Five top tips for maintaining a healthy environment within your property
When you are younger and picture yourself having a family, your own house and a stable career, it is unusual to consider the pitfalls of such a life. In particular, being a homeowner comes with many potential problems, causing sleepless nights and possibly an outpouring of your finances. Whether you have children or not, maintaining a healthy environment within your property is essential. Continue reading for five top tips to help you.
- Keep your home dry
Have you ever been to look round a property that on paper looked like ‘the one’, but when you arrived, you realized the place was ruined by damp? That is an instant ‘game over’ moment as, unfortunately, once damp gets into the walls and ceilings of your property, it can be almost impossible and also somewhat costly to get rid of it. Damp is often caused by excess moisture in the air with no escape route. Opening windows on a daily basis can help. Additionally, employing the use of a dehumidifier can also help. Although it might be a large financial outlay, to begin with, the difference they can make is astounding.
Additionally, try to utilize the great outdoors to dry your clothing whenever possible rather than relying on using your indoor heating. The extra moisture in the air can be problematic. Furthermore, ensure that you always have a working extractor fan in both the kitchen and bathroom (you may need two, depending on the size of the room) to allow the steamy air to be removed quickly and efficiently.
- Keep your home clean
Dust and dirt can cause health problems for the whole family. Dust, in particular, can be problematic for asthma and allergy sufferers. Sometimes, you can’t even see the cause of the problem. Ensuring you have an established cleaning routine, which involves pulling out furniture and vacuuming or mopping behind it, is essential.
In fact, to avoid dust problems, do not be tempted to purchase fabric-based items of furniture, such as bed frames and sofas as it is challenging to remove the dust from them. Furthermore, avoid carpet on the floors, opting for laminate or real wood flooring instead. This is much easier to keep clean and free from potential allergens. As above in the damp section, mold can grow easily in a moist environment, and this can lead to serious health conditions. Keeping the mold-prone areas as clean as possible will help to avoid this.
- Keep your home pest-free
Most of us have found ourselves in a situation where we had no idea that our property had been infested with some sort of household pest. Once that has happened, it can be challenging to get rid of them. Employing home pest control services is a great way to make your home safe and free from worry once again. However, there are also preventative measures which you can employ. For example, removing any potential sources of food and water can be helpful. Storing foods, such as flour, rice and lentils, in tightly sealed containers is a must. Additionally, sealing off any entrances which pests could use to scurry their way into your property is advisable. Not only can pests cause significant damage to your home, they also can be bad for your health, too.
- Keep your home safe
If you have babies or young children, you will likely know how important it is to ensure you prevent easy access to dangers. Areas such as the staircase and the kitchen are hazardous for young children. The use of stair gates makes blocking off these spaces easy. However, it is imperative to ensure you know when your children have got to grips with opening them. They tend to be very sneaky once they have learned how. Keeping medicines and cleaning products, such as bleach, out of children’s reach is an obvious point, but also ensure that you do not provide them with a clear route to get to them. For example, a stool in a bathroom can be useful for reaching the sink, but if it also allows them to access the medicine cabinet, its presence needs rethinking.
Whether you have children or not, fitting smoke alarms around the property will help alert all residents in the event of a fire. Additionally, carbon monoxide detectors are advisable as these fumes are an invisible killer. On top of these important safety devices, it would be worthwhile repairing any broken items within your home to prevent potential injury.
- Keep your home well-ventilated
We touched upon this area briefly in the damp section, but it deserves its own section, too. Think back to being younger and your mum coming into your room, throwing open the curtains and opening the windows. Although the hit of the cold, fresh air might have been unwelcome at the time, it certainly helped you to feel invigorated and made the room feel fresher and cleaner. Not having a well-ventilated home means that the germs and bacteria in the air have no escape, so they remain in your home environment.
In fact, whether you open your windows or not, just drawing back the curtains can have a significant positive effect. Ultra-violet (UV) rays are proven to kill bacteria, thus making your home healthier. Many windows and doors have a ventilation slat. Unfortunately, many people opt to close these, thus defeating the point of them. Try to keep them open regularly to ensure some sort of air flow. Investing in a heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is another option, although a costly one. These filters help to regulate the air and keep it germ-free. Another great way to help have a healthy home is to invest in some house plants. They are a natural and effective method of getting rid of toxins from the air. Additionally, they usually don’t cost a huge amount and they can be aesthetically pleasing. We love spider plants, snake plants and English ivy for both their toxin-removing qualities and their attractiveness.
