Keeping the air clean in your home is a breeze!

We don’t need the research to tell us that in fact, we spend most of our 24 hours indoors. And that air quality can have an effect on our health and that of our families. There can be a multitude of reasons why the air in our homes can be polluted: from furniture and rugs; to cleaning supplies, malfunctioning appliances, or so-called air fresheners.

But, we’ve got some tips to help ‘clean house,’ without the use of harmful chemicals (aerosol air fresheners sounds like an oxymoron wouldn’t you say?):

Fling open your windows! Doesn’t cost a dime and the quickest way to refresh stale indoor air. We like having the windows open on cleaning and laundry days — the fresh air gives your rooms, sheets and clean socks an extra oomph of cleanliness.

Be a home for houseplants. Several species of houseplants are notorious for filtering out common volatile organic compounds like carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. These are the top 5 Plants for purifying indoor air:

• Aloe Vera (a great beginner plant!)
• Snake plant
• Spider plant
• English ivy
• Rubber plant

*Check out Bloomscape to get any of these air-filtering plants shipped right to your door!

Burn beeswax candles. Without getting into the scientific weeds with this one, we want to make sure that chemicals and particles aren’t entering our lungs and posing health risks and beeswax candles simply burn cleaner than other types of candles.

We like the beeswax candles from Fontana!

“No shoes in the house” said every grandmother in the history of grannies. The dirt outside can carry some funky stuff: pesticides, pollen, bacteria, remnants from the dog run, etc. Get yourself a nifty shoe rack for the entrance and keep your shoes and your guests’ shoes there. It’ll keep your air cleaner, not to mention your floors.

Clean with the non-toxic stuff. Many store-bought household cleaners contain a slew of toxic chemicals. Best avoided. There are plenty of greener options that are as effective as conventional ones (we like Branch Basics).

If you’re feeling inspired, here’s an easy recipe for a DIY all-purpose cleaner:

• 1 part warm water
• 1 part distilled white vinegar
• Add a drop of essential oil (i.e. eucalyptus is always fresh-smelling) or a squeeze of lemon juice 

Mix in a spray bottle. Doesn’t get any easier than that!

Keep up with your pets’ grooming. Pet dander is everywhere if you’ve got a pet at home. To keep the dander to a minimum, get your pet washed regularly, brush them outdoors if possible and get into a vacuuming routine (rugs + sofas).