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Ben:

It may look gorgeous, but carpeted floors are high-maintenance and magnets for dust mites. They should be vacuumed daily, but even that may not be enough for people with severe allergies. If you're attached to your carpet, consider investing in a vacuum cleaner with a double-layered microfilter bag or a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which prevents dust from being re-introduced into the air. Otherwise, stick to hardwood, vinyl, linoleum or tile flooring.

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Finding dust in your home is no fun, and it often seems that no matter how much you clean, it keeps coming back.

Dust is made up of all kinds of particles including plant pollen, dead skin cells, and fibers from clothing and paper. When it accumulates, it's annoying and can wreak havoc on asthma and allergy sufferers. To make matters worse, with dust come dust mites. Grossed out yet?

While it's impossible to completely rid your home of dust, here are some easy tips for keeping it at bay.

1. Change your bedding once a week. Dust mites love to dwell in sheets, pillows and mattresses. Encasing your mattress and box spring in an allergen-proof cover, in conjunction with washing your bedding once a week, should be enough to keep bug-a-boos at bay.

2. Keep tidy closets. Garments stored in closets shed lots of fiber. So unless you want a blast of dust confetti each time you open the closet door, it's best to store things in garment bags, plastic containers and boxes.

3. Remove clutter from floors. Don't ignore piles of clothing, toys, magazines, books or anything else on the floor. Cleaning around them won't take care of the dust that has settled in or around them.

4. Say "no" to carpeting. It may look gorgeous, but carpeted floors are high-maintenance and magnets for dust mites. They should be vacuumed daily, but even that may not be enough for people with severe allergies. If you're attached to your carpet, consider investing in a vacuum cleaner with a double-layered microfilter bag or a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which prevents dust from being re-introduced into the air. Otherwise, stick to hardwood, vinyl, linoleum or tile flooring.

5. Take it outside. Dust from area rugs and pillows should be beaten outdoors.

6. Duster do's and don'ts. Feather dusters only aggravate existing dust and cause it to settle elsewhere around your home. Instead, use a damp cloth or moist towelette to wipe down surfaces.

7. Clean from top to bottom. Clean the highest surfaces first and work your way down, so you capture any dust you missed.

8. Air purifiers. If you have severe allergies or asthma symptoms, an air purifier can be very beneficial - but that doesn't mean you can ditch the duster! While they filter dust particles, they don't take care of dust mites (since they're not airborne). Also, for an air purifier to be effective, you'll need one for each room.

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8 Easy Ways to Eliminate Dust In Your Home

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Finding dust in your home is no fun, and it often seems that no matter how much you clean, it keeps coming back. Dust is made up of all kinds of particles including plant pollen, dead skin cells, and fibers from clothing and paper.

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Ben:

We introduce chemicals into our home nearly every time we bring manmade items into it. VOCs are present in paints, stains, plastics, furnishings, upholstery, carpets, synthetic building materials and cleaning products, to name just a few! Look for products that advertise low or no VOCs to help reduce the off-gassing that occurs when you bring new items into your home.

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Kaylen:

A good air filter will capture large particles like household dust, lint, dust mites, pollen and pet dander, small particles like bacteria and mold spores, as well as smoke, smog and microscopic allergens. They can also filter out particles that can carry viruses and odors. Inspect these filters every month or two and replace them if they look full.

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Kaylen:

plants are very effective air purifiers. Many houseplants can absorb harmful chemicals, so by adding a few of these to your home you have your very own natural air purifier.

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Ben:

Opening a Window is a great way to naturally filter out particles and dust from your home. Fresh air push out the old, stale air. open it up whenever you can to give your home’s air a good cleaning.

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Houseplants like this dracaena help keep the air in your home clean by filtering out toxins.
Indoor air pollution is one of modern society's deadliest silent killers. Responsible for premature deaths from stroke, ischemic heart disease, COPD, acute lower respiratory infections in children and lung cancer, indoor air pollution was linked to 4.3 million deaths in households cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves in 2012, according to the World Health Organization.

While few of us still use these type of unfiltered cooking methods in our homes today, the risks of poor indoor air quality are real, especially as more and more chemicals, in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are introduced into our homes through furniture, cleaning products, paints, building materials and other manufactured products. VOCs are linked to eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination and nausea, and damage to the liver, kidney and the central nervous system. Some are known to cause cancer in humans. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates concentrations of VOCs are generally two to five times higher indoors (and sometimes up to 10 times) than outdoors.

So, what can you do about it? Other than remove offending items, which can be difficult and in some cases impossible to do, there are some simple steps you can take to help make the air quality in your home cleaner. Here are five things you can do to help combat indoor air pollution:

Change Your Air Filters

Most homes have some type of HVAC system (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and these actually do a lot of the work for you, typically filtering 100% of the air in your home twice each hour (while running). A good air filter will capture large particles like household dust, lint, dust mites, pollen and pet dander, small particles like bacteria and mold spores, as well as smoke, smog and microscopic allergens. They can also filter out particles that can carry viruses and odors. Most manufacturers recommend you change your filters every three months. There is certainly no harm in doing it more often, though, and if you have a full household-children, pets, lots of people coming in and out-inspect the filters every month or two and replace them if they look full.

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5 Ways to Clean the Air in Your House - Green Homes - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

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Indoor air pollution is one of modern society's deadliest silent killers. Removing offending items can be difficult and in some cases impossible to do, but there are some simple steps you can take to help make the air quality in your home cleaner. Here are five things you can do to help combat indoor air pollution.

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BEN IS NOT WELCOME