If you have dust allergies in your house, can you talk to me about how you clean?

[melissel]

DD6 is having a lot of trouble with what seem to be allergies and asthma. She's not having asthma attacks (only has trouble with this when she's sick), but she does have a persistent rough cough and post-nasal drip. The pulmonologist we saw says we need to address indoor allergies.

 

Have you managed to keep your carpeting? DH doesn't want to have ours removed, and I don't blame him (though I can see why we should--it would just be VERY cold in here without it :().

 

Do you vacuum/dust mop daily? If you do, do you do every room in the house daily? Do you dust everything daily? How do you dust? Do you use HEPA filters? How often do you wash bedding, etc.? Do you use those zip-up mattress covers? Pillow covers?

 

I'm fairly overwhelmed by all this. Dusting is my most loathed chore, and something I almost never do. I did let the kids do it occasionally, but I guess that won't work now :tongue_smilie: It feels like an impossible task to manage dust, but I know many people do it, so I need to figure out where to start!

 

TIA for any advice you can offer.

Edited December 10, 2011 by melissel
Finishing an unfinished thought!

[acurtis75]

I use the shark handheld steamer and basically work from top down and then finish with vacuuming and steam mopping. The only thing worse than dust for us is smelling chemicals so the steam cleaning has been great for us. It's quick and efficient. I start with croqpwn molding, then above doors, blinds, etc. and then cabinets and counters before moving on to baseboards.

 

Eta: I've always hated dusting too but somehow doing it with the steamer attachment seems less like dusting.

[melissel]

I use the shark handheld steamer and basically work from top down and then finish with vacuuming and steam mopping. The only thing worse than dust for us is smelling chemicals so the steam cleaning has been great for us. It's quick and efficient. I start with croqpwn molding, then above doors, blinds, etc. and then cabinets and counters before moving on to baseboards.

 

Eta: I've always hated dusting too but somehow doing it with the steamer attachment seems less like dusting.

 

How often do you do this? If you're using the steamer, where does the dust go? I would think that would just sort of...stick it down to the surface? Does it suck the dust up somehow? (I've been toying with the idea of a steamer for other purposes, actually!)

 

Thank you!

[prairiewindmomma]

We vacuum regular with our Dyson which has a HEPA filter. Vacuuming stirs up dust, so we do it once a week, with the allergic children in a different part of the house. Once things have a bit of time to settle (once I get the vacuum put away, then we dust.) We clean with microfiber cloths, which are then washed with hot water. All curtains are washed quarterly. Bedding is minimal, and washed weekly on hot water. All stuffed animals are banned from bedrooms, and go visit the freezer for 72 hours quarterly. Children take Zyrtec, Fluticasone and Flovent.

 

This routine was enough for 3/4 of our kids. With one of our children, though, we did finally have to rip carpet out of 2/3 of the house.

 

In all honesty, I wish we had done it much sooner. Not controlling the allergies well initially led to more severe asthma with our kids, imo.

[jfletcher8091]

I will be watching this thread with great interest. We have just had a mold allergy diagnosed in dd10 (mold being the "other" major indoor allergy). Keeping a house really clean and dry (!) is a daunting task.

[melissel]

We vacuum regular with our Dyson which has a HEPA filter. Vacuuming stirs up dust, so we do it once a week, with the allergic children in a different part of the house. Once things have a bit of time to settle (once I get the vacuum put away, then we dust.) We clean with microfiber cloths, which are then washed with hot water. All curtains are washed quarterly. Bedding is minimal, and washed weekly on hot water. All stuffed animals are banned from bedrooms, and go visit the freezer for 72 hours quarterly. Children take Zyrtec, Fluticasone and Flovent.

 

This routine was enough for 3/4 of our kids. With one of our children, though, we did finally have to rip carpet out of 2/3 of the house.

 

In all honesty, I wish we had done it much sooner. Not controlling the allergies well initially led to more severe asthma with our kids, imo.

 

Thank you for that. Do you dust weekly as well? I can handle weekly. More than that, and I want to cry!

 

He also told us that she should get rid of her blankie :smilielol5: This child will be sleeping with that thing until she the day she dies. The look of horror on her face when he said that... He quickly said we could also wash it daily. That means I actually have to DO the load of laundry I plan to do every day--except I usually plan to do it when the kids are in bed :banghead: I am so unprepared for all of this *sigh*

 

I will be watching this thread with great interest. We have just had a mold allergy diagnosed in dd10 (mold being the "other" major indoor allergy). Keeping a house really clean and dry (!) is a daunting task.

 

Amen, sister. I don't think we have any mold issues--at least, I haven't SEEN anything that makes me think so. I'm so paranoid about something unseen though!

Edited December 10, 2011 by melissel

[prairiewindmomma]

Any type of carpet on concrete pad = mold. This was the other main reason we had to rip carpet out of our house.

 

We dust weekly. I sometimes will dry mop (Bona microfiber) our living room a bit more often.

 

Oh, I forgot the other piece, we change our furnace filter monthly....

[WeeBeaks]

I dust weekly with a Dyson with attachments.

 

We did indeed rip out all our carpeting in the upstairs, the bedroom area. It was necessary for my son. We also use dust/mite covers for all pillows and mattresses. We limit rugs to short pile and ones that can be washed in the washer in there. Stuffed animals were mainly removed except for a few treasured ones that can go in the washer on hot. Blankets and textiles, again, in the washer on hot. We have not only the dust but the mites problem.

 

Our curtains are not dust absorbing. They are more of a slick fabric that is easier to dust rather than plush or rough.

[ashfern]

I'm the allergic one in the household. I make the kids dust for me. :D I have them use a microfiber cloth. If I do have to dust I will vacuum with the attachment instead. Some days I need to double up the allergy meds. I do vacuum several times a week on the first floor ("wood" floor and area rugs) and not as often upstairs (berber carpet). Bedding is minimal and I only have 1 stuffed animal in my bedroom. :tongue_smilie:No indoor pets as I'm allergic to those as well.

[mamakim]

I do the same as other posters, and we did remove all of the carpeting from our house (one room where it is impossible to have anything else that wouldn't be hideously expensive, we ripped out old carpet/pad and got new), as well as installing a whole-house air filter and we have room air filters as well. <-------whoa, run-on sentence, much?

 

But you know, I wouldn't be doing such extreme things without first confirming that dust is a problem by allergy testing. What if dust isn't a problem and it's some other trigger? It wouldn't hurt to have a cleaner house, but before going to the big expensive stuff, I'd want to make sure . . .

[rafiki]

.

[melissel]

Any type of carpet on concrete pad = mold. This was the other main reason we had to rip carpet out of our house.

 

:001_huh: This is our whole lower level! I never even thought of it! What do we cover it with instead? That's where our schoolroom and playroom are--we spend half our week down there :(

 

Ugh, curtains. I never even thought of those--we have the thermal kind because so much cold comes from our front windows.

 

Ugh...

[cin]

I take zyrtec daily. I'd probably have to anyway; I tested VERY positive for EVERYTHING. So positive that they didn't even measure. I had HUGE hives that overlapped.

 

But by taking the zyrtec daily, I don't have to so anal about cleaning. And since I'm allergic to the dust, DH does any work that stirs up any dust.

[Cedarmom]

Can you take out carpet in just your daughter's room? At my naturpath's suggestion we did just my bedroom first (I am the one with allergies)Just not having any carpet in my room made such a huge differance.

[Nakia]

Has she actually had allergy testing?

[Sandra in FL]

The most important thing we did was pull up the carpeting in ds' room. He does spend at least 10 hours per day in there. Allergen encasing on box spring, mattress and pillowcase, all cotton sheets and blankets - washed regularly in very hot water. Blinds on the windows. HEPA air cleaner and vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter. I don't kill myself over cleaning and dusting - just don't have the time.

 

Ds doesn't need medication (Xopenex) except sometimes when he has a cold.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Sandra in FL

[sbgrace]

My asthmatic son has many allergies including dust. I think he's probably developed mold allergies.

 

We have a HEPA in his bedroom and one in the playroom. His room doesn't have carpet. We pulled it up in there. The playroom does have carpet (on concrete..) and still the HEPA in there has made a huge difference in his allergies. I'm not great about cleaning floors and even worse about dusting. The vacuum has a HEPA filter but it still seems to kick up his allergies when I vacuum. I suspect a better ($$$) unit wouldn't do that. I intend to mop his room more often than I actually do but the HEPA in there helps a lot.

 

We do hot wash and dry all his bedding (including the stuffed dog) weekly and his mattress and pillow have dust mite proof covers. He showers and changes into fresh sleeping clothes right before bed per the allergist. My point is the sleeping space is important and try to keep her bed particularly dust free including the clothing she wears (and her hair/body).

 

That said, we did our best with his bedroom when originally diagnosed and yet the addition of the HEPA in the playroom two years ago did make a huge difference for him. He takes zyrtec and singulair daily and needs it but that's partly his outdoor stuff.

Edited December 10, 2011 by sbgrace

[Acadie]

I love my Miele vacuum with HEPA filter! It's a wonder of German engineering, so easy to maneuver around furniture. I vac once a week but ideally it would be twice. I'm still not the best duster.:tongue_smilie:

 

For blankies and stuffed animals, you can also give them a whirl (20-30 min?) in a hot dryer. It might fuzz up knits or hairy stuffed animals, but the heat will kill dust mites and you'll also be pulling out lots of particulates. Our bed pillows are in zipped cases that I wash, but I also put the pillows themselves through the dryer periodically. Sleeping bags and comforters, too, so I can stretch out the time between comforter washing.

 

Our environmental allergies got worse because we didn't make changes to our house sooner. I wish we ripped the carpet out of bedrooms and basement before we moved in. Other rooms it's less essential, but nice if you can get rid of it.

 

In the bedrooms we refinished the hardwood underneath, and in the basement we installed interlocking tile that can be removed, cleaned and replaced if there are any leaks. I wouldn't choose that brand of tile again, though, because it had a strong smell and the offgassing has taken years.

 

Have the allergist test for mold if that hasn't been done already. Dehumidifiers in the basement are a must, to keep humidity below 50% year round. Is it possible to move either playroom or schoolroom to the upper level? If it's a split level you probably have to use that space somehow, but we have a colonial where the basement used to be the playroom and TV room. We moved the toys up to bedrooms and now only use the basement a few hours a week to watch TV.

 

I feel like I've spent the past few years getting our environment and house to the point where it's healthy for us. A few things left to do, but the improvements have been major and worth every penny. Both dh's family and mine have histories of allergy, asthma and environmental illness, so I feel like I'm investing in maintaining our health for the future.

 

My hubby's asthma used to land him in the ER every couple years despite regular meds, but now he doesn't use meds at all unless he gets a bad cold or flu. I was getting hives near one of our forced air vents but I'm not anymore after we found and repaired a hidden roof leak, had moldy insulation removed under containment and got the ductwork cleaned by a company that filters the air in the whole house during the cleaning.

 

If you decide at some point you want a mold inspector, look carefully! We tried 3 before we found a keeper. First guy was free and total quack. Second guy was $90 and had some cool moisture meters and helped us identify a couple issues that were worth fixing. Third guy, years later, was $350 (just the base fee--testing for types of mold, which he didn't recommend for our situation, would have been additional) and he was super, super helpful. He theorized that our furnace was sucking air from where we had the roof leak and blowing it through the house, identified a window with a serious leak and one with a minor leak that just needed caulking. IOW, he helped find and prioritize issues and what to do about them. In this case we got what we paid for.

 

Amy

[Mommyof4ks]

We got rid of all of the carpet, and hardwood is really not any colder than carpet IMO. Tile is very cold, not to mention hard on the knees of jeans. :glare:

 

I dust every week with furniture polish to keep down on the dust, and we have HEPA filters in every room (non-ionizing, because ozone has its own issues). We dust fan blades weekly too. None of our cleaners come off of the shelf at the box store, because those make my son's allergies worse. We don't have anything with fragrances in the house, and those plug in thongs are the worse trigger for my son so we avoid going anywhere with those. I put a mattress cover on the bed (not the plastic ones, those padded ones), and I wash his pillow every other week and his pillow case twice a week. It is a pain at first, but it becomes routine, and now it does not bother me at all. I loathe housework lol.