Improve Your Kitchen’s Environment by Reducing Pests and Mold

If your living room and kitchen are together in one large space, the air in each area affects the other. But each location has different air quality issues to fix to improve the air in all rooms. 

The kitchen is a common place to find allergens like mold and pests. These are allergens that can affect you all year long. Mold is a fungus that releases spores through the air. Inhaling the spores can cause allergy or asthma symptoms. Mold loves produce, plants, and damp areas like sinks and dishwashers.

Cockroaches love damp areas too. They love food even more. Dead or alive, their body parts, saliva, and waste are all allergens. Studies show children who are allergic to cockroaches and are exposed to them, need to go to the hospital for asthma more often than other children with asthma.

Here are some ways you can reduce allergens and triggers in your kitchen:

• Fix leaks from your sink, dishwasher, and water line from your refrigerator as soon as possible.
• When buying produce, wash it before you put it away. Throw out produce before it grows mold, and clean your refrigerator bins often.
• Mold likes to grow on refrigerator door seals. Clean them often.
• Don’t leave sources of water and food out at night for cockroaches. Remember to put away your pet’s dishes too.
• Store food in airtight containers and keep lids on your trash cans.•Clean up spills immediately.
• Don’t let dirty dishes pile up on the counter or in your sink.
• Use roach baits instead of sprays to control cockroaches. If you use a pest control company, hire one that uses integrated pest management (IPM) methods.
• Wipe down the tops of your cabinets and vent hood often with warm, soapy water. These areas are often overlooked.•Wash throw rugs weekly in 130 F water.
• If you have house plants or potted herbs, only water them when the soil is dry. 

Here are some other ways to prevent mold in houseplants:

• Plant them in sterile soil to give them more light. 
• Use a fan to circulate air around the plant
• Trim dead leaves often
• Reduce scents and chemicals

Many of us store our cleaning supplies in the kitchen. We also want our kitchen to be the cleanest room in the house. Chemicals from cleaning products can trigger asthma symptoms. 

There are ways to keep your kitchen clean without using products with harsh smells.

• wear a mask when cleaning or have someone without asthma clean.
• Use unscented cleaners or make your cleaners. Soap (Kanberra Tea Tree Oil Soap) and water, as well as vinegar, are effective, natural cleaners.
• Avoid aerosols that can contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• Clean up messes when they happen to reduce your need for cleaning products.
• Clean the vent/filter on your range hood, or install an exhaust fan in the kitchen that vents to the outside