Get Your Winston-Salem Home Allergy Free this Spring

Many people find spring to be the prettiest and most pleasant season of the year, except for one small issue – allergies. For people who suffer from allergies to pollen, dust, mildew, mold and other common allergens, spring can be a miserable season health-wise.

In this post, learn key strategies to prepare your home to repel the common allergens of the spring season. By taking proactive action now, you can enjoy better health this spring.

Know When Spring is Coming

Your spring season may come at a different time than it did last year or as it will in another part of the country. So you want to stay on top of weather forecasts and do your best to know in advance when the weather will make that distinct turn towards spring in your local geographic area.

In general, spring can occur anytime during February or later, although in most places spring shows up in March, with the “official” first day of spring being March 20th, 2016.

Schedule a Doctor Visit Pre-Spring

If you have had allergy issues in past years, you don’t want to wait until those first telltale signs begin to wake you up at night or interrupt your work meetings with sneezing fits. Rather, schedule an appointment with your doctor or allergist in advance so you can renew any helpful prescriptions and have an overall health check-up.

This way, even if allergies do get to you, you will be ready to ease the symptoms as you allergen-proof your Winston-Salem home space. And if you are not sure what allergens you are most sensitive to, your medical specialist can do allergy testing to prepare in advance to give you the best treatments.

Change Your Air Filters

Even if you are still running the heat, you want to be sure you are changing to fresh air filters as per manufacturer instructions or more often as needed (for most homes, this is about once each month).

Your air filter’s primary job is to filter out pollen, toxins, pet dander, mildew, dust mites and other common known allergens before they get into the circulation of your home’s indoor air system. So just by changing your air filter you greatly reduce your chances of your Winston-Salem home’s contributing to your allergy problems.

If applicable, you may also want to consider changing the type of air filter you use to a higher grade that filters out allergens more efficiently.

Schedule an Air Quality Assessment

Your HVAC technician can quickly assess the quality of your Winston-Salem home’s indoor air and determine if you need HVAC maintenance, air duct cleaning, de-humidification or other services that can reduce the toxicity in your indoor air.

By scheduling a service call in the weeks before spring officially begins, you can get a jump on pollen and toxins before they can get into your indoor air supply.

Consider Adding a HEPA Air Filter

Many allergy sufferers use HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter systems because they provide a higher level of control over the quality of indoor air. In addition to full HEPA-rated HVAC systems, you can select smaller portable units that you can install in your bedroom, bathroom and workspace to help keep your indoor air cleaner.

You can also use HEPA-grade filters in your vacuum cleaner. By using HEPA graded filters, each time you vacuum you will be extracting pollen and toxins from your home’s carpets.

Don’t Add to the Air Quality Problem

Every time you come home, you risk bringing allergens in with you. Pollen and dust mites in particular can cling to your clothing, skin and hair and enter your indoor air, making your HVAC system work harder to keep the air clean.

By leaving your shoes at the door, changing clothes when you arrive home (and putting your old clothes directly into the wash hamper), taking a bath or shower before retiring for the night and always using your dryer (instead of outside air) to dry clothes after a wash cycle, you can keep the amount of pollen in your home to a manageable level that your air filters can handle.

You can also consider replacing heavy draperies with blinds, which are easier to clean and less likely to retain allergens or attract dust mites.

Do a Thorough Mildew & Mold Check

One common allergen that is particularly easy to forget about is mildew and mold. Mildew and mold can form anywhere in your home where damp or wet conditions are permitted to persist.

This is why it is so important to have your HVAC company check for the presence of mold and mildew before the warmer months of spring kick in. There are many things that can be done to prevent mold and mildew from forming and spreading, including installing a de-humidifier, sealing leaks and cracks, improving ventilation and doing regular inspections to ensure your home is mildew and mold-free.

Add Allergy Barriers to Bedding

You should wash your bedding regularly, but what about your pillows and mattresses? For these, you should schedule regular cleanings (ask your HVAC company about these services) and then encase your pillows and mattresses, including box springs, in allergy-proof sheaths. These sheaths are generally waterproof as well as impervious to dust mites, pollen, pet dander and other known allergy-aggravators.

As well, if you can do your best to keep pets out of your bedroom and bathroom area and replace indoor carpeting with tile or hardwoods (or at least have your rugs steam cleaned) you can raise the air cleanliness factor in your bedroom and breathe easier at night.

By taking time at least a few weeks before spring’s arrival to prepare your home against spring allergens, you can look forward to better health, more energy, higher productivity and more enjoyment of the beauty of the spring season.

If you’re having allergy problems in your Winston-Salem, NC home, call Blaze Air at (336) 560-3326.