12 Tips to Ensure You are Breathing Fresh Air at Home during the Festive Season

What once used to be a festival with only light, love and happiness has become one full of pollution, sickness and damage. True, there is childlike joy in lighting firecrackers and celebrating one of the greatest festivals in India but in recent times some responsibility and caution go a long way in reducing the pollution levels for our own sake and the sake of children and animals that get doubly impacted. Even when the festive season isn’t around, indoor air pollution comes from various sources like soot from candles, phthalates from air fresheners, dust-laden fabric etc. These pollutants only increase and intensify during Diwali.

While you may not be able to control the air that’s being polluted outdoors during Diwali, you certainly can control the quality of air inside of your own home.

If you’re planning to gift your family something this Diwali, then why not gift them great health with a paint job that will not only transform your home into a luxurious haven but also protect them from inhaling harmful pollutants? Asian Paints Royale Atmos paints come with activated carbon that help purify indoor air as well as have a fresh fragrance that lasts for long so you can even ditch harmful air fresheners!

If you’d like additional solutions to keep the air quality in your home more breathable and less toxic for you and your loved ones here are 12 great tips for you!

1. Remove Your Shoes at the Door

Make sure you remove shoes that the door to avoid carrying chemicals, pollen, dust and other dirt from outdoors into your home. Diwali involves having guests over so make sure you add a little note that tells your guests to remove their shoes too.

2. Ban Smoking

While smoking should be prohibited altogether, there is bound to be a guests or two who want to have a quick smoke during a party at home. However, that one occasion can leave its traces on your walls, curtains and other furnishing for a long time. Cigarette smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic. So, politely tell your guests to smoke outside if needed.

3. Ditch Aerosols

It might be tempting to spray some room freshener to welcome guests to a sweet-smelling home or even to drown out the smoke from the fireworks outdoors, but inhaling the chemicals in aerosols can cause health issues of the heart that can be fatal over time. Air fresheners contain phthalates which are known to be endocrine disruptors. This is especially dangerous for babies and kids whose endocrine systems haven’t fully developed. Instead, use essential oils for fragrance.

4. Clean Your Walls

You might have gone all out to spring clean your kitchen, cupboards, bathrooms and floors and you might have already noticed a difference in the quality of air. However, walls often get neglected because they may ‘appear’ clean. Use a solution of warm water and vinegar for your walls to ensure you get them squeaky clean. If your walls are whitewashed, just use warm water instead.

5. Consider a Paint Job

The air in our homes is actually 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outdoors, owing to several reasons – dust, pet fur, smoke from cooking, chemical cleaning products, and so many more. And festival fun aside, celebrations during Diwali contribute to rising air pollution levels too (both indoors and outdoors), and in turn, amplifying the negative health effects that it already has on people-. If you’re going to spend time indoors, the kind of paint you choose for your walls matters a lot.

Paint over your walls with 2 to 3 coats of Asian Paints Royale Atmos, which is incorporated with Activated carbon technology. It reduces indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde and VOC in the air and provides a fresh, but mild fragrance. The best part? The fragrance lingers on for a couple of weeks after the walls have been painted, providing relief from any malodours! And you know all those stains that are part and parcel of celebrations, and threaten to dirty your beautifully painted walls? Say goodbye to stain worries with the product’s Teflon surface protector, that make it easy to wash off any unfortunate food or dirt spills on your walls!

6. Check Humidity Levels

Humidity indoors makes it prone to mould which can cause serious respiratory issues. Gift yourself a dehumidifier to keep the air indoors much easier to breathe.

7. Keep Your Home Well Ventilated

Diwali is probably not the best time of the year to leave your windows open but one of the best ways to refresh the stale air indoors is to let fresh air in! Keep your home well ventilated in the morning when firecrackers are minimal to promote healthy air circulation.

8. Invest in an air purifier

To keep your kids safe from dust allergies, air purifiers help a great deal. The best part is that they now come in smaller sizes and quaint shapes so not only do they preserve air quality but also make great decor items. Air purifiers remove particulate matter like pollen and dust from the air, protecting you from breathing in these particles and saving you from the sniffles and wheezing.

9. Add in some Green

It is a no-brainer that plants will purify the air at home. Plant some plants at your window to filter out any smoke and dust that tries to pollute your home. While there’s no guarantee that the plants will block out every pollutant, they will certainly contribute to your efforts in keeping your home toxin-free. Plus, think of how gorgeous they will look with your Diwali lights around them!

10. Fix Leaks

As part of your Diwali home cleaning, make sure to call your plumber. Leaking pipes are a cause of potential mould formation in various parts of your house.

11. Check your Cleaning Chemicals

While you choose cleaning chemicals that have pleasant fragrances, these fragrances are a concoction of not-so-pleasant chemicals that can cause your health to take a hit. Look for non-scented products and herbal ones that get the job done while allowing you and your family to have cleaner, purer air to breathe!

12. Clean all Fabric

Upholstery, bedding etc. can hold spores that enter your nostrils, causing respiratory issues like wheezing, snoring at nights etc. Make sure all your bedding and upholstering go in for a thorough cleaning this Diwali and after Diwali too so that you can finally feel the joy of fresh indoor air!

With all these tips at hand, we can ensure that the air you breathe will be fresher than ever before. Whether you choose a long-term but effective solution like a paint job with Asian Paints or you choose to regularly apply the above tips to your home, we can guarantee that this festive season will be a cleaner, healthier and more eco-friendly one for sure!