Table of contents:
- Indoor air can trigger COPD recurrence
- How do you clean a room for COPD patients?
- Avoid using cleaners with hazardous ingredients
- Make your own cleaning fluid
- Use a mask when cleaning
- Use an air purifier
- Ask others for help
Cleaning the room may not be a big deal for some people. However, the level of cleanliness around is a crucial problem for people with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) because it can affect health conditions.
Indoor air can trigger COPD recurrence
You might think the risk of COPD wouldn't lurk as long as the room in your home was smoke-free.
This is not entirely wrong, considering that cigarette smoke is known to be very dangerous because it contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, including 43 of which can cause cancer.
In addition, cigarette smoke also produces polluting particles which when inhaled can cause irritation to the lungs.
However, things in the house are also a risk to the health of people with COPD.
If cleaning the room is not done regularly, a layer of dust filled with germs and bacteria will begin to stick to the surface of your furniture.
This can worsen COPD symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, and chest stiffness. This risk will increase especially if people with COPD also have allergies.
That's why house cleanliness is one of the most important factors affecting the cleanliness of indoor air. Maintaining the quality must be done so as not to aggravate the condition of the patient with COPD.
How do you clean a room for COPD patients?
Source: Maly Cleaning
Cleaning the room may be a little difficult for COPD patients, but it is not impossible. The following are things that must be considered when cleaning the room.
Avoid using cleaners with hazardous ingredients
Although cleaning is necessary to maintain health, sometimes cleaning products can cause eye and throat irritation, headaches, and worsen symptoms of lung disease.
This is caused by compounds volatile organic compounds (VOC) produced from cleaning products. Some products also contain harmful ingredients such as ammonia and bleach. Fragrance ingredients that are claimed to be natural can also react and cause pollution in the room.
We recommend that you read the labels on cleaning products before buying them. Choose products that do not contain VOCs, fragrances, and flammable ingredients.
Make your own cleaning fluid
Products labeled as natural are not necessarily guaranteed safety. If you are not sure what cleaning products are on the market, you can make your own all-purpose cleaning solution.
For example, a mixture of water, white vinegar, and lemon juice can be used to clean the floor of a room as well as function degreaser for stubborn dirt. Then, the water and white vinegar mixture can also clean glass, windows, and furniture surfaces in the house.
The use of sparkling water can also be used to clean carpets and furniture using fabrics. White vinegar is also believed to get rid of bad odors.
Use a mask when cleaning
Source: Alibaba.com
The thing to remember when cleaning the room is the use of a mask to protect you from exposure to dust particles. One that is recommended is the type of N95 mask which can filter particles in the air by up to 95%.
However, the use of N95 masks must also be consulted again because it can risk obstructing breathing.
Use an air purifier
If you live in an area with high levels of air pollution, use water purifier can be a solution to improve indoor air quality.
Choose the type of water purifier that you use high-efficiency particle (HEPA) filters to be more effective in filtering air and particles that can trigger irritation.
Ask others for help
Sometimes COPD sufferers have limitations in doing quite strenuous activities, one of which is cleaning the room. Some patients also show sensitive reactions to the fragrances produced by certain products.
Ask for help from the closest person. You can also ask a house cleaning service to clean the room using safe products.
Don't forget to open the windows for good air ventilation.
