You ditched the chemical-filled household cleaners for the more natural ones. Check.

You never let anyone smoke in your home. Check.

And you scour grocery store shelves for food items made with the best ingredients you can find. Check again.

In short, you work hard to keep your home and family as healthy as can be.

Still, you might be surprised to learn that some of your daily habits could be contributing to unhealthy indoor air. Here are 6 reliable tips to for keeping a cleaner house while also contributing to cleaner and more breathable indoor air.

Keep Your Home Office Neat & Clean – Magazines, articles, paperwork, bills – not to mention the bookshelves and office equipment – all can harbor dust and dust mites. Keep papers filed neatly in a cabinet, avoid displaying a plethora of books and knick-knacks, and dust with a damp cloth regularly.

Wearing Shoes Inside – Your shoes pick up a lot of stuff from the outdoors. So not taking them off when you come in means whatever has collected on their bottoms is now part of your indoor landscape. Instead, maintain a washable container or area near your main entrance for family and guests to deposit footwear.

Keep Your Trash Bins Clean and Don’t Let Stuff Accumulate in Your Yard or Garage – It’s no secret that mice, roaches, and other unwanted critters carry disease. It’s also true that their droppings can actually exacerbate your allergy symptoms? So if you let any trash or debris pile up in or outside of your home, you could be creating an entry point for them. Stick to a regular routine of taking the trash out and keeping it in a closed bin until trash day. And then, on occasion, hose down the inside of your trash bins for even greater protection against unwanted guests.

Let Your Pets Sleep in Their own Beds – You might love drifting off to sleep with your favorite furry companion, but Fido’s pet dander actually traps allergens which then end up in your bed. If you can’t resist letting your pet sleep in your bed, just be sure to bathe them weekly.

Keep the Heat Down – Mold and dust mites thrive in warm climates, so if you love a super warm and toasty house, you’re helping to make them feel right at home. Set your thermostat around 70 degrees F and keep the humidity level between 40 and 50% to combat the rate of allergen build-up.

Having Wallpaper in the Bathroom – While wallpaper can add a beautiful touch to any room, installing it in the bathroom is not recommended because it can promote mildew. Instead, opt for stencils or textured paint to add style any nothing else.

What if you’re now thinking “Too late!” to one or more of these clean-air and allergy-minimizing tips? Well, for starters, we at Optimum Air would tell you it’s never too late to clean up the air inside your home. Even better, we can help. That’s right: contact us today for more information about our several indoor air quality products, including a whole-house air purifier and a whole-house humidifier, the latter being the perfect solution to maintain healthy levels of indoor humidity all winter long.