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I have been in the allergy relief products business for
eight years. My goal from the very beginning has been to
educate our customers about allergen avoidance and help
steer them toward the best allergy relief products.
I consistently express the recommendations listed below. If you are one of our customers who remembers visiting our first location on Roswell Road in Buckhead back in the old days, you probably remember me saying something like this:
 1. If you are going to do anything at all in regard to allergen control, put an Allergy Armor pillow cover on your pillow. This offers the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak. For just $10 to $20, you can do effectively avoid a very potent allergen
- the dust mite and all its related particulate matter - by simply encasing your pillow.
 2. Become a conscious cleaner. Unfortunately, this is nothing we can sell you or you can buy in a box. You have to become more cognizant about how well and how often you clean your environment. Just the other night, I dropped something off the nightstand, and it rolled under the bed. I got out the flashlight that I keep in my bedside drawer and took a look under the bed. It was disgusting! Even though we employ a professional cleaning service and instruct them to use our HEPA vacuum cleaner when they vacuum, they were missing a really important part of the vacuuming process. You need to
vacuum around the nightstand and under the bed. Take a look for yourself; I guarantee there are huge dust balls and other debris - and that debris should be properly removed (with a certified HEPA vacuum cleaner). Cleaning with a good vacuum is always superior to dusting with a feather duster or rag. A HEPA vacuum completely removes the dust, whereas dusting most often makes it airborne, allowing it to settle back in the same place or somewhere else (like your airways).
  You should also wash all bedding at least once a week, and make sure you wash it in water hot enough to kill dust mites, or invest in Allergen Wash or de-mite Laundry Additive. I could go on and on about the importance of cleaning for allergy sufferers, but I won't. In a nutshell, be cognizant of your cleaning practices. For instance, when was the last time you washed your comforter?
3. If you have pets and are allergic, or if you test positive for airborne allergens other than dust mites, consider purchasing a quality HEPA air purifier. Most of our customers begin by putting air purifiers in their bedrooms, as that’s where they spend the majority of their time at home.
 4. After you have completed steps 1-3, it is then time to consider a
HEPA vacuum cleaner like a
Sebo
Vacuum or
Miele Vacuum Clenaer. HEPA vacuum cleaners are investments; they are expensive to build and expensive to certify. That said, you can expect a quality HEPA vacuum cleaner to last much longer than the dust-billowing, carpet-eater available at the big box store. Vacuuming with the right kind of vacuum cleaner is far superior to dusting. Why dust when you can permanently remove the possible allergen from your living area? Every one of our customers could greatly improve their health if they were more conscientious about their vacuum cleaner and their vacuuming habits. When I was in my mid to late twenties, I lived in an old building that was converted to loft apartments. About half the walls were brick, and I remember my friends making fun of me for vacuuming the walls. Bricks are dusty - they attract and accumulate dust. My apartment was cleaner and less dusty than anyone else’s because I took the time to vacuum the bricks on the wall . . . and my health was better because of it.
I hope this article helps you better understand our company's mission. We want to educate and provide products that help our customers live better, healthier lives.
Visit our
Allergy Relief Learning Center for more helpful recommendations.
Originally published in the
August 2007 issue of
Allergy Consumer Report.
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In last month's issue of Allergy Consumer Report, we published the article
