7 Healthy Home Habits You Should be Practising

How to Create a Healthier Home

A lack of natural air flow is the reason many homes are susceptible to mould and bacteria growth. Open up your windows as much as possible during the summer months, particularly in humid areas like your bathroom and laundry. If it’s cold outside, some open window time is still beneficial – just open them for about five minutes or so to let some new air in.

When you are doing a clean, work from the top down. Doing the opposite means that any dust you wipe off surfaces will land on your freshly cleaned floor.

Leaving shoes on in the house brings outside debris and dirt into your living spaces, damaging carpets, scratching floors and creating an opportunity for germs to be brought indoors. Invest in a good quality doormat (with bristles) so that at least some dirt can be stopped in its tracks.

We also recommend wearing socks around the house if you want to get really serious about caring for your carpet. Bare feet aren’t the best option for your carpet as our feet shed body oils and dead skin into carpet fibres, attracting bacteria and dirt to those oils.

Go out and get yourself an indoor plant or two to purify your indoor air. Certain plants can absorb allergens and remove toxins from the air. They can also freshen up the look of your rooms too. We recommend Spider Plants, Aloe Vera or Areca Palms for bigger areas.

Thousands of dust-mites and their excrement could be calling your mattress home, potentially causing health problems. Dust-mite droppings contain allergens that enter our lungs and respiratory system and can create an allergic reaction that presents as cold-like symptoms. Yep, your mattress could be the cause of that runny nose or pesky cough you can’t seem to shake.

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Put your mattress in the sun for about an hour at least once a month – UV light is the best natural treatment for dust mites. A bit chilly outside? Just make sure you open up your windows when you can to let natural sunlight into the bedroom. A professional mattress clean is also a great way to ensure that your mattress is the freshest – and healthiest – it can be.

Try to keep pets outside as much as possible. They bring in dander, dirt and God knows what else inside. If they’re inside pets, keep them neatly groomed, vacuum often and try to have blankets or their own furniture for them to use. Pet urine can also be problematic for our health. The ammonia present in your pet’s urine (that becomes crystalized after the liquid evaporates) can be a lung irritant, or potentially cause eye or skin irritations. Make sure Buster is trained to go potty outside, or that you tackle the stain as soon as you can after it occurs.

I have, and although clunky at first, have some great systems in place for keeping the house clean as naturally as possible. Sure, commercial cleaners occasionally play a supporting role but for the most part, my army of natural cleaning products are doing a great job. My tip? Invest in a few litres of white vinegar, keep lemons and bi-carb soda always on hand and buy some glass spray bottles and microfiber cloths to get started. Subscribe to our blog too for some brilliant ideas to tackle any job around the home naturally. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing I’m keeping the house clean with non-toxic products!