Let's Talk Allergies

Cleaning Hidden Mold and Bacteria

You wash your dishes, scrub the toilets and bathtub. Clean the sinks, mop the floors, and dust the furniture and wipe down bathroom and kitchen counters. You think your home is clean. But do you have hidden mold?

kill hidden mold and bacteria with vital oxide

But there are lots of places that can harbor germs, bacteria, and viruses that you might not think about cleaning. Because you don’t think about them, the germs can build up and mold can hide.

Hidden Mold in the Bathroom

When is the last time you cleaned your showerhead? Bacteria and molds can grow on the showerhead. You can inhale these hidden mold spores each time you turn on the water to take a shower. If you spash up a bit of nutrient-rich shampoo or body wash, you feed that hidden mold a little more.

Once a month or so, disinfect and clean your showerhead with a bit of Vital Oxide. This antimicrobial disinfectant spray is highly effective at low concentrations over a wide pH range. Plus, this disinfectant spray contains no VOC’s and is biodegradable.

While you have the bottle of Vital Oxide out, either spray it on the shower curtain or toss the shower curtain in the washing machine with this disinfectant to kill mold spores. Mold can hide in your shower curtain.

Hidden Bacteria in the Kitchen

Don’t forget the door handle, seal, and front of your refrigerator when you clean. Much of the food that comes into our homes is sporting microbial contamination. As we handle the food to put it away, we spread the microbes to the door handle and front of the fridge. Wipe these surfaces down on a regular basis with Vital Oxide Disinfectant to kill these molds, germs, and viruses. This disinfectant is safe to use in the kitchen. The active ingredient is chlorine dioxide and its primary by-product is chlorite, both break down into soddium chloride (which is simple salt…something that is probably already in your kitchen). You can even spray down the kitchen sink that you thought was clean!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

How to Measure for Dust Mite Covers

Today brought questions from two different customers about what size dust mite cover they should purchase. People frequently ask how to measure for dust mite covers.

The first gentleman had a mattress that was 10″ deep and wasn’t sure if he should buy the 9″ dust mite cover or the 12″ dust mite cover. He was trying to save a little money (aren’t we all) and didn’t want to buy the deeper cover if he didn’t need it.

I asked him to verify his measurements, measuring from the bottom of the mattress to the top side of the mattress. Turns out it was a little over 10″ deep.

He did the right thing by purchasing the 12″ deep dust mite cover. Your dust mite cover can have 2 to 3 extra inches in depth and still give a good fit. Just tuck the extra fabric under the corner and it will be held in place by your fitted sheet. You don’t want to buy a dust mite cover that is so tight it strains the seams and that you tear either the fabric, the seam, or the zipper in the dust mite cover just trying to get it on!

The second customer was a lady that wanted to know if she could measure for her dust mite cover by measuring the mattress and boxspring together. Aside from the fact that she would have needed a dust mite cover over 20″ inches deep….she would have never been able to get both a boxspring and a mattress in one dust mite cover.

We suggested that she use the SMS fabric on her boxsprings. It saved her some money and she will get all the protection she needs from a dust mite cover for her boxspring without the vinyl smell.

If you are ever unsure as to what size to purchase, just get out your measuring tape and then give us a call. We will be glad to help you measure for dust mite covers.

Cheryl Krause

AllergyStore.Com

Open Window Policy? Windows and Allergies

So I am riding in my car and a voice comes on the radio…..no, its not the lyrics to The Rolling Stone’s Satisfaction. It was someone giving really bad advice about windows and allergies.

Bad Advice on Windows and Allergies

This really happened this past Saturday. I was listening to a home improvement show on the radio. The topic was controlling moisture and humidity in the home. The “guest” was selling a device to increase air circulation (a really good thing) but she was making me crazy with the bad information she was giving in an attempt to sell her product.

She talked about opening your windows on clear, dry, windy days to increase circulation and air out your home. She stressed that this was important if you have allergies. WRONG! Windows and allergies only work well together when the windows are closed and keeping pollen out!

If you have allergies to pollen, the last thing you want to do is throw your windows open on clear, dry days. Especially windy days. That is when pollen counts are the highest.

Good Advice on Windows and Allergies

So what can you do?

If you really want to get the fresh air inside and keep the pollen out, you can use special air screens to repel the pollen. The Micro-Air Screens are perfect. They allow you to open the window 8″ (enough to get some air circulation) and the special screen media will repel the dust and pollen in the air. Because the screen repels the particles instead of filtering them, the media does not get clogged. You can read more at Air Screens for Pollen.

Just another thing to consider in your fight for clean indoor air!

Cheryl Krause
The Allergy Store