Slim Down Lifestyle

This isn't necessarily a five-minute change, but it's one that can be plugged in in five minutes, and it's such an important aspect of making sure the air in your home is clean. Effective air purifiers clear the air of allergens and dust particles as well as more dangerous substances, like mold, asbestos, off-gassing furniture and paints (VOCs), and other harmful toxins. There are many different types of air purifiers that range in price from less than a hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. We have a whole-house air purifier, and I can tell you that it makes a huge difference in the air quality in our home. One of my favorite features is that I can change how it filters the air. Ours is controlled through the furnace thermostat, and I can adjust it to run 24/7, once every three hours, or once every hour. If someone is sick, I bump it up to 24/7, or if I've dusted or vacuumed, I'll run it continuously for a couple of hours and then put it back to every three hours. It has a HEPA filter, so it snags microscopic particles, dust, pet dander, and airborne toxins that make indoor air more polluted than outdoor air. Since we spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors, this can pose a problem.

If you aren't ready to invest in a whole-house system, or maybe you're renting, there are a variety of small and effective air purifiers available. My suggestion is to put one in your bedroom first since we spend so much of our lives sleeping.

If you or someone in your house has asthma, allergies, or other sensitivities, I highly recommend at least a small air purifier for the bedroom. If you aren't ready to get an air purifier quite yet, make sure you change the air filters for your furnace regularly; you'll find that cuts down on household dust along with snagging those minuscule toxic particles.

From Clean Mama's Guide to a Healthy Home: The Simple Room-by-Room Plan for a Natural Home. Copyright © 2019 by Becky Rapinchuk. Reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.