Air quality, that is, the cleanliness and freshness of the air, and the density of particulates and allergens, can greatly affect your comfort and daily life in your home. It can even go as far as making it more difficult to sleep. Poor air quality can affect your ability to breathe easily, cause inflammation, and even reduce your oxygen intake when you’re sleeping, which can cause you to wake up tired more often than not. As such, if your sleep hasn’t been great lately and it’s not due to noise, light, or other interruptions, then addressing your air quality might be the next best step.
Open Your Windows Daily
First and foremost, you want to make sure that you’re not letting your indoor air become stagnant. The dust and allergens stirred up by cleaning up, movement, or even in your ventilation system can mean that the air becomes heavier with accumulated carbon dioxide and other airborne pollutants. Opening the windows allows this air to circulate out, and fresh air to circulate in, improving the oxygen levels and reducing stuffiness. The best method is cross ventilation, which involves opening doors and windows to allow air to flow through opposite sides of the room or home, replacing that old trapped air a lot more easily. If the pollen levels are high and you’re trying to be mindful, the early morning is the best time to air out the home for an hour or two.
Capture Fine Particles With An Air Purifier
Air purifiers can do a lot to improve your bedroom air quality, removing the microscopic pollutants that linger in home spaces, such as dust, pet dander, pollen, and other fine particulate matter. An air purifier captures these tiny particles as they circulate through the air, and those equipped with a HEPA filter tend to be the most effective at all. Running your air purifier overnight can help you maintain cleaner air when you go to sleep, which can be especially helpful if you share your home with a pet or live in urban environments, where traffic and greater general movement just outside your window can affect air quality.
Choose The Right Kind Of Bedding
Given that your bedding is likely to be close to your face for several hours every night, it should be no surprise that it can greatly affect the air you breathe when you’re sleeping or trying to fall asleep, as well. Aside from people who experience allergies, everyone can suffer from worse air quality due to dust mites, mold spores, trapped moisture, and more, which can get trapped in synthetic or poorly ventilated bedding. It can easily leave you feeling congested, which does not make for a good night’s sleep, while hypoallergenic options like cotton, linen, or an organic wool comforter can make a huge difference. These allow air to circulate while wicking away humidity that microbes thrive in, creating a cleaner sleep environment, and allowing fewer irritants to linger and disrupt your rest.
Wash Your Bedding Regularly
Regardless of what kind of bedding you use, it’s still going to be susceptible to the sweat, skin cells, and dust that it’s exposed to over time. Your fabrics can begin to carry these allergens, which can degrade air quality around them and make the air a little less comfortable to breathe. They also provide a food source for dust mites and contribute to musty odors. As such, be sure to wash your bedding weekly in warm water to remove those irritants and maintain a fresher sleeping environment. Pillows might benefit from being washed a little more frequently, especially if you have sensitive skin, dandruff, or other issues that might cause them to become laden with particulates more frequently.
Control Moisture Levels With A Dehumidifier
Humidity in the bedroom air can make it feel a lot heavier, which not only makes breathing slightly less comfortable and the bed a sweatier place to be, but can also encourage mold growth and dust mites to spread. Maintaining a decent indoor humidity of under 50% can ensure that the bedroom is more comfortable and cleaner. To that end, a dehumidifier can be a great option, especially in damp climates or rooms that don’t have as much ventilation. If you see condensation forming on your windows or your fabrics feel damp, it’s a good sign that you should consider lowering the humidity levels in the room.
Avoid Adding New Pollutants
Aside from taking steps to reduce the pollutants that are currently in the air, you should make sure that you’re not inadvertently adding any more to the environment, either. For instance, there are scented candles, incense sticks, and harsh cleaning products that can release fine particles, including volatile organic compounds (or VOCs) into the air. Even if they might bring a relaxing scent, they could also be irritating your airways or making you more prone to allergy symptoms. Burning candles or incense is particularly counter-productive for your air quality as the smoke particles can linger longer the longer you use them. If you want to improve the aroma in the bedroom, then a scent diffuser or even an organic, light linen spray can be a lot more in keeping with your objective.
Support Fresher Air With Bedroom Plants
Houseplants can help you create a much fresher bedroom environment through their natural support of hudmiity balance, as well as by creating a calming atmosphere. While plants are not a substitute for good ventilation or filtration, they can still contribute in a small way to the freshness of the bedroom. Options like snake plants, peace lilies, and spider plants are easy to maintain and well-suited to the kind of environment found in most bedrooms. What’s more, biophilic design has been shown to help reduce stress and generally create a much calmer environment, which may also make it easier to sleep at night.
With the right air quality, you can breathe easy, which can also make it a lot easier to drift off and get the quality and quantity of sleep you need, as well.
