Four Tips For Controlling Pollen Inside Your Home

Outdoors, pollen is everywhere, so you may want to hide indoors during high-pollen times of the year. However, pollen can get inside your house, so if you don't take precautions, you'll be sniffling and sneezing indoors, too. Here are four tips for controlling pollen inside your home.

Close your windows

On refreshing spring days, you may want to open your windows and let the breeze blow through your home. That breeze will bring pollen with it, so you need to keep your windows closed, no matter how nice the weather is outside. To keep your house from getting stuffy, you can run your air conditioner or use fans to keep the air circulating.

Use your clothes dryer

Drying your clothes outdoors on a clothes line is a great way to save energy, but it also allows pollen to get stuck to your clothes. When you're allergic to pollen, that's bad news since the pollen will enter your home on your laundry. To keep pollen outdoors, use your clothes dryer to dry your clothes. If you don't have a clothes dryer, or if you just don't want to use it, another option is to hang your clothes on an indoor clothes drying rack.

Wash your hair after being outdoors

If you need to leave your house on high pollen days—like to go to work or school—make sure to wash your hair as soon as you get back home. This is because your hair is a magnet for pollen, and it can transfer pollen to your pillow, bedding, or even your clothes. If your hair is too long to wash every day, try to wear your hair in a style that minimizes the amount of pollen that sticks to it, like a bun or a braid. This will help you bring less pollen into your home.

Dust every day

Dust isn't just made of your old skin cells; it also contains pollen that's managed to get inside your home. When you dust, make sure to use a dusting tool that captures the dust rather than stirring it up into the air. The goal is to get rid of the pollen, not to spread it around! Microfiber cloths and static dusters are both good ways to trap pollen-filled dust.

To control pollen inside your home, make sure to keep your windows closed, dry your clothes indoors, wash your hair after being outdoors and dust every day. For more information, contact centers such as The Regional Allergy Asthma & Immunology Center, PC.


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