Indoor air quality can be a complex, daunting subject. But that should not stop you from taking action to improve it. There are many easy, inexpensive things you can do which will have a significant positive impact on your home. Here are ten:



Dirt, dust, contaminants and pesticides come into your house on the soles of your shoes. By leaving shoes at the door, you keeps the outside from being tracked into and through the indoor of your home!

Indoor air quality can be a complex, daunting subject. But that should not stop you from taking action to improve it. There are many easy, inexpensive things you can do which will have a significant positive impact on your home. Here are ten:

1. Leave Your Shoes at the Door
Dirt, dust, contaminants and pesticides come into your house on the soles of your shoes. By leaving shoes at the door, you keeps the outside from being tracked into and through the indoor of your home!

2. Unscent Your Laundry
The “fresh” scent of your clean laundry, comes from combination of chemicals which can be damaging to human health. Not only do you get a concentrated hit while you are unloading laundry, but it absorbs into your sheets, towels, and clothes that are in direct contact with your skin. . Switch to organic, unscented detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets.

“The ‘fresh’ scent of your clean laundry, comes from combination of chemicals which can be damaging to human health.”

3. Open a Window!
Active ventilation works to keep fresh air circulating, to help contaminants escape, and to manage indoor humidity if you don’t have a balanced, mechanical ventilation system.. Even on cold, rainy, or snowy days: crack a window for at least a few minutes!

4. Dry Your Front-Loading Washing Machine
Front-loading washing machines are prone to mold developing inside the folds of the door gasket. Make sure you wipe dry the interior of the gasket inside the door after the last load has completed. Then leave the door ajar so the rest of the moisture can evaporate.

5. Store Chemicals Outside
Paints, pesticides, non-green cleaning and laundry products, and other household chemicals should be stored outside of the house. If that isn’t possible, they should be sealed tightly and stored in a cool, dry place away from forced air systems and ducts.

6. Run Your Bath Fan
Less moisture = less chance of mold. Run bath fans while showering, and for twenty minutes, to keep moisture to a minimum in your bathrooms. If you don’t have a bath fan, open a window so the excess humidity can escape. But in the meantime, buy and install a bathroom exhaust fan. .

7. Run Your Range Hood Fan
Like bathing, cooking generates lots of moisture, as well as emissions from gas stoves and some non-stick pans. Running a range hood that vents to the outside keeps this air out of your house breathing space.

“The pretty candles around your house have a bad influence on your indoor air quality, because their fragrances, paraffin wax, and wicks with heavy metal cores release chemicals that are considered just as dangerous as second-hand smoke.”

8. Skip Scented Candles
Unfortunately, the pretty candles around your house have a bad influence on your indoor air quality, because their fragrances, paraffin wax, and wicks with heavy metal cores release chemicals that are considered just as dangerous as second-hand smoke. Get rid of them.

9. Dust Your Walls and Ceilings
Dust collects everywhere, and your walls and ceilings are no exception. Remove the “dust” with a HEPA filtered vacuum or by “Swiffering” the surfaces. Best of all, you only have to do this once every few years..

10. Change Filters
Filters in forced air systems, whether for heating or cooling, need to be changed on a regular basis. If you can’t remember the last time you did it, it’s time.

For more actionable steps to improve the health of your home, take the Hayward Score today for your free, personalized report.

The “fresh” scent of your clean laundry, comes from combination of chemicals which can be damaging to human health. Not only do you get a concentrated hit while you are unloading laundry, but it absorbs into your sheets, towels, and clothes that are in direct contact with your skin. . Switch to organic, unscented detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets.

“The ‘fresh’ scent of your clean laundry, comes from combination of chemicals which can be damaging to human health.”

Active ventilation works to keep fresh air circulating, to help contaminants escape, and to manage indoor humidity if you don’t have a balanced, mechanical ventilation system.. Even on cold, rainy, or snowy days: crack a window for at least a few minutes!



Front-loading washing machines are prone to mold developing inside the folds of the door gasket. Make sure you wipe dry the interior of the gasket inside the door after the last load has completed. Then leave the door ajar so the rest of the moisture can evaporate.



Paints, pesticides, non-green cleaning and laundry products, and other household
should be stored outside of the house. If that isn’t possible, they should be sealed tightly and stored in a cool, dry place away from forced air systems and ducts.

Less moisture = less chance of mold. Run bath fans while showering, and for twenty minutes, to keep moisture to a minimum in your bathrooms. If you don’t have a bath fan, open a window so the excess humidity can escape. But in the meantime, buy and install a bathroom exhaust fan. .



Like bathing, cooking generates lots of moisture, as well as emissions from gas stoves and some non-stick pans. Running a range hood that vents to the outside keeps this air out of your house breathing space.

“The pretty candles around your house have a bad influence on your indoor air quality, because their fragrances, paraffin wax, and wicks with heavy metal cores release chemicals that are considered just as dangerous as second-hand smoke.”

Unfortunately, the pretty candles around your house have a bad influence on your indoor air quality, because their fragrances, paraffin wax, and wicks with heavy metal cores release chemicals that are considered just as dangerous as second-hand smoke. Get rid of them.



Dust collects everywhere, and your walls and ceilings are no exception. Remove the “dust” with a HEPA filtered vacuum or by “Swiffering” the surfaces. Best of all, you only have to do this once every few years..



Filters in forced air systems, whether for heating or cooling, need to be changed on a regular basis. If you can’t remember the last time you did it, it’s time.

For more actionable steps to improve the health of your home, take the