Five Indoor Air Quality Tips for Pet Owners

Indoor pets are often considered to be members of the family, but they can cause health problems for the human members of the family by reducing the quality of the air inside the home. Pets release hair and dander into the air for their human companions to breathe, sometimes causing respiratory issues and allergic reactions. There are a number of things that pet owners can do to improve the air quality in their homes. Following the five tips described below can improve air quality by a significant amount.

1. Limit Pets To Certain Areas Of The Home

Although you may not be able to see the microscopic particles of pet dander and pet hair floating through the air in your home, your pets are shedding these particles wherever they travel. By limiting the areas where the pets are allowed to roam, you can reduce the amount of your home that will be affected by large quantities of pet hair and pet dander. Vacuuming, mopping, and dusting these areas regularly will remove much of the shed hair and dander, resulting in better air quality inside your home.

2. Frequently Clean Pet Cages And Bedding

The areas where your pets sleep and rest will need frequent cleaning to avoid creating large deposits of pet hair and pet dander, prevent the pet hair and pet dander from being re-released into the air, and to reduce pet odors. Pet cages and their bedding can hold large accumulations of hair and dander, so they should be cleaned frequently to remove as much hair and dander as possible. It is important to choose bedding items for the pet that can be washed in a washing machine to make cleaning these items as simple as possible.

3. Increase Ventilation In The Home

Having adequate ventilation in the home can improve air quality by a considerable amount. Ventilating the home removes stagnant indoor air that can be laden with particles of pet hair and pet dander and replaces it with fresh air from outdoors. Creating adequate ventilation in the home can be as simple as opening windows and positioning fans to circulate fresh air through the home.

4. Invest In A High Quality Air Filter

High quality air filters are capable of removing large quantities of hair and pet dander from the indoor air of a home as the air passes through the home’s heating and cooling system. Investing in a high quality air filter will result in a vast improvement in air quality as particulate, pollutants, and contaminants are removed from the air and trapped within the filter for removal when the filter is changed. These filters should be changed frequently to ensure satisfactory performance, prevent the overloading of the filter material, and prevent the trapped hair and dander from being released back into the air.

5. Consider a Filter with Activated Carbon

Air filters that contain activated carbon are very effective at removing pet odors from the indoor air of the home. Activated carbon in the air filter adheres to the filter material that cleans the air stream as it passes through the HVAC unit. When the unpleasant odors contact the carbon, they are adsorbed and held until the filter is changed.