All pet lovers can’t get enough of their four-legged friends. But are you aware that your pets can also make changes to your home’s air quality? Pets are great but can contribute to dust, dander, and even invisible odors interfering with the air you breathe. The good news is there are plenty of ways to improve home air quality, even with pets.
Here, we share some easy and effective tips on how to improve home air quality with pets in the house. So, let’s start.
Why is It Important to Improve Home Air Quality With Pets?
Before we discuss the tips, let’s first understand why improving home air quality is essential when you have pets. Your furry friends can cause allergies, especially in households with small kids, through the shedding of dander and hair. The American Lung Association estimates that pet dander is one of the biggest sources of indoor air pollution.
Pets are not inherently a threat to human health and indoor air quality. However, they can increase indoor allergens if not adequately cleaned and managed. That is why it makes sense to improve home air quality for pets, as well as for health and comfort purposes.
How Can You Improve Home Air Quality With Pets?
Let’s look at some basic ways of maintaining clean air in your home despite the presence of pets.
Pet Bedding And Toys
Bedding and toys pets use contain as much hair and dander as possible. Always keep your pet’s preferred sleeping areas, beds, and toys clean. Change or wash bed linen at least once a week, and don’t forget to clean toys, collars, and leashes, too.
- Tip: To avoid skin irritation, wash your pet with baking soda or a gentle pet-friendly detergent. Cleaning will also prevent the accumulation of allergens on your pets and in the air you breathe.
Use Air Purifiers
When it comes to improving the home air quality with pets, an air purifier is a perfect tool. Choose a purifier with a HEPA filter, which is designed to capture pet dander, hair, and other invisible allergens released by pets.
- Where to Place It: Place the air purifier where your pet spends most of its time, such as the living room or bedroom.
- How It Works: The purifier draws in particles and filters them out, helping to remove allergens and keep the air fresh at all times.
An air purifier is a convenient and non-problematic way to help maintain much cleaner and healthier air in a house with pets.
Regular Vacuuming Helps Too
It is important to take time and vacuum to improve air quality in a pet-friendly home. Pets are a source of hair and dander that will fall and get lost in your carpets or couches. If not cleaned and vacuumed, the hair and dander can rise and keep floating in the air, affecting their quality.
- Vacuum Tips: Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters designed to catch pet hair are more effective. Vacuum carpets, floors, and upholstery at least once a week.
The Power Of Grooming
Grooming your pet can significantly improve home air quality by reducing shedding and dander. Brushing your pet frequently ensures you have a way of removing fur that would otherwise be circulating in the air.
- Brushing Tips: Bathe your pet outdoors if you can, and do not bring the fur inside the house. This is especially useful for long-haired breeds.
- Bathing Tips: Pet shampoos help keep your pet’s coat healthy and reduce shedding.
Make grooming a regular part of your pet’s routine. By doing so, you will notice a reduction in the allergens in the air and breathe easily.
Proper Ventilation Improves Home Air Quality
Natural ventilation plays an important role to improve home air quality. If you have pets, maintaining clean air is even more critical than you might think. Maintain good ventilation in your house, particularly the areas pets use.
- How to Ventilate: Let fresh air in. Open windows whenever the weather permits. Use exhaust fans in places like kitchens and bathrooms. Ceiling fans also help keep the air in circulation.
Good ventilation will help dilute the effect of pet hair and dander and minimize the incidence of diseases associated with them.
Take Care Of Pet Odors
Pets are known to cause smells that can easily permeate the air in the house. That being said, there are many solutions for pet odors besides cleaning the house daily. Natural odor-neutralizing products are one simple way to improve home air quality.
- Air Fresheners: Use pet-safe air fresheners because toxic chemicals in the air are no better than on furniture. Diffusing essential oils like lavender and eucalyptus will keep the air fragrant and fresh.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is another natural deodorizer. It can be used on carpets, furniture, or a pet’s bed to eliminate unwanted smells.
Taking care of pet odors will not only help enhance smell in your home but also result in good air quality.
HVAC System
It’s surprising, but your heating and cooling system impacts the air quality in your home. Always check and replace your HVAC filters. Dirty or clogged filters re-whirl pet hair, fur, dander, and debris back into your house.
- Filter Recommendations: Buy a high-efficiency filter like the MERV 11 or the MERV 13 because it can capture very small elements, such as pet dander.
- Professional Cleaning: You should clean the ducts at least once in a few years to get rid of hair and dander that might get stuck to the ducts and are blowing around the house.
By keeping your HVAC system in top condition, you’ll improve home air quality while keeping your home comfortable year-round.
Conclusion: Clean Air, Healthy Pets, And Happy You
Pet lovers are well aware that while pets are wonderful to have around the house, they do cause certain problems regarding the quality of the air. However, with a few simple steps, you can improve home air quality and make your living environment healthier for you and your furry companions.
Through regular cleaning, air purifiers, pet grooming, and proper ventilation, you will be in a good position to have a fresh home. Not only will your air be fresher, but the pets will come running to see you as well.
Are you still looking for a professional home inspection to ensure that the air you breathe is healthy? Call Elite Inspections now.
People sometimes forget to pay attention to air quality within their own homes. At Elite Inspections, you can expect us to provide excellent home inspection services to ensure that the air quality inside your home and your HVAC system are at their best.
You can contact us now to book an appointment and learn how to provide your family and pets with a healthier home environment.
