Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Allergy-friendly home 2May 18, 2010 2:52 pm That all depends on what your child is allergic to... but generally soft furnishings such as carpet and drapes are the big offenders to most allergies. Re: Allergy-friendly home 7May 19, 2010 12:10 pm 3 out of 4 of my family members have dust allergies (asthma and hay fever). My philosophy is 'dust happens', but the main thing to do is be vigilant about keeping a tidy house with not too many flat surfaces where dust can settle and keep it clean! I decided to carpet the majority of my house for warmth and cosyness. I chose an excellent quality 80/20 twist and vacuum it twice a week. We also have a 'no shoes' policy to help with no extra soiling. I have a Dyson vac with a HEPA filter so the air from it doesn't expell allergens back into the room. I keep the dryer in the garage so there's no extra fluff coming into the house from that either. I don't have curtains, but will eventually be getting plantation shutters which are very easy to vac, and the kids have timber venetians in their rooms which are easy to vac as well. I find the worst area in the house for dust/dust mites is the bedroom. Don't forget they feed off shed human skin and you spend half your time in bed. I change the sheets regularly, move the bed to vac underneath and around the skirtings and sometimes vac the mattresses as well. We do have a cat, which we are allergic to, but the kids know they must wash their hands after patting her. I have found I'm more allergic to dogs than cats, and if I wash a dog I end up with hives on my arms. No dogs here! Cats are clean animals, and she gets brushed to remove excess hair too (outside!!). Building a new house with new carpet has helped, as I keep it very clean. In older houses you have no idea of what's lurking underneath! Also think about getting your ducted heating/cooling cleaned every year. In our old house we had ducts in the floor, and it was amazing the amount of dust that would settle in the vents. I'm not anticipating a huge problem with in the ceiling ducts...time will tell!! If Ash (Royalblue) sees this he will tell you that carpet being bad for asthmatics is a myth! Oh, and I NEVER use a feather duster! I don't see the point of putting all the dust back into the air, only to settle again. I either vac it up or use a very slightly damp cloth. I actually don't often use a broom either, as it tends to put stuff back into the air as well. I vac the floors instead. Suck it up and get rid of it! Sorry, didn't mean to write an essay! Just keep it clean OFTEN and don't let it build up. I'm certainly not OC about cleaning...and if you saw my house now you'd probably have a heart attack...kids make so much mess with their toys and craft stuff! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Allergy-friendly home 8May 19, 2010 9:08 pm Five of us with asthma, two with severe dust/dust mite allergies, and all of us with grass pollen allergies. I refuse to have cold hard floors in our climate, so we do have carpet in the bedroms and lounge. But we have a pure wool carpet that's been allergy treated (don't ask me the name of the treatment, but the samples had a label on the back....). The specialist we were referred to gave us some helpful info on minimising problems, and they included: - Damp dusting (and as Stormy said, stay on top of the dusting/cleaning) - No feather pillows or quilts, no wool or other shaggy underlays. - Use special dust mite-proof mattress, pillow and quilt covers (expensive ). Ask at manchester stores, or some chemists have them. - Wash bedlinen in a mix of Eucalyptus oil and Sunlight dishwashing liquid. I forget the quantities now, but it kills dust mites - you can probably just add the oil to whatever detergent you normally wash with. Use hot water too. Unfortunately, you can't eliminate the allergen entirely when it's dust or pollen or the like, so you just have to minimise exposure and treat symptoms. The National Asthma council has some good hints too: http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/content/view/19/75/ After some ideas on making our patio kid friendly . Currently we have exposed aggregate. The patio faces west and is always in sun even though it has a shade directly… 0 3570 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16252 From what I know about water tanks (I've been working with a client on them for a few years now) is this - The concrete can last a lifetime if they don't crack for some… 2 10620 |