A Cleaner Home Means a Healthier Family
Rid Your Home of Allergens Simply by Altering Your Cleaning Routine This Spring

Contact: CRI Communications Department, 706.428.2103

March 29, 2001, DALTON, GA -- If you suffer from allergies, your nose, throat and eyes will thank you for a little extra elbow grease this spring. That's because keeping your home clean can minimize the impact that spring's worst allergy-inducing culprits - ragweed, dust, and mold -- will have on your body.

Pediatric allergist Mary Lasley advises her patients' parents to really make an effort to keep their homes clean during peak allergy seasons, such as the spring. Reducing household allergen triggers, such as dust, pollen, mold, mildew, animal dander, and dust mite allergen can be an effective strategy for tempering allergy symptoms.

"It may be surprising that something as simple as regularly cleaning your home can have such an impact on how you feel," said Lasley. "A clean home contributes to better indoor air quality -- reducing the symptoms you or your family may experience due to spring's high pollen count."

Here are the chores you won't want to fall behind on this season:

Vacuuming

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) recommends vacuuming floor coverings in the whole house at least once a week -- high use areas should be vacuumed twice weekly. If you have pets, you may need to vacuum some areas daily. Make sure to move furniture so that you clean all of your carpet, especially under furniture. Use only vacuums with strong suction, adjustable brushes and high-efficiency filtration. CRI also advises changing your vacuum's disposable bag regularly -- or cleaning the permanent one -- and checking for worn belts.

In order to identify vacuums that perform to the industry's high standards, CRI has initiated a new partnership program with vacuum cleaner manufacturers.

The Vacuum Cleaner Indoor Air Quality Testing Program helps consumers identify vacuum cleaner models that have been evaluated by an independent testing laboratory and have met the carpet industry's standard for soil removal, dust containment and carpet appearance retention. Vacuums that meet this standard are identified by the CRI "green label."

Busting the Dust

Dust-mites are invisible insects whose excrement and body parts cause allergic reactions. They hide everywhere in your house, but particularly in mattresses and pillows. To control the mites, wash sheets and pillow cases in hot water (at least 130 degrees) once a week. Wash comforters, dust ruffles and other bedding materials. It's also advised that you encase mattresses and pillows in "allergen-control" covers. Vacuum or dust your bedroom furniture and vacuum floor coverings weekly.

Other rooms of the home collect dust too - living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms, home offices, etc. Make sure you clean them at least once a week - vacuuming all floors and upholstered furniture, dusting shelving, ceiling fans, light fixtures and storage units. You can minimize dust by storing books and knick-knacks in closed cabinets -- doing so leaves fewer places for dust to settle and makes cleaning easier.

Minimizing Moisture

Experts recommend maintaining your home's relative humidity level at or below 50 percent. This can be achieved by running the air conditioning when it's hot (or heat when it's cold). A dehumidifier is also a good idea for moist areas like the basement. Using air conditioning, heating equipment and a dehumidifier will minimize mold and mildew and discourage dust mite populations because they don't survive in relative humidity under 50 percent.

Warm moist kitchen and bathroom environments provide a breeding ground for mold and mildew - so clean them often with disinfectant cleaners. Also make sure to launder all bath and kitchen towels and rugs weekly in hot water. Leaky faucets should be promptly repaired to discourage mold and mildew growth. In addition, food in the kitchen provides fodder for insects to flourish, so clean all grease and food from around the stove daily, seal cracks around cabinets and store food in closed containers.

Window-Drop

Cool breezy spring days are quite inviting. While the temptation may be to open the windows and let the fresh air in, you should keep them closed -- windy, cooler days are often the most likely to have the highest pollen count. It's also important to clean windowsills and window frames with a damp cloth weekly. Window treatments -- blinds, shutters and curtains -- should be cleaned on a regular basis.