Top Ways to Air Out Your House For Spring & Improve Air Quality

Learn the easy ways to air out your house in the Spring to help improve the air quality in your home and create a healthier environment.
How to Air Out A House Chirping birds woke me up at some crazy early time the other morning but I didn’t mind at all. The bedroom windows were open for the first time since last fall and I was in heaven! After a crazy long, bitter cold winter, I am so ready to open up the house and clear out all that stale, old, stinky air. The house starts to smell a bit musty after being closed up for so long – like the proverbial “grandma’s house” or the shuttered up cabin. Ewwww, right? Not to mention the air pollution, that is invisible to the eyes and nose, but is there all the same.

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Why You Should Air Out Your House

You may think of your home as a safe and healthy place to hang out, but studies have shown that the air inside a typical house is 2-5 times more polluted than the air outside. On top of that, Americans spend nearly 87% of their time indoors.  Indoor air pollution comes from a variety of sources, including products used and sprayed inside the house, dust that accumulates from both indoor and outdoor sources, as well as mold and bacteria. Products in your home, such as paints, furniture, home fragrances, cleaning products and more, may be off-gassing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are linked to respiratory conditions and neurological problems. Household dust comes from dirt and other airborne particles, but also from fibers and microscopic bits of products like carpets, furniture and even plastics. This dust contains flame retardants, phthalates and other chemicals that can lead to hormone disruption and other negative health effects. As you can see, there is good reason to want to clear out all that indoor air pollution and let in the fresh, clean air.  

Find more ways to detox your home here.

open window in house

How to Air Out A House

Here are some easy tips to get rid of air pollution and stale odors and let the fresh, Spring air flow through your house:

Open Up

One of the easiest ways to air out your house is to open up the windows and doors. Now’s the time to wash and re-install your screens (if you took them out for winter), so you’ll be prepared for bug season. 

Cross Ventilate

To really get the air flowing, open up doors and windows on opposite sides of the house and on different floors. You want to get that air moving up, down and all around!

Blow Air Out

For particularly stinky rooms, set up a fan in the window to blow stale air directly outside. Turn on your kitchen and bathroom fans to suck air out of the house. Ceiling fans also help to circulate air out through open windows. fan in window in house

Spring Clean

Spring is a great time to clean up the dust and odors that may have accumulated over the winter. Plain old vinegar and baking soda are excellent for cleaning and neutralizing odors in the home. If you prefer using store-bought, green cleaning products, make sure they are non-toxic and scented with fresh, naturally derived fragrances instead of artificial ones.

Freshen Air Naturally

Avoid air freshening sprays and plug-ins because they harm rather than help with air quality, by dispersing toxic ingredients into the air. The artificial fragrances in air freshening products contain hormone disrupting chemicals and allergens and can trigger asthma. If you want a fresh scent in your home, use an aromatherapy diffuser with natural essential oils, or concoct a homemade simmer scent on the stove. 

Change furnace filter

Did you know that home air filters can help reduce odors in your home? A high-quality air filter like the Filtrete Odor Reduction Filter combines activated carbon and electrostatically charged fibers to attract the microscopic particles that contain odors and trap them inside the filter. This helps with common household odors from cooking, tobacco smoke, pets, mildew, and cleaning. One filter  lasts up to 3 months and is 65 times more effective for odors than other carbon filters. I’d say it’s worth adding to your arsenal of tools for freshening your home.

What are your top tips to air out your house?

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8 Comments

  1. Great info, I need to be more diligent about changing my air filter for my furnace!

  2. I needed this reminder – I’m the WORST at remembering to change the filter! I just wish it would warm up enough so we could actually open our windows…

  3. Ack! I think it might be time to change our filter too. I love opening windows — have a few rooms with 2 windows which is so fabulous for circulation.

  4. Lindsay, Alicia & Betsy – my trick to remembering to change my furnace filter is to make it a task on my online calendar. Seriously, it’s the ONLY way I remember!

    1. Don’t feel dumb Robbie. There’s always something new to learn! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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