Tag: healthy-home

  • DOES VACUUMING HELP ALLERGIES, OR MAKE THEM WORSE?

    Sneezing is not always the symptom of a cold. Sometimes,it is an allergic reaction to something in the air. Health experts estimate that 35 million Americans suffer from upper respiratory tract symptoms that are allergic reactions to airborne allergens. If you own a bagless vacuum cleaner, you may think you’re getting rid of the dust, dirt, and pet dander that trigger your allergies or asthma, but you are actually making them worse. 

    Dust mites are perhaps the most common cause of perennial allergic rhinitis. House dust mite allergy usually produces symptoms similar to pollen allergy and also can produce symptoms of asthma.House dust mites, which live in bedding, upholstered furniture,and carpets, thrive in summer and die in winter. In a warm, humid house, however, they continue to thrive even in the coldest months.The particles seen floating in a shaft of sunlight include dead dust mites and their waste products.These waste products, which are proteins,actually provoke the allergic reaction.

    Bagless vacuum cleaners are still very allergy unfriendly

    Studies, the dirty outside of a bagless vacuum cleaner after a few uses, (and our experience) show that bagless vacuum cleaners spew fine dust and germs back into the air and onto your furniture, where they can set off allergies and spread infections. YIKES!

    But there is good news! A good quality vacuum will suck up 99.9% of dust, dirt, and allergens and keep them in the bag where they can be cleanly and effectively disposed of.

    Allergy sufferer then the vacuum’s filtration system quality should also be a primary concern

    Vacuum, bag, and filter hepa technology has advanced so far that the newer bagged machines such as Riccar, Miele, and Lindhaus will nearly perfectly filter out every spec of dust, dust mites, mold spores, pollen, and pent dander and keep them in the bag.

    HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. A HEPA filter is a type of mechanical air filter; it works by forcing air through a fine mesh that traps harmful particles such as pollen, pet dander, dust mites, and tobacco smoke.

    …when speaking of anti-allergy vacuums, the HEPA filtration technology is the most prevalent feature in the discussion. A high-quality filtration system such as HEPA prevents the dust and other foreign particles from being blown back into the air. HEPA has been designed support the suction at its best level, while filtering tiny air particles (which are sometimes even less than 0.3 microns).

    If you truly want as dust free a home as possible, clean top to bottom. 

    Vacuum at least once a week is good, more in the high traffic areas and if you have pets.

    1. Dust BEFORE you Vacuum

    Start with the top corners where dust and cobwebs collect, then move down to furniture, curtain rods, tops of door frames, and pictures. There are good vacuum cleaner attachments and electrostatic or microfiber dust cloths available that are very good for this thorough type of cleaning. Remember, dusting with just a regular cloth or a feather duster will also spread the dust around your home. There are also attachments for cleaning ceiling fans and attachments for cleaning mini-blinds; both inconvenient to clean, and both phenomenal dust magnets.

    2. Check your vacuum!

    Check to make sure your vacuum cleaner bag is not already full. Make sure there isn’t a lot of debris or hair wrapped around the brush roll. Remove any large debris that is in the cleaning path. 

    Don’t forget the stairs, corners, edges, and baseboards. Using slow movements, pass the vacuum cleaner at least four times (yes, even a very good one) over each area. This allows the vacuum cleaner to collect microscopic particles and allergens that are deeply embedded in your carpet. 

    3. For an even more thorough job, work the carpet fibers in both directions: first go east to west, then go north to south or vice versa. 

    We also recommend not using powders on your carpet as these are hard on the motor and will clog the filter. 

    For professional advice on choosing the best vacuum for allergies consider calling Abbott’s Vacuum Center in Nampa, Idaho. 

    Article Contributed by Michelle Abbott 

    MORE RESOURCES:

    National Institute of Health Publications: Airborne Allergens

    Vacuum Guide for allergies

  • An Attempt to Create the Toxin Free Household

    An Attempt to Create the Toxin Free Household

    I always thought of toxins as those products to ‘keep out of reach of child’ or I would end up calling poison control. Recently, I have begun to realize that toxins are those chemicals that disrupt our bodies natural processes, cause a plethora of ailments and could cause long term serious health issues. Thinking back, I was always grateful that in my family of many children, didn’t have to deal with food allergies. What a pain for those other families!
    And then my youngest was born. It was those allergies that took our family on a journey into an awareness of food ingredients and house hold toxins and helped us take back our health.  

    Over the past three years, we spent time focused on changing our eating habits. It took a couple years but we have eliminating 99% of processed foods stopped all fast food. Our meals, snacks and treats with are made with local,organic and fresh foods. Do not pity my children however. My baker in the making has discovered ways to allow us to enjoy organic brownies, homemade ice cream, HOMEMADE PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE, home made pretzels and cakes galore! We still save up ‘out to eat money’ to visit our favorite french fry shop in town that sources its potatoes and cooks them safe for our family.

    So, this past year the focus has been products. What we put on our skin and hair and what we are surrounded in our home.
    I am amazed at the significant health improvements of our entire household.

    Common Household Toxins 
    This was a real eye-opener when we first saw it so we began to read labels on the stuff in our own home and confirmed what this is showing.  In some cases toxins were NOT listed on labels due to inconsistencies in government regulations.
    Healthy Home checklist printable

    Common Toxic Products In Your Home

    Items We Replaced:

    • Air Fresheners 
      “Fragrance” is a scary ingredient. According to the FDA, “fragrance” can be any combination of natural or synthetic chemicals (300+) to create a desired scent. The chemicals used in “fragrance” do not have to be disclosed on ingredient labels because of “proprietary secrets.” Many of these ingredients are carcinogenic, endocrine disruptors, and neurotoxic. Many air fresheners even cause respiratory ailments too!
    • Cleaning Supplies
      Cleaning supplies really anger me. Many of them are guilty of “Green Washing,” which is where they claim to be environmentally friendly and “nontoxic,” but they aren’t. Check out the EWG databases and see how your cleaning products measure up! It was a massive eye opener to me that products I grew up using was actually poisonous! Many cleaning products list “detergents,” but not which kind – which I find to be very misleading and dishonest. If people truly knew what was in their cleaners, popular companies would be out of business or executives jailed for false marketing and public endangerment! 
    • Personal Care Products
      You wash your hair, your body, your face, with the intention of cleaning. Surprisingly, if you get your personal care products from local department stores, like Walmart, Target… etc… chances are, they contain dangerous or potentially dangerous ingredients

      Disturbing fact: Since WWII, there have been over 80,000 new synthetic chemicals created. 10,500 of those are regularly used in the cosmetic and skincare industry. 10% of those have safety data available, not all have fully sufficient safety data. 1,500 have safety data that indicate they are toxic to humans.

      It only takes 22 seconds for your skin to absorb what you put on it. From there, it is absorbed into your blood stream. From the time you slather a lotion or cream on your skin, it takes less than a minute for the components to reach your brain. 

    We replaced: Window cleaner… kitchen cleaner… bathroom cleaner… floor cleaner… stove cleaner… oven cleaner… toilet cleaner… soft scrub… tub and shower cleaner… heavy duty cleaner… carpet cleaner… laundry detergent… laundry fabric softener… stain remover… dryer sheets..We don’t buy cleaners instead use products that are safe enough to eat. Yep. Vinegar and Baking soda take care of 99% of our cleaning needs.

    I threw out several shampoos and conditioners… deep conditioners… hair masks… hair spray… body wash… soap bars… liquid hand soaps (bye bye triclosan!)… lotions… face creams… deodorant… and a drawer full of makeup. We read labels closely and make as much of our own as we can. 

    At this point, we have completely eliminated our pharmaceuticals from the medicine cabinet.  We use essential oils, and herbs instead.

    We have shifted what we were once spending on synthetic drugs and man-made detergents and health and beauty products to natural alternatives.

    The girls are learning to make their own makeup and cleansers. We make toothpaste too.

    We purchase environmentally friendly dish and laundry soap but in a pinch washing the clothing and even the dishes with vinegar and warm water has been pretty successful too!

    We notice that costs are the same or less but we now have the peace of mind of knowing that we’re taking care of our bodies and the environment.

    What We’ve Found After a Year of Reduced Toxins

    So now that we’ve eliminated most of the toxins in our household what have we observed?  
    Less colds and when we get them, they are shorter duration than ever before.
    We are aware that we don’t sweat as much and don’t need antiperspirants;
    Less respiratory congestion; indigestion (bloating and gas), joint/body aches and pains eliminated; eliminated much of our skin issues, rashes, peeling nails, flaky and dry skin.

    Arguably some of these improvements could also be from the result of a mostly organic diet, increased multi-vitamins and ferments.
    One of the most recent noticeable changes has been attitude. Mood swings and impulse control have improve greatly. Our diet change has been solid for over a year and just recently we modified our detergents for laundry and clothing, we saw moods improve. I am amazed at how sensitive our household was to the residues of chemicals on our plates and our clothing. 

    How hard was it to change? 
     
    Not as disruptive to our busy lives as we expected.  We just kept at it and over a gradual process of months we were able to make the change-over. There were times I felt guilty after realizing I was exposing my kids to some pretty toxic stuff. But, I know better and do better. They are learning what a difference it has been in their lives and health and will be able to make better choices because they have seen how yucky their skin, hair and even mood was when we were surrounded by so much synthetic chemicals. 

    What have you done to reduce toxins? Do you have products that you specifically use and find effective for your family. Please share.