Do you know about airing the house? A petite German woman (the mother of one of my students) taught me about "airing" the house. Along with throwing back the night's musty covers and taking the pillows outside to SUN, you throw open the front and back doors and as many windows as possible for about 5 or 10 minutes. For greater effect, add a fan and blast out the house with good fresh oxygen. She would do it every morning, even in the winter—mercilessly. (She even came to the school where I taught, and aired out that building at the end of the school day when all the children had left—to the consternation of the janitors and the security people! But hey, who knows how many germs were attacked by oxygen that way! ) Back at her home, she followed the "airing" immediately by hosing down the pine trees outside from top to bottom (picture huge trees with a little woman with a fire hose, bent on business) to minimize the pollen that got into her house! What a riot!
We ourselves (in my home) are somewhat chicken in the cold winter weather, but we do try to air out the house, at the warmest part of the day. Each time, we all feel immediately invigorated afterwards. Furnaces, fireplaces and tightly shut houses can do a number on indoor air.
P.S. Essential oils, when diffused into the air of your home, scrub your air even further. They are the ultimate antiseptics. In laboratory tests at Weber State University, a clove essential oil blend killed 99.2% and 99.3% of all airborne Micrococcus luteus bacteria in 20 minutes. Contact us for more information.
