If you or one of your family or friends experience asthma then it is important to understand how upholstery can influence asthma sufferers.
In this article, we explore the different ways that upholstery can have an impact on an asthma sufferer and explore some solutions for ways to minimise the negative impact.
How Upholstery Can Impact An Asthma Sufferer
Given the porous nature of most upholstered fabrics, they can trap and hold a variety of allergens like mould spores, dust mites and other irritants. These allergens can then trigger a variety of different asthma symptoms for an asthma sufferer, including coughing, difficulty breathing and wheezing.
These symptoms occur when someone’s immune system mistakes the allergen for a harmful compound and then releases chemicals and histamines in the body to fight off the potential threat. This causes inflammation and swelling of the airways, which can make it very difficult to breathe.
In some cases, these side effects are just an inconvenience and something unpleasant that an asthma sufferer will have to endure.
Whereas in other cases, these symptoms could pose a significant health risk that must be managed and proactively reduced to minimise the chance of a potentially fatal asthma attack.
Different Types of Upholstery
Not all types of upholstery have the same effect as the different ingredients used and the manufacturing process can influence the potential impact on an asthma sufferer.
Particular upholstery is considered more allergen resistant when made from more synthetic fibres as opposed to natural fibres. As a result, if you or someone who lives in your house does suffer from asthma, you may want to consider that in your furniture and furnishing choice.
In many situations, health professionals will advise people to reduce the amount of carpet and upholstery in houses for sufferers of severe asthma, to reduce the number of locations where these allergens can be held.
Tips for regular cleaning and maintenance of upholstery to reduce allergens and asthma triggers
Vacuuming and Dusting
One of the most straightforward ways to maintain your upholstery to reduce allergens is to vacuum and dust regularly.
When you vacuum your upholstery the vacuum cleaner sucks out and removes many of the allergens that can be caught up in the upholstery, including dust. The vacuuming process also removes dirt and other debris particles that can enflame asthma symptoms.
Dusting your upholstered items can also assist with the number of allergens by removing many allergens that settle on the surface of your upholstered fabric, like pollen.
For vacuuming and dusting to be an effective activity in improving the experience of asthma sufferers, the activity must be done regularly to keep the allergen count low.
If you vacuum sporadically with big delays in between, then you are likely to have a significant allergen count in your upholstery at all times, which will enflame the symptoms of the asthma sufferer, and an occasional clean will not reduce the symptoms for long enough for it to have a positive impact on the asthma sufferer.
As a result, regular and ongoing vacuuming and dusting are required for this to be an effective technique.
Use of HEPA filters
Using a high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA) can be another great way to reduce the number of allergens in your upholstery. Whether you have a room HEPA filter that minimizes the number of allergens in the room that can then settle on your upholstery, or whether you have a HEPA filter attachment on your vacuum cleaner – both options will have a significant positive impact on asthma sufferers and reduce the asthma impact of your upholstered items.
Use of allergen-reducing cleaning products
There is a range of allergen-reducing cleaning products available for your consideration that you could use on your upholstery to minimise the impact on asthma sufferers. The main solutions are allergen-reducing sprays, enzyme-based cleaning solutions and allergen-reducing vacuum cleaners.
Though no single cleaning product will completely solve the problem, in conjunction with regular cleaning and smart upholstery choice you can have a significant positive impact on anyone who experiences asthma when they are in your home.
Professional cleaning services for deep cleaning and allergen removal
If you are struggling to get on top of the number of allergens that are currently in your upholstered items, then it may be worth considering hiring a professional cleaner on an ad hoc or regular basis to do a deep clean and stay on top of the number of allergens in your home. Cleaner Cleaner provide upholstery cleaning Brighton, but there are many other providers that will be able to assist if you are located in a different area.
Final Thoughts
The biggest impact on the number of allergens that you are upholstered items will store is the items you choose to put in your home. Synthetic items will trap a lot fewer allergens in general, but regardless of the furniture you choose – regular cleaning and the addition of HEPA filters will minimise the allergen count in your home to maximise the enjoyment and pleasure of Asthma sufferers.
Last Updated on June 25, 2023 by Lucy Clarke
