Introduction
No one would be without their beloved pets, but what can you do if you or someone you love is allergic to them? You don't want people not to able to visit because they're allergic to them, or have to keep taking anti allergy meds yourself when you have pets in your home. Luckily, there is a better way to deal with allergens.
An air purifier is the best way to remove pet allergens, especially dander, from the air in your home. They make a real difference to the levels of dander, making your home much more manageable for anyone with allergies.
Here's what you should look for in an air purifier for pet dander.
A Quick Guide To Pet Allergies
Firstly, it's helpful to know what it is about your pet that sets off allergies. Typically, if you have a pet allergy you're allergic to the dander that pets have. Dander is made of skin flakes, as well as pet hair. The allergy is to the proteins that are secreted by oil glands under the pet's skin, specifically.
When you have an allergic reaction to dander, very simply your immune system is overreacting to a substance that isn't actually a threat. The severity of the allergy can vary from person to person, but reactions can include a running nose, swelling and weeping eyes, coughing, sneezing, and more. They aren't typically harmful in the long term, but they're still very unpleasant.
As well as dander, pet hair itself can help contribute to allergic reactions. It can help trap dander and keeps it around in your home. So, if there's pet hair on the floor, on furniture or on clothes, these can all keep dander around to cause allergic reactions.
Pet saliva is another allergen that traps dander. This happens when the pet licks themselves, as the proteins in their saliva get trapped in the dander.
Can An Air Purifier Help With Pet Dander?
Now you know what's causing the allergic reaction, you need to find a way to combat it. While taking allergy meds will help with the symptoms, you're not actually removing the allergen from the house itself, so it's a short term solution.
Regular cleaning will certainly help with removing dander, especially any that's on the floor or stuck to furniture. However, you're not going to get the dander that's in the air. Remember, you can't see all of it as it's so small.
In this case, you'll want to add an air purifier to the mix. These will be able to catch those particles and remove them from the atmosphere entirely. How does that work?
A good air purifier will use a filter to pass air through. They bring air in, and anything that's in the atmosphere will be caught in the filter. That includes things like dust, pollen, smoke particles, and of course, dander. The allergens are trapped, and fresh air is put back out into your home.
As such, an air purifier can do a lot to ensure that your home is safe for those with allergies, plus it'll help remove a lot of other impurities from the air too.
Which Air Purifier Should You Use?
There are a lot of different air purifiers on the market, so you'll want to find one that can deal best with pet dander. As such, look carefully when you start shopping around.
The best type of purifier is a filter purifier. As the name implies, they draw air through a filter in order to trap impurities inside. You're going to find a lot of them on the market, but the type you want is one with a HEPA filter. HEPA filters are able to capture elements that are just 0.3 micrometers large. That enables them to capture things like skin flakes and pet fur, as well as the dander that's in the air.
To get the most out of these filters, you'll need to ensure that you're cleaning them out regularly and changing the filters. When you do, you'll be removing those allergens from your home for good.
There are other types of purifier out there, but they're not going to be the best for dander. A carbon air purifier, for example, is designed to filter certain gases out of the air. As such, they aren't able to capture particles such as dander.
The other popular air purifier type are ionizers. These release charged particles, which then stick to pet allergen particles. This then allows them to stick to the walls or floor, to be cleaned up. However, it's not an efficient way to remove them, and they potentially release ozone, which is harmful to your health.
Keeping Dander Down
As well as using a filter air purifier, there are other ways you can keep pet dander to a minimum in your home. These methods include:
Regular bathing: Washing your pets, especially dogs, can help reduce the dander they release in your home. You can even buy special dander reducing shampoos for this purpose.
Healthy diet: Ensuring your pets have a healthy diet and lots of water ensures that their skin won't dry out, and so it won't flake off as much.
Regular cleaning: Cleaning your home on a regular basis will do a lot to remove dander. Using a HEPA vacuum cleaner will do a lot to help you with this. Washing down hard floors and washing rugs in hot water will also help a lot.
Limit pet areas: If there's just one person in the home that's allergic to your pet, restrict them from that person's bedroom. This way, they won't be exposed to dander as they sleep, making things more comfortable for them.
Conclusion
An air purifier can help a lot when it comes to pet dander allergies. Paired with regular cleaning and good pet health care, you'll see that your home can be allergy friendly, even with pets in the house.
Get an air purifier today and see the difference it can make.