Home Is Where the Health Is - HELP Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electric

Simple Spring Cleaning

Spring-cleaning might not be something you look forward to each year, but it does help things to have a clean home. Luckily, there are a few ways to make the annual cleaning less of a chore.

Create a list of all the things you’d like to get done, and divide them up by category such as, the house, room by room, and windows. Then, create a reasonable timeline to get the items on the list done. Your list might include:

 

• For walls and ceilings, use a vacuum to remove dust
• Reseal grout lines between wall, floor, and countertops
• Vacuum and shampoo rugs and carpet
• Dust books and shelves using a feather-duster and a vacuum
• Clean upholstered furnishings by taking them outside to gently beat them to remove dust.
• Polish metal door and window hardware
• Dust window casings and ceiling fans
• Wax wooden furniture
• Inspect smoke detectors and fire extinguishers
• Wash window screens using warm water and mild dishwashing liquid
• Wipe wooden blinds with a damp cloth; check labels for curtain care instructions
• Dust refrigerator coils and defrost the freezer
• Flip mattresses in bedrooms and machine-wash all pillows
• Toss out expired makeup and beauty products
• Organize office files and wipe down home computers
• Donate any clothing you don’t need
• Clean the attic and basement, setting aside items you can donate
• Clean any porch ceilings and walls using a broom and a wet sponge
• Scrub all outdoor walkways, decks, patios, and driveways
• Wash patio furniture using mild dishwashing soap and a soft-bristle brush
• Inspect and clean light fixtures

 

Using this spring-cleaning checklist will help you get everything done in a timely manner.

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Home is Where the Health Is is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling

Simple Steps for Better Indoor Air

When you’re inside at home or the office, you probably don’t think about the pollutants that could be floating in the air around you. While most of them wouldn’t affect a healthy immune system, someone with respiratory problems could suffer greatly from indoor air pollutants. However, there are a few easy steps you can take to improve the indoor air quality around you.

For starters, get some fresh air inside. When possible, open the windows or doorways with screens to get a breeze going. This will get stuffy air outside and fresh air inside the home or office.

Consider getting and maintaining houseplants. There are several house plants, such as the popular spider plant, that are easy to take care of and they actually remove pollutants from the air. They also make a great decoration.

If your home has high amounts of humidity, purchase and run a dehumidifier. Removing the right amount of moisture from the air will keep mites and mold at bay.

Although most people would assume smoking in the house does serious damage to the indoor air quality, it still happens.  Even light smokers bring tobacco smoke, which contains more than 4,000 chemicals, into the indoors.

And finally, don’t wear shoes inside. Pesticides and other unwanted chemicals ride in on the heels of our shoes without us even realizing it. So leave the unwanted guests outside, along with your shoes.

Using these simple tips, the indoor air quality of your home will improve without much thought.

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Home is Where the Health Is is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling

Home Cleaning Safety Tips

Have you ever stopped to think about what’s in the products you use to clean your dishes, clothes, windows, countertops, floors and other parts of your home? Although “heavy-duty” and “antibacterial” cleaners sound like they would do a better job at cleansing your home than milder products, this is not necessarily the case. Moreover, harsh, petroleum-based chemicals can be toxic to your family’s health. Consider the following tips regarding household cleaning products.

Use green cleaning products. Try to choose products that are free of ammonia, bleach and other harsh chemicals. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to spend a lot of money on fancy cleansers. You can use cheap, natural, household items like vinegar, baking soda and lemon -- or old-fashioned soap and water -- to handle many of your cleaning jobs.

Avoid antibacterial products. Antimicrobial and antibacterial cleansers do not actually work any better than regular soap and water. Even worse, bacteria becomes resistant to antibacterial agents over time, potentially resulting in the growth of dangerous superbugs.

Properly dispose of toxic cleaners. So, you’ve stopped using harsh chemical cleaners in your home. That’s great. But that doesn’t mean you can just toss the bottles of the old stuff in the trash or pour those toxic products down the drain. If you don’t dispose of toxic cleaners properly, they harm the environment and can even enter the drinking water supply. Find the facility in your community that handles these toxic chemicals and safely dispose of them there.

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Home is Where the Health Is is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling

 

Facts about Mold and Mildew

Although they’re very common intruders, nobody likes having mold or mildew invade their house. Nevertheless, these unwanted microbial guests can be extremely hard to eliminate.

Mold needs very little to survive, and even if you think you’ve gotten rid of it, it can return with a vengeance as soon as water is reintroduced to the area.  All mold needs to thrive is a source of moisture, a place to grow and a food source – which can be any dead or living organic matter, such as your wooden deck, for example.

Besides decks, other places mold likes to grow include damp basements, poorly ventilated bathrooms, humidifiers, and any areas affected by humidity, flooding or a leaky roof. Although we all encounter various forms of mold on a daily basis, if you have a breeding ground for mold in your home, it can accumulate to levels that endanger your health.

Having mold in your home is especially dangerous if you have any lung or breathing problems such as asthma, if you have a weakened immune system, or if you’re elderly or an infant.

The best way to tackle a mold problem is to eliminate the source of moisture and then kill the mold. If mold is growing on a very porous surface like a carpet, the best thing to do is throw it away, because it’s probably unsalvageable. Consider the following tips when cleaning mold/mildew from non-porous surfaces.

• Use non-ammonia soap with hot water and scrub the entire area.
• Bleach will also kill mold, but it is pretty toxic, so avoid using it unless you have to.
• Use a heavy-duty scrubber, such as those made for pots and pans. These work especially well for uneven surfaces.
• Use very hot water to rinse the entire area clean.

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Home is Where the Health Is is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling