• Wash your sheets, blankets and any stuffed animals weekly in hot water, make sure the temperature is 52 degrees Celsius or higher. The high temperature is needed to kill the dust mites and other allergens.
• Change your pillow every two years and have them sanitized regularly
• Keep the humidity in your home low - between 30% to 50% - to minimize dust mite, mould and bacteria growth.
• Keep stuffed animals out of your children’s sleeping environment. Exposure to allergens in the early years of life can create lifelong allergies.
• Keep the clutter in your house down, especially in the bedroom to minimize areas where dust can settle If you can, remove carpeting and fabric draperies from your home – especially in the bedroom.
• Use a Hepa filtered vacuum on your mattress, floors and carpeting (if you have it) once per week.
• Sanitize your mattresses and other soft furnishings twice-a-year
• Dust with a damp cloth as it will capture the dust.
• Wash your pets often and keep them off of furniture where their dander and allergens they may have picked up outside (moulds, pollen, bacteria) can be transferred
• Use a mattress cover, do research and buy the best quality.
• If you have an air-duct heating/cooling system in your home, have the ducts professionally cleaned yearly.
• Use the best quality air filters for your furnace and investigate dust elimination systems that work within the furnace itself .
• Invest in high quality portable air cleaners to remove dust and other allergens from specific rooms in your home or your office.
• Avoid activities or locations where mould grows – damp basements, garages, fallen leaves or hiking in deep woods, vacuuming, dusting. If you do then use an allergen mask.
• During days with high pollen counts, keep your windows closed and use air conditioning if you can If you are outside on days with high pollen counts, wash yourself and put your clothing into the wash hamper as soon as you return indoors. This will help minimize transfer of and exposure to the pollen caught on your clothes and person.

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