10 Ways You Can Reduce Allergens in Your Home

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that allergies are the worst. From scratchy throats and itchy eyes to weeping noses and congested heads, allergies really do show us who’s boss. Instead of suffering through another allergy season armed with cold compresses and pills, try reducing allergens in your home using these methods.

If your allergies are a constant problem and you’ve got carpet — an allergy sufferer’s nightmare — then it’s time to invest in a good vacuum. One of the major ways to get rid of the allergens that’ve passed through your air filters into your house is sucking them up. Make sure you get a vacuum with a HEPA filter and use it regularly.

Now, we don’t think you should strip outside of your house to make sure you’re not bringing anything from the outside in. Instead, it’s a good policy to come home after work or errands and change out of the clothes you were wearing into something fresh. This will keep your furniture from getting contaminated with any outdoor allergens (curse you, pollen) that might have traveled in on your clothes or shoes.

Allergens aren’t only on things, but they’re floating around in the air, too. Stop them from inflaming your nose, throat, and eyes by setting up an air purifier. You can use an air purifier even if you’ve got an HVAC system.

Air purifiers are machines that supplement the filters in your vents to further clear the air of any allergens. Depending on their size, they can cover just about any square footage, and might make a real difference in your home.

While an air purifier can do a great job of supplementing your central system, don’t let having one be an excuse for not doing your yearly maintenance. Decrease allergens in the air by keeping clean filters in your system. Grab a chair or ladder and slide open your vents. If the filter is covered in dust, it’s time to replace it. And while you’re at the store, you might as well look for high-quality allergen-reducing filters to catch even more dust and dander. 

This is a safe space, and we’re admitting that we don’t always wash our bedding every two weeks, as it’s recommended. Not only is frequently washing your bedding way better for your skin health (bye-bye bed acne), but it could also cut down on the allergens in your house.

You, your pets, and your family deposit allergens onto your blankets every time you lay down. Keep those allergens from building up by establishing a good wash routine.

If you wake up every morning with a dry mouth and one eyeball feeling like it’s going to pop out of your skull, you might want to look deeper than your bedsheets. Pillows and covers can pack in a lot of dander, but you’d be surprised at just how much passes through the fine weave and into your mattress.

Get rid of dust mites and dander by putting on a mattress cover under your fitted sheet. You can find these cotton, hypoallergenic covers everywhere online.

If you’ve got tile or showers with tiny crevasses, it can be a losing battle to keep mold out. What you might not realize is that mold spores are an allergen and, in the worst-case scenario, can cause seizures and even worse conditions.

Each week, deep clean your bathroom and get rid of any lingering mold using a diluted bleach solution. Once they’re gone, you can stick to your regular cleaning products to keep them away.

Our furry family members don’t mean to be such allergen producers, but they can’t help it. Whether it’s from their own fur and oils or from outside pollen and dander, pets spread allergens like they’re planting seeds.

One way to cut down on the allergens is to take all the things they use and wash them every week or so. This includes toys, bedding, and clothing. Even if you can’t throw it in the wash, some soap and water and a microfiber cloth will work wonders in reducing some of the pet allergens in your house.

There’s not much you can do with pet dander after you’ve already got a pet. But if you’re thinking about bringing a new family member home, consider looking for hypoallergenic pets. For instance, you might stick with dogs who don’t shed and need to be groomed instead. That way you don’t have to worry about pet hair constantly irritating your allergies.

Anti-allergen sprays can be a lifeline to people struggling with allergies, especially if they’re the only one in the family dealing with them. They’re cost-effective and can be sprayed on any fiber in your house, which makes it such a versatile product. Many of these sprays use tannic acid to prevent you from reacting to allergens on a chemical level.

There are dozens of brand name anti-allergen sprays on the market, but here are some to pick from:

• ADMS Anti-Allergen Spray
• AAC Allergen Spray
• Pledge Everyday Clean Multi-Surface Dust & Allergen Spray
• Purefy Anti-Allergen Spray

If you’ve struggled with allergies in the past, then you know how desperate they can make you. Once you’ve been afflicted with the itchy, runny, watery, and inflamed mess, you’ll do anything to make it even a fraction of a percent better. Thankfully, the best ways to reduce allergens in your home are some of the easiest chores you’ll do all day.