By Gina Greco, Senior Brand Marketing Specialist, SEMCA

Have you ever wondered which room inside your home has the dirtiest air quality? Since I have been working remotely for most of the year, I have become all too familiar with the importance of clearing the air inside my home to clear out unwanted smells and bacteria. I do this in multiple ways: I take advantage of clear days by opening my home’s windows; I use my vent while cooking inside my kitchen; and I invested in an air purifier for most rooms inside my home. The combination of these three efforts has made a noticeable difference in the air I breathe each day inside my home.

The Bedroom

Dirty is complicated, there are no two ways about it.  It is comprised of some combination of particulates, gases, and microbes.  The balance depends on your house. The bedroom can be both the smelliest and the dustiest room in the house. Even if you change your bedding regularly — the mattress, shoes, and carpets are places that accumulate sweat, drool, dead skin cells, and oils related to body odor.  If you keep your clothes hamper in the bedroom, that is another component, and it is made worse by moisture – sweat, used towels, etc.  That can lead to an additional moldy odor.

Sheets and bedding are in constant motion at night.  This is also where you sort through your clothes and take them on and off.  Dust and particulates can easily take to the air in these conditions.  And if you have allergies to dust mites like I do, moving those allergens into the air makes a more hostile environment for allergy sufferers.

The Bathroom

If you keep your hamper in the bathroom, don’t be surprised if the bathroom is the house’s smelliest room.  The added moisture from the sink and shower will only encourage mold growth. In most cases, bathrooms are cleaner than you think – because people pay more attention to them. At least I know I do.  The abundant hard surfaces that are easily cleaned and hostile to bacteria helps.  And there are many options for commercial cleaning products.

If you purchased a bathroom cleaner, you probably used it.  And bathroom cleaners often contain bleach-based disinfectant elements that regular household cleaners don’t have.

The Living Room

The germiest place in the home is normally around household pet areas.  These are areas that you don’t think to do deep cleans, like the wall-trim at the floor near the food and water bowls.  Moisture and bits of food can get into any crevice and encourage bacteria and germs to grow.  Bits of stray food can also easily produce mold.  Household cleaning products rarely contain disinfectants or bleach, certainly not for wood or carpets.

Free-roaming pets seem obvious suspects, but caged pets, like birds and small mammals, can still produce particulate matter and odors capable of getting all-around a well-ventilated house. We documented pet issues pretty well in our blog post “How Sharp Air Purifiers Keep Pet and Owner Together”.

The Basement

The moldiest place is almost always a basement, but hampers and bathroom wallpaper can also be sources. If you smell “fish,” and you know that it can’t be actual fish, take it very seriously because smoldering electrical components often produce a fishy smell.  Sniff all electric plugs, outlets, and light switches in the house just in case.  Then go and count the fish in the aquarium?

Change and Improve Indoor Air Quality Using an Air Purifier 

When used properly and positioned properly in the room, some people notice beneficial changes of using an air purifier inside a room in their home after one hour. Impressive, right?

Success against airborne particulate matter and allergens depends on the unit’s ability to circulate the room’s air.  Placing it near a wall, without obstructions like picture frames, and a clear shot at the ceiling will help ensure that the fan can move and cycle the room’s air.  It’s called the Coanda Effect, and it means that moving air travels along surfaces more efficiently.  Our air purifiers use that effect for cycling the air in a room efficiently.

Regarding bacteria, mold, fungus, and viruses, Sharp Plasmacluter® Ion Technology is proven to reduce all of them by more than 85% (between 85%-94% for individual strains) in a little more than 4 hours, according to laboratory testing by AHAM.  That is one of the many reasons I decided to incorporate these air purifiers into many rooms inside my home. In these less than certain times, my air purifiers give me peace of mind regarding the air I breathe at home.