every family member in the cleaning process. Healthy home maintenance requires removing indoor allergens, cleaning regularly, and occasionally disinfecting common surfaces.
Here is how to keep your homes clean:
- Cleaning will be much easier when you don’t have to declutter things, so keep whatever you use in the proper place after use.
- Clear floors and pathways of unneeded toys, furniture, and rugs.
- Wash your bedding weekly
- Keep pets outside
- Remove shoes before going inside
- Scrub your bathroom to get rid of molds and mildew regularly
- Dust regularly and give your rugs a deep steam clean.
- Choose pieces of furniture that attract fewer irritants.
Conclusion
Whether we live in a rented building or it is yours, there are principles everyone must practice to maintain a safe and healthy home. Because we spend a large portion of our time at home, we must take the health and safety of our homes seriously.
A healthy and safe home is what makes us healthy also. A safe and healthy home will reduce stress and give room for a positive mindset.