04 Mar Is your laundry making you sick?
Are you trying to avoid winter colds and virus’ by staying indoors? Curling up indoors may not be the answer to avoiding seasonal illness. There may be another culprit that is making you feel sick
04 Mar Is your laundry making you sick?
Are you trying to avoid winter colds and virus’ by staying indoors? Curling up indoors may not be the answer to avoiding seasonal illness. There may be another culprit that is making you feel sick.
Many of us dry our clothes indoors in winter but this can create the perfect environment for mould growth and dustmites.
Research scientist, Dr Nick Osborne spoke to Kidspot about the simple ways we could be sabotaging our health during winter.
“If a house isn’t correctly ventilated, moisture builds up inside and will condensate on windows and in walls,” Dr Osborne says.
Dustmites love damp environments and poor ventilation may be encouraging them to become roomies! This can make living conditions difficult for anyone with asthma and eczema. Even people who don’t suffer with these illnesses may be somehow effected in this environment.
Drying laundry inside to avoid the rain, hanging up wet coats, showering and cooking could all have an adverse impact on our home environment.
To keep these risks to a minimum you can follow his sage advice:
“If you’re cooking, remember to turn the extractor fan on,” says Dr Osborne. “Think about where you store your wet coats … if it’s sunny, get your washing out and make sure if you use a dryer that it’s vented to the outside.”
Modern houses are often the best breeding grounds for damp conditions, as they are “often tightly sealed”.
So next time the sun peeps it’s head out, drag yourself off the couch and hang the washing out in the fresh air….it will do your lungs some good too!
“A few minor behavioural changes will mean you live in a healthier house,” says Dr Osborne.