Everybody Has a Concrete Floor

The first time I ever heard about someone staining the floors in their home was about 15 years ago. We had a friend that didn’t like the carpeting but could not afford to replace it with tile or wood.

Susie’s solution was to rip out the carpet and stain her floors. Up until then, the only stained concrete floors I had seen were in warehouses and garages.

Fast forward to today and it is everywhere. I now see it in homes, restaurants, and stores. It’s easier to take care of and in most cases cheaper than tile or wood floors.

We have been telling our customers that carpeting is not a good thing to have it when you have allergies. No matter how clean it looks it still holds all sorts of allergens including pollen, dust, grass, and dust mites. I believe staining is a nice alternative that should be considered.

Anyway here are a couple of videos I ran across on Youtube while looking for more information. The first one just confirms what we already know. The second one is step-by-step instructions.

Video – Controlling Allergens With Concrete Floors

Video – DIY Concrete Staining: How to Stain Concrete Floors

Wishing you the best of health

Mike Krause
AllergyStore.Com
800 771-2246

Best Mask for Gardening and Outdoor Activities

gardeningSpring has sprung and summer is just around the corner.   Time to get outside and enjoy the warm temperatures and fresh air.  If you have allergies and like to be outside, it can be a challenge.  Don’t reach for another dose of antihistamine; stop allergies before they start. Reach for a pollen-protecting mask.  Reach for the Qmask.  We think it is by far the best mask for gardening and many other outdoor activities.

The Pollen Problem

Spring brings tree pollen and summer brings grass pollen.  If you are gardening outside, you are going to breathe pollen.

It is in the air and on the plants.  Depending on the wind speed, the best mask for gardening blocks pollenpollen doesn’t even need to originate in your yard for you to be exposed.  The wind is important to pollen dispersal. Plants depend on the wind.  The pollen you can breathe in your yard can come from plants miles away.   The minute you go outside you are exposed!

Reduce reactions to pollen by reducing your exposure.  This doesn’t mean you have to stay inside.  It does mean that before you go outside you should put on a mask that stops pollen.  Be sure to pick a mask that doesn’t let in pollen and doesn’t restrict your airflow.  That’s where the Qmask comes in.

What Makes QMask Best Mask for Gardening

Gardening is physical. Digging, pruning, carrying debris, watering, mulching, and more.  All of this physical effort is good exercise. When you exercise your muscles need oxygen.  The last thing you need is a mask that restricts your airflow and your oxygen.

qmask blocks pollen easy to put onBreathe easy with the Qmask.  The revolutionary material won’t clog and it won’t restrict your airflow.  Instead of trapping pollen and other debris, it blocks and repels them.

In a nutshell, pollen hits the mask and bounces off.  You breathe easy and you breathe pollen-free.

Wear glasses?  Not a problem with the Qmask. The flexible edges conform to the contours of your nose and cheeks easily and comfortably.  Your glasses or sunglasses will not fog up and the Qmask won’t compete with your glasses for valuable real estate behind your ear.

Instead of wide straps, the Qmask uses soft ear loops to keep your mask in place.  It won’t interfere with your hearing aids either!

That’s just the start.  Unlike cheap paper-style masks that you use once and throw away, the Qmask is reusable.  Just rinse to remove any pollen and let it drip dry.  Wear it over and over and over again.  Al season long you’ll agree that the Qmask is the best mask for gardening.

Be Cool

With all that exercise, you can work up a sweat.  Be cool with the qmask is best mask for gardening and other outdoor activitiesQmask. It won’t get hot no matter how strenuous your activity.   Mary-Margaret “says it is cool, easy to breathe, and totally prevents inhalation of pollen You can’t ask for more in a mask for gardening.”

Other Ways to Avoid Pollen

When you come inside, head to the bathroom and remove all your clothing.  Your hair and clothes are like pollen magnets.  When you come inside you bring all that pollen with you.  You don’t want to spread it around the house.

Shower and wash your hair to remove pollen and mold spores.  Deposit your pollen-filled clothes in the hamper. Do not keep the hamper in the bedroom!

During Spring and summer months, check your pollen forecasts at Pollen.com.  Don’t hang clothes out to dry these days.   Keep pets inside as well.  Their fur picks up pollen and it will hitch a ride inside.

So grab your Qmask and get gardening! Tell us what you’ve grown in the comments below

Til Next Time

Cheryl

Facts About Your Austin Air Cleaner To Impress Friends

Your friends know you take your health seriously.  You’re the first one to learn about new treatments in allergies, asthma, or just living a cleaner, greener life. You’re the first to debunk wild internet myths that multiply like dust mites. You’re the go-to person for trusted information.  Here are 4 things to lay on your friends about your Austin Air air cleaner that will seriously impress them.

Only Approved Air Cleaner for SoCal Disaster

map of aliso canyon gas leak

Years ago when the Aliso Canyon gas leak was puking 1,200,000 pounds of methane into the air every day, the governor declared a state of emergency.  Heck yeah, who wants to breathe that stuff?

SOCAL needed to protect the residents of Porter Ranch while they worked to repair the leak. Most air cleaners did not meet strict California or SOCAL’s stringent standards for producing clean air.

Austin Air was the air cleaner designated to protect the citizens of Porter Ranch and the surrounding area. Most of Austin Air’s production capacity was temporarily focused on units for Aliso Canyon

Air Cleaner proven to reduce ER visits in children with asthma

Clinically Proven to Reduce Asthma-Related ER Visits

Your Austin Air cleaner was part of a double-blind, placebo-controlled study to determine if air cleaners could reduce the number of asthma-related hospital visits in children that are exposed to secondhand smoke.

Kids exposed to secondhand smoke are 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma.  So, the American Academy of Pediatrics set out to determine if a high-quality HEPA filter would help these kids.

The kids were divided into two groups. One had two Austin Air cleaners with HEGA filters placed in the house and the other group had two Austin Air cleaners without filters placed in the house. No participants or clinicians knew which group had a filter or no filter.

The group that had filters in their machines had an over 18% reduction in the number of asthma-related visits to the hospital.

The filtering media in the Austin Air Allergy Machine filter was developed as a protection against chemical warfare. HEGA filters adsorb chemicals from the air and are used in radiological labs, nuclear power plants, medical research facilities, and other dangerous situations.  They are pretty handy around the house for taking chemicals like secondhand smoke out of the air too.

Powder Coated – Not Painted

Your air cleaner doesn’t get its rocking good looks from a slick paint job. Your air cleaner is powder-coated.

Paints require chemical solvents and toxic substances to keep them austin air makes air cleaner for indoor air qualityin suspension. Paints contain volatile organic compounds that off-gas and pollute the air.

Powder coating starts as a powder that applied using an electrostatic charge. It is then heat cured. The result is a very strong, durable finish. Powder-coated finishes don’t off-gas VOCs and don’t pollute the air.

FEMA Approved Post 9/11

After the attacks on the World Trade Center air quality was a big concern for area residents. Austin Air cleaners underwent rigorous testing at the US Army’s Aberdeen Test Facility to determine if they could improve the air quality for Manhattan residents. They were one of the few machines that were FEMA-approved and distributed in the area.

They were also provided to Anniston Alabama residents when powerful chemical weapons were decommissioned in their area.

Serious Problems Require a Serious Air Cleaner

Asthma, allergies, COPD, and other respiratory issues are serious health problems.  VOCs that are released into the air from household cleaners and furniture are serious problems.

Cut away of air cleanerSerious air problems require a serious air cleaner.  Austin Air might not make the hottest-looking machines, but they are serious workhorse air cleaners.  The technology behind the filter is solid, the motor is dependable, and they are built to last.

Long after the latest air cleaner trend has passed, your Austin Air Healthmate air cleaner will still be on the job. Now that’s impressive.

Til Next Time

Cheryl