If you ask us, a healthy home should be non-negotiable in the life of you and your family. Even before the rise of remote working, the home was the one place you spent most of your time in.
Now, with so many people working from home, it’s even more vital that your home is healthy and safe.
Today, we look at what that means, how you can ensure the safety of your home, and what signs you want to be looking out for.
Contents
First Off, What is a Healthy Home?
A healthy home can have any number of meanings. Obviously, the first signs of a healthy home are in your interactions with the people around you.
On an emotional, cognitive level, a healthy home is one where there is love, and proper communication between the people residing there.
On a more physical, practical level, a healthy home is quite simply a place that you’re happy to spend time in. It’s a space that fills you with confidence and peace, and very importantly, one that is not dangerous for your health.
So How Do We Build a Healthy Home?
Incidentally, these are also the five signs to look for to indicate a healthy atmosphere. Once you check these five rules, you’ll know that yours is a healthy home, and that what you need to do moving forward is to maintain all of these good habits.
1. You Regularly Clean the House.
It’s not just about vacuuming every once in a while. A good, healthy home relies on detachable, cleanable surfaces. This can mean upholstery, bedspreads, pillow cases, rugs, pretty much everything in your house.
Since each one of these items can be a breeding ground for mites, ticks, fleas, and other pests, they all require regular clean-ups, if you’re to enjoy the space.
Similarly, the objects in your home accumulate dust. This goes beyond floors and work surfaces. Everything can accumulate dust, which disrupts the air you breathe, and can even impact your health.
So the chief takeaway from this first rule is that you should schedule an appointment with a pest inspection professional, and figure out how you can properly clean the home.
2. Ensure air flow.
Once again, the air you breathe has a huge impact on the overall quality of your life. People who spend extended periods of time in enclosed spaces, breathing stale air (even air processed by an AC) tend to suffer more headaches, become more irritable, and overall be in a bad mood.
A constant supply of fresh air is a natural way to uplift and brighten your day, not to mention promote good health.
Did you know… the air in your home isn’t fresh at all. It’s just a more concentrated, intense version of the air outside, compressing all sorts of chemical smells (from personal care products to dishwashing liquid), and stale air from your basement/attic.
A good way to manage this would be to regularly open more windows, and leave them for longer. A step further would be installing an air filter that catches all these damaging components, and retains them.
3. Eliminate Toxic Chemicals.
This sounds like a no-brainer, but many people don’t realize how many toxic chemicals they expose themselves to on a daily basis.
Laundry detergents, cleaning liquids, personal care items, scented candles, floor wax, air fresheners – all of these items are releasing toxic chemicals into the air of your home, so that you breathe them in and slowly destroy your body.
The answer? Switch as many of these household items to non-toxic, natural ingredients instead (baking soda, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar are all natural, non-toxic cleaning agents to consider).
4. Insulate.
You should be checking your insulation and sealing on a regular basis, as these are crucial to your comfort.
A properly insulated home loses less heat (making your home more energy-efficient, and in some cases, significantly reducing your electricity bill). It also blocks out bad, polluted air, and minimizes the risk of moisture.
Where there is moisture, there is mold and mildew which, when breathed, can lead to various infections and breathing ailments.
Since you work so hard to keep your home clean and healthy, it’s important to properly manage the walls and insulation, as well.
5. Change Your Daily Habits.
To ensure a cleaner, healthier home, the change can be as small as a minute daily habit. For instance,
- Take your shoes off right when you enter, rather than dragging dirt all over the house with them first;
- Change your “outside clothes” as soon as you come home, to avoid bringing bacteria to your couch, bed, chairs, and so on;
- Clean your furnace and AC filters at least 3-4 times a year, even if it seems like a nuisance. This will greatly improve the air you breathe, and your overall mood.
After all, health is an active choice, dictated by habit. So you want to make sure you instill in yourself the right habits.
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