Who doesn’t love a clean home? With regular dusting, disinfecting, and cleaning, you feel more comfortable in your living space and may reduce your risk of contracting certain bacterial viruses and illnesses. What many people fail to consider, however, is just how potentially harmful many cleaning products can be, especially when it comes to your indoor air quality. There are a few cleaning habits that could pose hidden dangers to your air quality and possibly your health.
Cleaning Your Windows
Smudges and streaks on your windows are annoying and unsightly. Unfortunately, many store-bought window cleaners contain an ingredient known as 2-butoxyethanol, a chemical that has been known to cause damage to your health. The good news? You can make your own “green” window cleaner using just three ingredients: vinegar, water, and soap. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has also compiled a list of the top Green Cleaning Products that avoid chemicals of concern.
Disinfecting Your Bathroom
Bathrooms are often havens for bacteria that can lead to viruses and illness due to their moisture content. Unfortunately, many bathroom cleaning products, such as toilet bowl cleaners and disinfectant sprays contain harmful chemicals like ammonia and chlorine, which are damaging when inhaled.
Cleaning Your Carpets
The carpet inside your home can hold as much as four times their weight in dirt. Particles that can get stuck inside carpet fibers include dirt, dust mites, pet hair, pet urine, mold, dead insects, and more. Dirty carpets can cause otherwise healthy people to develop allergies and other health problems, which is why it’s important to clean them regularly. However, it’s also important that cleaners used have as few chemical components as possible as they can linger in the air and lead to a toxic environment.
If you are interested in learning more about improving your home’s indoor air quality, contact A/C Designs today! As a full-service air conditioning and heating company, A/C Designs offers products and services such as air purifiers to help reduce air toxins, dehumidifiers for maintaining the proper level of humidity, and UV lighting to target biological pollutants.