How to Clean to Reduce Indoor Allergies

Dealing with indoor allergies can be a real challenge, especially when they affect your family. I’ve had allergies my whole life, and now my son struggles with them too. Over the years, I’ve picked up some cleaning tips for allergy sufferers that have made a world of difference in keeping us comfortable.

When it comes to allergy-proofing your home, it often means making choices that prioritize effectiveness over convenience. While it’s nice to have both, some quick and easy cleaning solutions might not be doing a thorough job of eliminating allergy triggers.

Choosing the Right Cleaning Tools to Reduce Allergens

I used to opt for cleaning products that promised convenience but soon realized that many of them either left behind a mess or introduced irritating fumes. Here are some changes I made that had a significant impact:

Say Goodbye to Swiffers

Swiffer products, while convenient, seemed to move dirt around rather than truly cleaning. The best way to dust hard surfaces is with damp microfiber cloths, rinsed often. Then use a HEPA-filter vacuum on soft surfaces, including sofas and chairs.

Avoid Adding Irritating Fumes

Standard household cleaning products can worsen allergies. Aerosols and chlorine bleach are known irritants. But, since most products don’t list what’s in them, I’ve switched to making homemade natural cleaning products, which have made a world of difference.

Create an Allergy-Friendly Bedroom

Since we spend a significant portion of our lives in our bedrooms, it’s vital to keep them as allergen-free as possible. We clean our bedrooms each week, but there’s more to it than that.

Wash Bedding Often

Bedding collects dust mites, pet dander, and other irritants. Wash your sheets weekly, your comforters or duvet covers monthly, and your pillows every three months. Then twice a year, deep-clean your mattress.

Choose Washable Window Treatments

Blinds seem convenient until you’ve got to dust them. Unless you’re taking them down to wash, blinds collect dust—especially in the header.

When I replaced ours with washable curtains that I launder every three months, it was an enormous relief. In between washings, I vacuum them with a dust brush.

Practice Pet Hygiene

Allergies or no allergies, my dog sleeps in my room. She gets a monthly bath and a weekly wipe down with a dry shampoo for dogs. But to keep us both comfortable on a nightly basis, I give her a quick brush outside so the stray fur and pet dander don’t join us in bed.

And Your Hygiene, Too.

Pollen, dust, and even your own dander collect on your body throughout the day. When those land in your bed, they make you sneeze and also attract dust mites.

Switching to night-time showers helped my son’s allergies immensely. For me it’s a bath, then I brush my hair thoroughly.

Tackling Allergens in the Bathroom

Bathrooms can be a source of mold and mildew, which can worsen allergies. Besides routine cleaning, it’s crucial to keep moisture in check.

Keep Towels Clean

Damp bath towels on the floor develop mold and mildew quickly. Make sure they get hung up, and change to fresh ones every other day. For hand towels, it’s a daily thing.

Run the Fan

During showers, use the exhaust fan or a standalone fan to reduce moisture that can lead to bathroom mold and mildew. Cut down on bathroom clutter, too: it traps moisture that not even your fan will extract.

Rip Up the Carpet

Carpets in bathrooms can collect mold and mildew down in the padding and even in the subfloor where you can’t see it.

When we pulled up the carpet in our bathroom the previous homeowners had installed, I discovered not only mold but places where the floor was literally rotting.

Use Washable Rugs

With hard floors in the bathroom, your feet still want a clean, dry place to stand. Make sure that any bath mat or rug you choose is washable and can handle hot water to kill mold and mildew spores.

Keep Your Air Clean

If you’ve got allergies, you already know to ban smoke and avoid burning candles or anything else that adds particles to the air. Here are some more cleaning tips that help our allergies.

Maintain Proper Humidity

Dust mites and mold thrive in warm, humid air. Aim for a temperature range of 68°F to 72°F with a humidity level of 50-60%. Use a dehumidifier in summer and a humidifier in winter to achieve these conditions.

Change HVAC Filters Regularly

Changing furnace and AC filters every three months might work for some, but when you’ve got allergies it’s best to change them monthly. Keeping the floor vents and ducts clean is crucial, too.

Ban Outdoor Shoes

Shoes worn outside will track in pollen, grass and other allergens, so get your family on board with wearing house-only pairs. Taking them off at the door and switching to indoor shoes seriously reduces how much dust you’ll find floating around.

Most of all, cleaning for allergies means cleaning consistently. Even following a simplified weekly schedule is better than none at all.