Spring is in full swing, which means more daylight and warmer weather. For a lot of us this is a time met with plenty of enthusiasm, however for hay fever sufferers there’s less excitement. Stuffy noses, itchy eyes and sleepless nights are common for those with hay fever allergies, so what can be done to reduce these irritating symptoms when indoors? Helpling has put together a list of simple tips that you can introduce into your routine to ensure you’re prepared for this hay fever season.
Keep the pollen outside
It’s difficult to avoid pollen completely. With the weather getting warmer, you’ll be spending more time outside. However, there are ways to reduce the amount of pollen entering your home.
Firstly make sure to shake off your jacket or coat before entering your home. Helpling also recommends taking your shoes off and leaving them by the door, to ensure no extra pollen is walked into your house. It’s also best to completely change your clothes as soon as you get inside. Pop them straight into the wash to avoid any pollen transfer onto your furniture.
Bedding
It’s super important to change your bedding regularly, especially your pillowcases. try and change them at least twice a week. You want them to be as pollen-free as possible at night to ensure you get a peaceful sleep.
It’s also a good idea to wash your hair before you go to sleep. Pollen can easily attach itself to hair, and you really don’t want to contaminate your fresh pillows!
Close windows
When it’s warm, it’s very tempting to open your windows, but this will not help with those annoying hayfever symptoms! Instead, it will just bring in more pollen into your home. You could always pull down your blinds or close your curtains to make the room cooler.
If you really do want to open your windows, it’s best to do this at night time when pollen levels will be lower.
Regularly clean your home
Hay fever season is the worst time to get complacent with cleaning. Make sure you’re giving your home a regular dust, but stay away from feather dusters. Feather dusters just move the dust to other areas, they don’t actually get rid of it. Instead, use a damp duster cloth to ensure all dust gets picked up.
Also, be sure to vacuum your carpets frequently in order to catch any pollen which may have sneakily entered your home. If you need to empty your vacuum, do this outside to ensure any vacuum dust doesn’t resettle in your home.
Dry washing inside
If you listened to step one, you should be washing your clothes regularly to stop any excess pollen from entering your home. It’s also essential that you dry your clean clothes inside rather than outside on a washing line. This will stop any unwanted pollen contaminating your freshly cleaned clothes.
Pets
Your cute four-legged friend can also carry pollen into the home, so it’s important you regularly brush through their fur. Be sure to vacuum any fur that may have dropped onto your floors as well. Helpling also recommends keeping your pets out of your bedroom when your hay fever is particularly bad. You want to keep that room as pollen-free as possible to ensure you aren’t suffering when you sleep.
