10 Ways to Say Goodbye to Allergens

Dust mites, which live in carpets, furniture and upholstery, feast on allergens in carpets, draperies, blankets, furniture, toys, mattresses, animals, people's skin, hair, food, mold and fungus. Without these mites, we might be inhaling a lot more of these allergens. But as in life, what goes in must come out. We are actually inhaling the dust mites' feces and body parts along with everything they are eating. Having high-level exposure to dust mites' allergens in childhood can lead to the development of asthma in later life.

An allergy is actually the body's own immune system in fighting off a foreign invader. We don't have to be a victim of the war going on in our body. With a dose inhaler for asthma medication, we can relieve asthma in just 10 seconds and by putting on a mouth and nose mask, we can dramatically reduce our exposure to pollen and molds when mowing the lawn.

Allergic irritants can be floating around you and colonizing all kinds of things in your home. You can take antihistamines but the side effects such as drowsiness or wakefulness can cloud you. Take the following simple steps and spend more time enjoying in your home and less time sneezing and running for the tissues.

Diagnose yourself
Allergies have many symptoms similar with the common colds and flu. How can you tell the difference? Colds and flu normally accompanied by a fever, sore throat, thick nasal discharge and aches. True allergies normally involves a lots of sneezes, a thin watery discharge, itchy eyes, loss of smell and sinus headaches. A cold or flu attack normally last no longer than a week while allergy attacks don't end until the source such as pets or pollen are gone.

Switch on the climate control in air conditioner. Optimum temperature setting should be in the region of 70 ^oF during the day and 65^oF at night while optimum humidity is 40 to 50 percent.

Turn off the fan
The greater the air disturbance, the higher the chance of allergens circulating in your home. So if you are down with allergens, switch off the fan.

Use the card test for your vacuum cleaner
Unless you have a dust free vacuum cleaner, vacuuming your carpet is the worst thing to do to remove dust. Instead of trapping the dust particles, most vacuum cleaners suck them up and spit into the surrounding air, where they can float around the house and get breathe into your nose. To test a vacuum cleaner for its dust ability to spread, get a 4 " x 6 " card and cover it with double-sided tape. Tape the card over the vacuum cleaner exhaust grille partially with the sticky side facing the appliance. Power on the vacuum cleaner and do the normal vacuuming on your carpet for a minute or two. If you notice the card become dirty, then you have got a dust spreader.

Spray tannic acid on your carpet
Tannic acid is the ingredients found in tea and coffee. It is also a common ingredients in astringents. It can chemically alter dust, pollen and dust mite antigens so that they don't cause allergic reactions. Allersearch ADS Spray is one such product containing tannic acid.

Remove allergens from bedroom
It is wise to start with our bedroom in having a dust free environment as we generally spend over one third of our lives there. Having a water bed is enjoyable for loving couple but for dust mites, which have nowhere to hide or cling, they will attack the sleepers there. Alway wipe your walls including closet walls with a damp cloth to create a dust free environment. Use synthetic pillows and comforters. Hair and feathers have no allergic potential by themselves. However,they are always contaminated by animal dander. Hence, wash everything in your bedroom or contain them in nonallergic casing. This applies to curtains, walls, windows shades, blankets and bedspreads.

Wash your bedding and linens in hot water as dust mites won't drown in the washer. Minimize the things that you put in the bedroom and don't store items under the bed. Use shades instead of venetian blinds and select plastic, vinyl or synthetics furniture. Keep your closet door shut when not in used.

Don't use carpet if not necessary
Hardwood and linoleum floors prevent dust mites and fungus from staying and clear your house from dust accumulation. Removing carpets, especially from the basement and first floor can reduce allergic reactions greatly.

Dust your furniture with oil instead of feathers
Feather dusters often contain dander. Dusting with furniture oil or polish not only saves time but also your nose.

Use roach motel
Roach motels are very effective in trapping and killing insects without the allergic and toxic effects of insecticides. The traps are fast and easy to use, and the bugs don't crawling around your house until they die.

Wipe mold out of its hiding places
Periodically take a bucket of water mixed with chlorine bleach to clean the bathrooms,basements, leaky windows, water vaporizers and humidifiers. Throw out old moldy books.Clean books should be kept in a glass enclosed bookshelf. Another microbe hot areas that you should not miss is the drip pan under the frost free refrigerator. Put a chlorine tablet in the pan to keep the mold to a minimum.

Make sure the venting system in the kitchen is clean and free from dampness. Keep the exhaust fan on during cooking. You should replace filters in heaters and furnaces often.

Chlorinate your air conditioner
Drop a fresh chlorine tablet into the area where the water drains out from your windows air conditioner. Stagnant water is a breeding ground for mold and bacteria that can contaminate the whole unit. If there is no water dripping out from your air conditioner drip pipe, it may be an indication of something is faulty.

Wash your hair with shampoo
Head and Shoulders or any good anti dandruff shampoo control flaking when used on your hair. People with dandruff have almost four times as many dust mites in their home compared to those without similar condition.

Air conditioning your car
If you cannot afford to allergy proof your car, roll down the windows,turn on the air conditioner and let it run for 15 minutes and of course you should be out of the car during this time.Your drive thereafter will be allergy free.