What do I ventilate?

I began last year regularly sharing my fresh indoor images on Pinterest, and have received encouraging and positive feedback. I wanted to share my easy ventilating and natural sunlight ideas on the Mitey Fresh blog.

I don’t do all the flying around the house every day and night, but I do enjoy the whole family helping out and benefiting as well! I use simple instructions and easy to follow tasks.

I’m also a fan of opening all the windows wide open morning and night, although I’ve been keeping them not as wide open more recently due to the winter nights being so cold here. Here is my ventilate, ventilate ventilate video.

My home’s fresh indoor air principles

Here are the general fresh indoor air principles I follow – it’s what works for my home!

– I open up all windows when home. I avoid keeping all windows closed to the odours and mustiness that my home and I don’t tolerate: cooking with aromatic herbs and spices, frying onions and meats, the perfumes and laundry aromas from visitors the day before, the pet hair in their bedding and them themselves the day before they are due to be washed, stale air from the cupboards in the kitchen that warn its time to get cleaned out, condensation from the cold night air, dampness from the rainy days, and the inevitable dank laundry trying to dry around the house during winter. I enjoy fresh, nature scented air moving throughout the house. Love the summer especially to let the air in, not the flies of course!

– Open doors. I usually open doors to outside, to bedrooms and to cupboards so the whole house can enjoy the same fresh air for the day and night.

– Sunlight takes centre stage. Liberal servings of sunlight makes you feel happy and warm, and keeps dust mites and mould at bay.

– Dark leafy greens at least outside – usually inside too. I prefer deciduous plants outside, leafy during the summer and less leafy during the winter, allowing natural light in when you need it most. However, inside plants when in a pinch for space, potted Spathiphyllium helps keep my air space purified from those perfumes and aromas and it also helps keep my house drier.

– Unmake your beds. Those with dust mite allergies and sensitivities to mould should give extra attention to not making their beds, since they are susceptible to developing itchy eyes, runny noses and can’t stop coughing. The whole family keeps their bed unmade. We all love it, we leave the beds clothes neatly folded at the end of the bed. The air and the light can get to it, naturally.

– Finding a balance with airing. I believe everyone needs to tweak their schedule as to when they take their bedding outside to air and dry and to suit their household and health concerns. One of my ongoing challenges is to get help taking the mattresses outside, between 10 am and 2pm when the sun light is at its best. I usually take one big mattress per day between my husband and myself or one of the older children helps, and one or two smaller mattresses on other hot, sunny days with the younger ones. It is their mattress after all and educates them at the same time.

 – Often it’s those sheets and that big doona. To support my airing and cleaning regime, I tend to wash sheets and pillow cases every week – rotating between family beds rather than all at once. And for the doonas, I tend to air them seasonally, around the change of season or before putting them away when not needed during hotter seasons. Like with woollen under lays, I give them a whack with the tennis racket to disperse dust. This reduces dust mite breeding during the holidays with less food and all dried and aired out. This saves me money and keeps me and the family healthy without using harsh cleaning chemicals.

Leave a comment with your ideas for ventilation and natural light at home!