3 ways to improve the air you breathe in your home

 

Indoor air quality: 3 ways to improve the air you breathe

A father and young daughter play on the floor of a bedroom. An Atmosphere Mini air purifier is visible in the corner.

Today, many of us are spending more time at home. Remote work, online school, virtual clubs — more of our lives are happening where we live, surrounded by the people we love.

Basements have become gyms. That “extra bedroom” is now a playroom. Large closets are now small offices. These spaces fill a need in our lives, helping us feel safe amid the everchanging landscape.

But they can also be home to airborne contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that the air inside our homes can actually be more contaminated by odors, allergens and chemicals than the air outside—as much as 5 times higher.

Not something you want in a space where your family’s health and safety should be top priority. Here are some strategies to improve your indoor air.

Mom and son color at the kitchen table while dad mops the floor in the background.

Clean regularly to improve indoor air

Allergens and other irritants or contaminants can enter your home every time the door opens. Make sure to regularly vacuum carpets, upholstered furniture, drapes and other furnishings using a high-efficiency filter vacuum.

Same with floors and other surfaces: Sweep and mop frequently and have a regular schedule for dusting and washing bedding to reduce dust and mites.

A woman uses a laptop while sitting on the couch. There is a house plant on one side of the couch and an Atmosphere Sky air purifier on the other side.

Control humidity to improve indoor air

When it comes to humidity, which can be controlled with a dehumidifier or air conditioner, aim for between 30-50 percent. Removing moisture is key to inhibiting mold and mildew growth.

Make sure to repair any leaky faucets or dripping pipes. And, while research shows that indoor plants can act as living air purifiers by absorbing pollutants, make sure not to overwater them, as that will contribute to humidity or other allergens.

Improve ventilation by using exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens and properly vent damp air from crawlspaces and attics. Also, make sure your dryer is vented outside.

A woman sits at a desk in her home with her dog nearby. An Atmosphere Mini air purifier is visible nearby.

Use an air purifier to improve indoor air

Many air contaminants are tiny and invisible to the human eye, so even after cleaning and controlling the humidity, there still will be some to deal with. Consider using an air filtration system. A quality system can help filter these contaminants quickly and effectively from the air in the room.

Darius Machado, manager of product development for air treatment at Amway, said the most effective systems use a filter that meets the U.S. government standards for HEPA, or High Efficiency Particulate Air.

“That means they remove 99.97 percent of all particles greater than 0.3 micrometer from the air that passes through them,” he said. (For reference, a human hair can be about 50 microns!)

A person checks the air quality in her room using the app for the Atmosphere Mini air purifier.

The Atmosphere Sky™ Air Treatment System and its smaller sibling the Atmosphere Mini™ from Amway exceed those standards.

The advanced particle filter on the Atmosphere units features a unique weave of fiberglass threads that captures 99.99% of particles as small as .0024 microns from air passing through it. That’s 125 times smaller than the particles captured by standard HEPA filters.

The Atmosphere Sky cleans air across 465 square feet (43 square meters) while the Mini covers 200 square feet (18.5 square meters). The various sizes of the units allow you to treat air in your family room as well as a bedroom, home office or wherever you’re spending your time. And they can both be controlled through an app on your smartphone.

Between the three strategies, you will definitely feel better about the air you’re breathing. Want to learn more about the Atmosphere Sky and Mini Air Treatment Systems? Visit Amway™. And for more tips on healthy living, check out additional blogs here.

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