Dealing With Pet Allergens In The Home

Many people live with minor pet allergies and still have a pet in the household. Here are a few simple things you can do to limit the impact the animal has on your allergies.

Most of dealing with pet allergies at home has to do with limiting animal dander.

The little particles can come from the animal’s skin, dried saliva, and fur oils. Many people look to loose pet fur as the culprit. In reality, while dander can be found on pet fur, it is much smaller and can find its way onto many surfaces unseen to the naked eye.

Wipe down smooth surfaces regularly with damp mop or rags.

Luckily, pet dander is very easy to clean up off of smooth surfaces. Wipe these areas with a damp rag and the tiny particles will stick easily to the rag and the moisture will help prevent the allergens from getting airborne and into your system.

Limit carpet and other hard to clean surfaces.

You can make your life much easier by limiting the amount of carpeting and other material that acts as a trap for allergen particles. Extra pillows, carpet, rugs, etc aren’t just more items that need to be cleaned of allergens, they are also harder to fully rid of the tiny particles.

Keep your bedroom a pet free zone.

You can limit your exposure time greatly to your pet’s dander if you keep it out of your bedroom. Consider that you spend around eight hours every night sleeping in your bed. That’s roughly one third of your life! Bedrooms also contain sheets, bedding, and pillows that are all magnets for tiny dander particles.

Clean your home often.

Don’t forget about the fabric items that aren’t a usual check on your to-do list. Curtains and drapes can be home to plenty of dander as well as towels, furniture, and clothing.

Target the areas that your pet frequents for the most cleaning.

It makes sense that the most dander would be in places that your pet spends most of its time. Clean your animal’s bedding frequently or vacuum up around its favorite spots. This way you can get the nasty particles before they have a chance to spread to the rest of your home.

Get an air filter to clean the air in your home.

Floating dander is often an issue as a person can breathe it directly in. Air purifiers can make a huge impact on the quality of air and amount of dander in your home. Make sure to get a HEPA grade filter as microscopic dander particles can often go right through lower grade filters.

Consider wiping down your pet with damp rag a couple times per week to remove dander.

There’s no need to actually get the animal wet, simply use the moist rag to capture surface dander on the animal. Do this between baths to give your pet a break from issues that could arise from bathing too frequently.