Category: Travel

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Best Allergy Control Products for Travel

I’ve written about traveling with allergies many times, but with so many people traveling for the holiday season, I think it bears covering again.  So here is our list of the best allergy control products for travel.

If you have environmental allergies and will be staying in a hotel or someone’s home then there are really two products you must take with you.   Not only are they they best allergy control products for travel, but they will work for multiple environmental allergies.

The first is made by Alkaline Labs.  It is the ADMS Anti-Allergen Spray.  If you don’t want to travel with the whole quart bottle, pour some into a smaller spray bottle and put it in your suitcase.  When you arrive, spray the bed, carpets, draperies, etc with this spray.  When I stay in a hotel, I even spray the forced air system with this product.

It will work to neutralize the allergy-causing proteins from dust mites, pollens, cats, dogs, molds, cockroaches and all the other common environmental allergens.  All it takes is a light mist to neutralize those allergens on contact.  Because it works on so many allergens, I think it is the best allergy control product on the market if you are limited in what you can pack.

The second item you should pack is an inexpensive zippered pillow cover.  Take this with you and put on the pillow that you will use to place your head upon.  Unless you know you are staying at a hotel or house with a king size bed, take a queen size pillow cover with you.  Most hotels and homes use either queen or standard size pillows.

If you take a standard cover and are faced with queen pillows, you are in trouble. If you take a queen pillow cover and end up with standard size pillows, it will still work.  Since you aren’t going to be using this cover for the rest of your life, I recommend buying one of the less expensive fabrics, like the Bed Bug zippered cover.  That way if you forget to take it off your pillow before you leave, you won’t be heartbroken about the expense.

Traveling can be stressful, the holiday times can be stressful if you let them. Don’t stress over your allergies, just be prepared.

Til Next Time!
Cheryl
The Allergy Store
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Allergy Covers for Travel

Do you travel much for work or pleasure?  Do you worry about what’s lurking in that hotel bed?  If the answer to either question is “Yes” then you might want to invest in fitted dust mite-proof allergy covers for travel.  If you generally stay in a room with a king-size bed, get the king-size.  If you are a queen-size bed traveler, then the queen size is perfect for you.

These allergy covers for travel are made from a 50/50 blend of cotton and polyester fused to a waterproof, dust-mite-proof membrane.  Instead of the traditional zippered construction, these covers are made in the same fashion as a fitted sheet.  With elastic bands on the corners, these covers are easy to slip on and off the bed.  That is what makes them perfect for travel.

A fitted cover does not give you the same level of protection as a zippered cover, but it certainly gives you more protection than doing nothing.  They easily fold into a compact size so they don’t take up much room in the suitcase, another reason these are great allergy covers for travel.

If you are a frequent hotel guest, you might want to think about bringing your own cover.  That way no matter the “history” of the bed, you are protected.  And speaking of protection, women travelers need to be particularly alert.

Til next time!
Cheryl
The Allergy Store
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Mask for Travel

On my recent travels, I only saw one person wearing a mask for travel.

Of course, the bulk of my trip was by car and the people with whom I traveled weren’t afraid of any germs that I might be sharing.

However, two legs of my trip were by plane and I did see one person wearing a mask for travel in the Houston airport.  From the sneezing and coughing I heard on the plane from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale, everyone should have had on a mask.  I am still waiting for that first tingle of the nose that tells you a cold is on the way.

Back when there was the H1N1 scare, the SARS scare, and the bird flu scare before that it was not uncommon to see people wearing a mask when they travel.

We are often asked if the U2 Sports mask is a good mask for travel.  The answer is “yes” if you are concerned about pollens and large particles of pollution in your destination city/country.  When my mother visited China, she said the residents referred to the heavy pollution as “the mist”.  As in “The mist is heavy today”.  How quaint and ever so much more polite than “Holy crap the pollution is so bad I can’t see today”.  It isn’t going to protect you from small particles such as bacteria and viruses.

If your concern is either catching or spreading disease, then the best mask for travel is the N95 Alpha Mask.  We still refer to it as the “Bird Flu” mask.  Because it is designed for 0.1-micron particle efficiency it will protect you against those pesky pollens and pollution particles, but it will also protect you on the plane or train from airborne viruses and bacteria.

Because it is lightweight, it doesn’t get hot and because it is disposable, it is inexpensive.

The person I saw at the airport was wearing an N95 mask. I wanted to ask her if she bought it from The Allergy Store, but I also wanted to make it to the Customer Service counter ahead of all the other people who had just had their connecting flights ruined by Continental Airlines.  So I didn’t ask her.

I also didn’t get to the Customer Service counter ahead of all the other people.

I also didn’t make it out of Houston that day.

Til Next Time!