Spring Cleaning for Your Health: 9 Tips - Thrive Global

Spring Cleaning for Your Health: 9 Tips - Thrive Global
Roust that stink from your car - The Detroit News
What’s that smell?!?!??? Getting to the source of the stink in your car - Dayton Daily News

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:19 PM PDT

Tips to make your home healthier this Spring.

When you're cleaning your home this spring, think about all the benefits it brings. Yes, a good scrubbing removes harmful allergens and bacteria, but spring cleaning also improves your mental health. A cluttered home raises stress levels. Over time, higher stress levels lead to health issues. So think of it as cleaning for your body and mind. And don't forget that cleaning and maintaining your home leads to annual energy savings — that makes for a healthier wallet.

Understanding all these implications helps you make better decisions about how to clean your home. Here are nine spring cleaning tips that will have you healthier and wealthier.

1. Clean Your HVAC Air Ducts

Replacing your HVAC system's air filter will eliminate the spread of allergens, bacteria, and mold. But don't forget your system's ductwork. It also collects mold, dust, and debris that your filter can't catch. Check for signs of dust and mold around your air vents. These indicate you're in need of a duct cleaning. Or if your home is ten years or older and has never had a duct cleaning, it's time to get your HVAC system serviced. Test your A/C to make sure it is in working order and the right size for your home. Regular maintenance ensures your system will last many seasons.

2. Check for Leaking Water Pipes

As winter snow thaws, it may reveal leaking or busted water pipes. Left untreated, wet areas around your hot water tank or under your sink can grow toxic black mold. The spores from black mold can cause a range of problems, from chronic coughing to bleeding in the lungs and nose. Check all the areas of your home where water pipes are present, especially those within external walls. Look for evidence of mold around the base of your shower, dishwasher, and clothes washer. Even better, install a smart home leak detector. These devices will automatically alert you to leaks before they destroy your home and threaten your health.

3. Inventory Your Medications

Now that cold and flu season is on its way out, inventory your medicine cabinet. Throw away any expired medication, both prescription and over-the-counter. Out-of-date meds and vitamin supplements aren't effective. They won't help you or your family when you need allergy or pain relief, so replace them instead. But don't throw them in the garbage or flush them down the toilet. Chemicals from medications can seep into the water table or poison animals that take them from the trash. Follow FDA guidelines for how to dispose of unused medications.

4. Prepare Your Humidifier for Storage

If you use a humidifier during the winter months, clean it properly before storing it for summer. Left uncleaned, humidifiers are ideal breeding grounds for mold, bacteria, and germs— serious health hazards for those with asthma or allergies. And dirty humidifiers can even cause infections of the lungs.

5. Clean Your Pillows and Mattresses

Many people are allergic to dust mites — those microscopic bugs that live within our pillows and mattresses. When you remove these small critters by cleaning your pillows and mattresses, you eliminate symptoms of hay fever, sneezing, and runny nose. If you don't want to go to the trouble of cleaning your bedding, you can always buy new ones. Replace your mattress every ten years and your pillow every year or two.

6. Vacuum Under Your Bed

By springtime, the space under our beds harbors a menagerie of dust bunnies and cobwebs. These nasty allergens are only a few feet from your sleeping face. Cleaning under your bed will cut down on allergy symptoms. Use your vacuum attachments to reach underneath your bed, or remove your mattress so you can vacuum and dust.

7. Replace Your Detector Batteries

Most smoke and CO2 detectors alert you to batteries gone bad. But that doesn't mean these failsafes always work. Take time to test and replace your detector batteries. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced from burning fuels like propane, gasoline, charcoal, or wood. Unlike fire, you can't see or smell it coming. That's why CO2 poisoning is so dangerous for people who are asleep. They often can't feel the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning until it's too late.

8. Revamp Your Pantry

The best way to spring clean your way to a healthier you is to throw out all expired and processed foods in your cupboards. Check the nutritional labels for added sugars and refined carbohydrates. Toss those unhealthy processed foods in the garbage bin and replace with mixed nuts, dried fruits, granola bars, organic fruit snacks, and kale chips. We tend to grab the first snack we see in the pantry, so place healthier options towards the front. Same goes for your refrigerator and freezer. And keep both well-stocked: A full refrigerator takes less energy to cool than an empty one.

9. Organize Your Bedroom for Better Sleep

Your health depends on getting regular, restorative sleep. Without it, our stress levels rise, and our health declines. Clean sheets, mattresses, and pillows help. But so does an organized bedroom. While you clean your bedroom, rearrange it to be more conducive to sleep. Here are some ways to improve your bedroom's feng shui:

Keep the air clean with an air-purifier or by opening the windows
Cover up distracting light sources (e.g., alarm clock displays)
Block external light sources like the sun or a street lamp with blackout curtains
Install dimmer switches so you can control the brightness of your bedroom
Cover up hardwood floors with rugs to dampen down noises
Repaint the walls with calming colors like taupes, grays, whites, and beiges

These nine spring cleaning tips are a good start. Some are simple, and others need more time and money investment. But all will help most people create a healthy home for their families. Your home is unique, so look for other ways to make it a healthier space, from rearranging your living area to investing in a new HVAC system.

Roust that stink from your car - The Detroit News

Posted: 11 Apr 2019 06:43 AM PDT

Marco Buscaglia, Tribune News Service Published 9:43 a.m. ET April 11, 2019

Those burgers and fries you've eaten during post-work traffic may be long gone, but the compounded odor of dozens of in-car meals lives on. Now, add a couple of sweaty kids after soccer practice and a pile of towels from a day at the beach last summer and you've got yourself of a potpourri of stink.

If you're using some of your spring-cleaning energy to wash your car, don't forget to attack some of the places that are storing smells.

Here's how you can attack the foul aroma that's the antithesis of "new car smell."

■Car mats and carpet: Most car owners take their floor mats out on occasion and vacuum them. Some of you may give them a periodic soaking with a hose, but what about the carpet that's under the mats? Time to address all floor surfaces. After an initial vacuuming, sprinkle an even layer of baking soda on the mats and the carpet. Leave it overnight so that the well-known refrigerator ally can work its magic in your car. Vacuum it up — along with many of the now soaked-in odors — the next day.

■Seats and upholstery: While vacuuming the upholstery may help remove cookie crumbs and dog hair, it won't do much good when it comes to removing odors. You can use the baking soda method on your seats as well and follow up with an interior wash. If you purchase an interior cleaning solution, make sure it's safe for the upholstery, especially if the seats are covered in cloth. Foaming sprays that help lift stains and odors from seats can be especially effective.

■The trunk: Your trunk is probably your go-to option for things that you'd prefer to keep out of your nose's reach. Unfortunately, your trunk is still connected to the rest of your car. Those smells that once existed in the trunk are only going to spread so it's best to remove everything, vacuum it out and, if necessary, try the baking soda and interior wash approach.

■Other potential offenders: To remove all odors, you'll need to clean out some of the forgotten spaces of your car, like between the seats and windows. You should also address the obvious spots, like cup holders, seat pockets and seat belts. It's likely you've been sweating on your seat belts every day, so they, too, are worthy of a spring cleaning.

■Air filter: Finally, you should change your air filter regularly. The filter traps dust, mold, pollen and other contaminants, and prevents them from entering the car, which can cause musty odors and other smells. As with any filter, it needs to be changed on a regular basis, roughly every year.

Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2019/04/11/roust-stink-car/39330981/

What’s that smell?!?!??? Getting to the source of the stink in your car - Dayton Daily News

Posted: 12 Apr 2019 05:01 AM PDT

Those burgers and fries you've dined on during post-work traffic may be long gone, but the compounded odor of dozens of in-car meals lives on. Now, add a couple of sweaty kids after soccer practice and a pile of towels from a day at the beach last summer and you've got yourself of a potpourri of stink.

If you're using some of your spring-cleaning energy to wash your car, don't forget to attack some of the places that are storing smells.

Here's how you can attack the foul aroma that's the antithesis of "new car smell."

♦ Car mats and carpet: Most car owners take their floor mats out on occasion and vacuum them. Some of you may give them a periodic soaking with a hose but what about the carpet that's under the mats? Time to address all floor surfaces. After an initial vacuuming, sprinkle an even layer of baking soda on the mats and the carpet. Leave it overnight so that the well-known refrigerator ally can work its magic in your car. Vacuum it up — along with many of the now soaked-in odors — the next day.

♦ Seats and upholstery: While vacuuming the upholstery may help remove cookie crumbs and dog hair, it won't do much good when it comes to removing odors. You can use the baking soda method on your seats as well and follow up with an interior wash. If you purchase an interior cleaning solution, make sure it's safe for the upholstery, especially if the seats are covered in cloth. Foaming sprays that help lift stains and odors from seats can be especially effective.

♦ The trunk: Your trunk is probably your go-to option for things that you'd prefer to keep out of your nose's reach. Unfortunately, your trunk is still connected to the rest of your car. Those smells that once existed in the trunk are only going to spread so it's best to remove everything, vacuum it out and, if necessary, try the baking soda and interior wash approach.

♦ Other potential offenders: To remove all odors, you'll need to clean out some of the forgotten spaces of your car, like between the seats and windows. You should also address the obvious spots, like cup holders, seat pockets and seat belts. It's likely you've been sweating on your seat belts every day, so they, too, are worthy of a spring cleaning.

♦ Air filter: Finally, you should change your air filter regularly. The filter traps dust, mold, pollen and other contaminants, and prevents them from entering the car, which can cause musty odors and other smells. As with any filter, it needs to be changed on a regular basis, roughly every year.

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