Steps you can take to reduce toxins in your home

Your bedroom is often the place in your home you spend the most time which means you are getting consecutive exposure to whatever is in your room for 6-9 hrs a night on average. 

This is why working to reduce toxins in your room is the best place you can start. 

Let’s start with the basics…

Store your shoes away from where you sleep. On average, shoes tested contained GREATER than 90% of fecal bacteria. Put them in the garage or if you must, a closet at minimum, but not by the bed. 

Increase circulation- Turn on your fan daily, open the windows and run the fan in your bathroom. This will help circulate stagnant air. This in turn helps air quality by diverting moisture and moving contaminants. To take it a step further, invest in an air purifier for your room. You don’t have to break the bank with one either.

Don’t use harsh cleaning chemicals in the bedroom. Dilute some apple cider vinegar with water and clean your dressers, walls, and doors. If you want a cleaning product that is better than most typical cleaners out there, try Branch Basics or Thrive. 

Although I would say to avoid aerosols all together due to their harmful effect on hormones and irritation to lungs, I realize some have a grip on these and won’t give them up. If you have to spray the hair spray or other hair products, don’t do it in the bedroom or open a window to avoid breathing in these fumes. 

When it is time to swap out your mattress, go for a cleaner brand such as Green mattress or what I learned recently was Avocado Green Mattress. Have you ever opened a new mattress and you can smell the fumes? Polyurethane foam can be found in mattresses and should be avoided. 

This one is the most difficult for me… don’t let your pets sleep near your face. We quite literally have to put a barrier with pillows to keep Hunter from coming up to our face. This dog will never not sleep in the bed and I am realistic so if this is you, try to keep them toward the bottom of the bed. Dogs and cats hold all sorts of bacteria on their paws and ideally we don’t want to be breathing this in all hours of the night.