How To: Create a "Dust-Free" Bedroom

Since my husband has asthma, we're always looking for ways to reduce allergens and dust in our home (although it's impossible to create a completely dust-free environment). We came across a good resource the other day. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has a step-by-step plan for reducing dust in the bedroom. Click below for tips.

Some of the tips on the site were for extreme cases. To read the entire article, click here. These ideas won't work for everyone (sometimes you can't get rid of bedroom carpet), but we think overall they're helpful suggestions. Here's our edited list of relatively doable tips:

Floors:
• If possible, remove carpeting.
• If you can't remove carpeting, clean it with a good vacuum.

Cleaning:
• Clean the bedroom once a week.
• Clean floors, furniture, tops of doors, window frames and sills, etc., with a damp cloth.
• Wash curtains often at 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Keep clothing off the floor and shoes out of the room.
• Air out the room regularly.

Bed:
• Use a dust-proof or allergen-proof cover on your mattress and box springs.
• Use only washable materials on the bed.
• Wash sheets, blankets, and other bedclothes frequently at 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Furniture:
• Keep furniture and surfaces to a minimum.
• If you can, avoid upholstered furniture in the bedroom.

Air Filters:
• Use a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorption) air filter.
• A dehumidifier can help some people. Make sure to clean it regularly to prevent mold growth.

Other:
• People with severe allergies should keep pets out of the bedroom.
• Dust mites thrive in warm, humid spaces. (Good news for winter, bad news for summer.)

For other tips on improving indoor air quality, read this post.

Image via Romo

Comments (16)

Interesting that the first recommendation is to remove the carpet if possible. Hubby and I were just discussing our options for new flooring. Since combining households, we now have 2 dogs and 2 cats and the pet hair is becoming a problem on top of the normal dust.

Installing hardwood isn't an option in our manufactured home for several reasons - the main ones being cost vs. resale value (we plan to sell in the next couple of years and), and not being sure the floor would support the weight.

I"ll be off on fact finding missions this week. Should be interesting.

Its amazing how much more rested I always feel after a good cleaning of the bedroom. I think when there is dust, I don't breathe well.

oceandreamer56 -- there are so many other flooring options other than hardwood!

oceandreamer, laminate wood flooring is lightweight, inexpensive, pretty to look at, and very cleanable! my mom installed it because she's got a cat with a horrible digestive system :)

my question is this:

does a normal washing machine, on a hot setting, get up to 130 degrees? i always wash everything on cold as an energy saver, so i dunno.

and yeah, i've got a dust problem in my room, everytime i open the curtains there's a small explosion of cat hair and dust. blargh!

Something that these sorts of recommendations don't point out is that if the asthmatic/allergic person has to do any of the cleaning, they need a dust mask. The disposable sort works semi-ok. It's not great, but it means I'm much less likely to end up flat on my back for the next day after cleaning. Trying to clean without a dust mask can leave me sneezing nonstop for most of a day.

Also, it's not uncommon for very dry air to be a trigger for asthmatics. A dehumidifier should be used with caution.

This post needs to be added to the canonical Cure material for bedroom week!

Oceandreamer, laminate is great stuff, especially in a modern setting where you don't really expect to see the patina of aged hardwood anyway. It's light and easy to install, and it's durable as long as you wipe up major source of moisture (just like wood) and don't gouge it. Just look closely at what you're getting, as some colors and patterns look more convincingly like wood than others.

Some brands also make laminate "stone" floors...

I have dust and dust mite allergies, and one of the best things I can recommend is to invest in a Rainbow vacuum. Yes, they aren't cheap, but they are water filtration and no amount of dust/pet dander/whatever gets through water. :) Plus, when you empty it, you don't get a bunch of dust flying out again. You can also take the hose out of the main unit and let it run for a while in a room to help take dust and other allergens out of the air. Well worth the investment, IMO, if you have allergies!

what if your bedroom is also your living room and dining room? :-(

it's tough dealing with this when you live in a studio and have to maintain a carpet and various fabrics when they're part of your design aesthetic.

going minimalist isn't all that easy. but i agree that's no excuse for not trying harder to keep up with the dust and soot and meetsees (that's the kinder word for 'mites'). the word 'mites' makes me shudder.

leonad, i used a rainbow vac for years...it was awesome!!! i used to borrow it from my cousin once a week to use at my place - cuz, yeah, i couldn't afford one of my own! i loved just being able to flush everything down the toilet, too, though that was sometimes...problematic :)

Robyn, Kd and Wende - thanks for the comments. And yeah - my long hair cat leaves me "presents" on occasion - that's another consideration.

I'm actually excited about getting out and doing the research; up til now I've always lived in rentals where I couldn't change much, if anything. I was surprised that hubby was open to considering something other than carpet since he's a traditional sort of guy - his eyes about popped out when I picked what was supposed to be a very pale gray (turned out way too blue) for the master bath - but after I pointed out that some sort of laminate would probably cost less and be easier to clean, he was willing to talk about it. I forwarded him the AT discussion from early last year about the "TrafficMaster Allure" which he thought was interesting. If anyone can point me to any other discussions about flooring on the AT sites I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks all, and have a great Tuesday!

We used Junkers which is a floating hardwood, its pretty awesome.

If not hardwoods or laminates, maybe tiles would work.

For apartment/condo dwellers, there are filters you can put behind the air vent grate. You'd be amazed at how much gunk is blowing out of those vents. Multi-packs are available at the big home improvement box stores for a few bucks. You may need to trim them a little to perfect the fit.

Vinegar
Some great suggestions on this rather innocuous, yet important subject.
Here's another.
Vinegar kills fungus.
Keep some handy in a spray bottle and periodically go over all those hard surfaces in the bedroom and rest of the home.
It is also easy on most fabrics so you can mist your bedding too.
Further try it on your body regularly if you get minor skin eruptions.
You may even notice a better nights sleep too.

kdkaboom --
The 130 degree question is based more on the hot water heater setting than the washing machine. If the hot water heater is not set up for that temp, then it won't matter what brand or model of washing machine is used.
That said, there are various types of hot water heating systems. The traditional tank system in most US metro areas is not always the most efficient.

My washing machine has a "sanitary" cycle that supposedly heats the water to a higher temperature than the water heater does. Which is great, because it's a good idea for energy savings (and in my case, child safety) to keep the water heater temperature low.

I'm sure that the "hot" setting on most washers is fine, though! I have severe allergies and asthma, and I've been told that the frequency of washing everything is more important than how hot you wash it.

The reviews helped but I would like to get a purifier/humidifier combination if possible. Does anyone know of a good brand?

I have carpeting in my bedroom which I cannot remove (staying temporarily with family) so I think I will put a natural area rug over it.