How to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality

Home is where the heart is — but if you don’t take the proper precautions, it can become full of airborne contaminants. That’s why GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration is here to provide some life-changing tips to help you improve your indoor air quality:

• Adopt a Houseplant: Nurture that green thumb. Healthy houseplants naturally clean the air in your home and help balance humidity levels throughout the day. Our top picks include the peace lily, reed palm, English ivy, Boston fern, tillandsia, and cactus.

• Control your Moisture Levels: High humidity levels can lead to mold. In addition to houseplants, invest in a dehumidifier for those extra muggy days.

• Be Sure to Dust and Vacuum: A clean home is a happy home — and it has cleaner air. Free yourself from indoor allergies by dusting and vacuuming regularly. (Pro Tip: Use a microfiber cloth when you’re dusting. They’re specially designed to trap particles as you clean.)

• Avoid Burning Candles: Those precious scented candles we all know and love are actually releasing harmful carcinogens into the air with every use. For that fresh scent you desire, try diffusing essentials oils instead. Lavender, eucalyptus, and tea tree oils begin eliminating airborne fungi in under an hour.

• Make Your Own Cleaning Solutions: Even if they are marketed as “all-natural,” store bought cleaning products are full of harmful chemicals. Instead, mix up your own. Vinegar, baking soda, and water should do the trick.

• Have Your Ducts Cleaned: Be sure to have your air ducts cleaned thoroughly every 3-5 years. Over time, they can accumulate a number of contaminants like dust, mold, and pollen.

• Open Your Windows: Proper ventilation is the key to maintaining good indoor air quality. In addition to regular duct cleanings, be sure to let the fresh air flow through your home by opening your windows when the weather permits.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers specialty cleaning services that can help improve the air quality in your home. If you live on Long Island, contact us today at (631) 940-8100 to learn about our mold removal and air duct cleaning services.

Most Common Allergens in the Home

Spring is allergy season, but it’s not just the outdoors you have to worry about. Often times, the worst allergy triggers could be hiding right under your nose.

Here are six of the most common allergens you might find in your home:

• Dust. The average three-bedroom household generates about 40 pounds of dust every year. Much of this dust can collect in your air ducts, where it can quickly circulate throughout the home.

• Dust mites. Dust mites are microscopic insects which thrive on dust. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology, dust mites are the most common trigger of allergy and asthma symptoms. They are most frequently found in pillows, bed sheets, and carpets.

• Pet dander. Pet dander is tiny flakes of skin shed by animals. Pet dander can come from virtually any pet with fur or feathers, including dogs, cats, rodents, and birds. It is estimated that up to 30% of people with allergies can be triggered by pet dander.

• Pollen. You probably already know that pollen is a common allergen, but you may not realize its prevalence indoors. Pollen can enter the home through open windows and doors, or by sticking to your clothing, shoes, or pets.

• Mold. Mold can grow virtually anywhere moisture is present, making it a common allergen in the home. Mold is most commonly found in damp, humid areas such as the bathroom, basements, attics, crawl spaces, and air ducts.

• Cigarette smoke. Though not a traditional allergen, the chemicals found in cigarette smoke are known to trigger asthma and allergies. These chemicals can linger around the home for weeks after the smoking has ceased, a phenomenon known as thirdhand smoke.

Is your Long Island home harboring any of these allergens? Let GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration remove them. We offer professional air duct cleaning, attic and crawl space cleaning, and mold removal services to homes in Nassau and Suffolk County. Visit our website to learn more, or call (631) 940-8100.

6 Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air pollution has been linked to several short- and long-term health problems, and it affects more homes than you might think. Avoid these six common mistakes to keep the air in your home clean and healthy:

1. Smoking indoors.

News flash: smoking is bad for you. It’s not just firsthand and secondhand smoke, either. The toxic particles in cigarette smoke can stick around your home long after the cigarette has been put out, a phenomenon known as thirdhand smoke.

2. Using high-VOC products.

Home products such as paint, adhesives, and even cleaning products have been known to emit volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which have been linked to cancer. Look for “no VOC” labels when purchasing these types of products.

3. Lack of ventilation.

Indoor air pollution is usually higher than outdoor air pollution because the airborne contaminants are confined to a small area. Improving the ventilation in your home gives harmful particles a place to escape, and can help prevent mold by controlling humidity levels.

4. Using air fresheners.

Wait a second, don’t air fresheners freshen the air? Contrary to popular belief, no. According to the NRDC, most store-bought aerosol sprays contain dangerous phthalates, even those labeled as “all natural”.

5. Not having any houseplants.

Houseplants aren’t just for decoration, certain types of plants can naturally improve air quality by filtering out harmful particles. Not all plants are created equal, though. Among the best air purifiers are the snake plant, peace lily, and english ivy.

6. Neglecting your air ducts.

Your home’s air ducts are a common hiding spot for allergens such as pollen, dust, pet dander, and mold. Once these particles enter your air ducts, they can spread throughout your entire home. A professional air duct cleaning is the best way to keep your ducts clear of contaminants.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers professional air duct cleaning services to homes and businesses across Long Island. If you live in Nassau County or Suffolk County, call us for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

6 Tips to Healthy Indoor Air this Winter

Winter is here, which means most of us will be spending more time indoors. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be dangerous for your health if your home suffers from indoor air pollution. Use these six tips from GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration to keep your home’s air clean and healthy this winter:

1. Leave your shoes at the door. During the winter months, the ground is covered with rock salt and synthetic de-icers. You don’t want to drag these chemicals throughout your home, so enforce a strict no-shoes policy for your family and friends.

2. Keep a healthy humidity level. Many people use humidifiers during this time of the year to combat dry air. While this is all right, you don’t want your humidity level to exceed 50% -- otherwise, you could be promoting dust mites and mold growth.

3. Don’t smoke indoors. You may not want to venture out into the cold to smoke your cigarette, but you shouldn’t smoke in your home. The toxins and harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke can stick to your walls and furniture, continuing to affect your health long after the cigarette has been put out.

4. Ditch the commercial air fresheners. Most store-bought air fresheners emit harmful particles known as phthalates. Stay safe and keep your home smelling good with one of these homemade air fresheners instead.

5. Stock up on house plants. Houseplants are for more than just looks, certain types can actually act as a natural air filter. According to NASA, the peace lily, English ivy, and chrysanthemum are the best at removing harmful particles from the air.

6. Have your air ducts professionally cleaned. Air ducts are a common hiding spot for dust, pollen, pet dander, mold, and more. Once these allergens are in your air ducts, they can circulate throughout your entire house.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers professional air duct cleaning services to homes and businesses across Long Island, New York. If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, contact us online for a free estimate, or call (631) 940-8100.

What You Don't See CAN Hurt You

Carbon monoxide has long been dubbed “the invisible killer”, but it's not the only toxin that could unknowingly be lurking in your home's air.

Indoor air pollution is a very serious risk that affects more than 90% of North American homes; and most people don't even realize it. Continue reading below to learn about the dangers of indoor air pollution, and what you can do to prevent it...

What is indoor air pollution?

Indoor air pollution is just what it sounds like – polluted air inside of your home. Many people think air pollution is exclusive to outside, but the air indoors could be much worse. In fact, it's not uncommon for household air to be up to 10x more polluted than the air in a major city.

What are the dangers of indoor air pollution?

Indoor air pollution has been linked to several health problems: both immediate and long-term. Short-term health effects of indoor air pollution mimic allergies, and include sneezing, coughing, headaches, and dizziness. Long-term affects are much more severe, as indoor air pollution has been linked to lung cancer, heart disease, and COPD. You can learn more about the health effects of indoor air pollution by clicking here.

What causes indoor air pollution?

Many household products contribute to indoor air pollution – even ones you think are completely safe. Some common sources of indoor air pollution include cleaning products, paint, new carpeting, hardwood flooring and cabinetry, candles, heating equipment, and ironically, air fresheners.

What can you do to improve the air quality in your home?

There are many steps you can take for better indoor air quality, but these are some of the most effective:

• Invest in a HEPA air filter.
• Swap out commercial cleaning products for natural ingredients such as baking soda and vinegar.
• Control your humidity levels to prevent mold.
• Stock up on these house plants, which can naturally remove harmful particles from the air.
• Have your air ducts professionally cleaned every 3-5 years.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers a variety of services to help you improve your home's air quality. Some of our work includes air duct cleaning, crawl space and attic cleaning, and mold removal. If you live on Long Island, call us for a free estimate at (631) 940-8100.

What You Need to Know About Indoor Air Pollution

We often hear about the dangers of pollution, but many of us are under the impression that this only applies to outdoor air. The truth is, the air in our homes can be just as polluted – or worse – than major cities. Here are a few things you need to know about indoor air pollution.

Indoor air pollution is a common problem in homes across North America.

The EPA tested the air quality of homes across North America, and the results were disturbing. A whopping 96% of homes examined had at least one indoor air quality problem, meaning the issue is more prevalent than most of us are aware of. Chances are, unless you are taking specific steps to minimize pollution in your home, your air could be up to 10 times more polluted than even the dirtiest of cities.

Indoor air pollution can negatively impact your health.

Indoor air pollution has several undesirable health effects – in both the short-term and the long run. Immediate side effects of indoor air pollution mimic those of allergies: including sneezing, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, headache, and fatigue. Long-term health effects are much worse, as indoor air pollution has been linked to various cancers, heart disease, and COPD.

Indoor air pollution is caused by everyday products.

Seemingly harmless products are one of the main contributors to household air pollution. Common culprits include commercial cleaning products, candles, heating equipment, paint, carpets, hardwood floors and cabinetry, furniture, and (ironically) air fresheners. It is important to know what products contribute to indoor air pollution so you can remove them from your home.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers a variety of cleaning solutions to help promote better indoor air quality in homes across Long Island. Some of our services include air duct cleaning, mold removal, attic cleaning, and crawl space cleaning. Whether you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, call us for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

3 Things Impacting Your Home's Air Quality

If you didn't already know, your home's air supply could be more contaminated than even the dirtiest of cities. While indoor air pollution can come from a variety of places, these three sources seem to be the biggest culprits.

Household Cleaning Products

Cleaning products make your home cleaner, right? Not necessarily. The truth is, many commercial cleaners actually contain harmful chemicals that release into the air when used. Surprisingly enough, the worst kind of cleaning products are air fresheners. They don't “freshen” your air at all, they just mask it with dangerous toxins.

Air Ducts

Air ducts are an afterthought for most homeowners, but they are actually harboring all kinds of pollutants and allergens. It is not uncommon to find high levels of dust, pollen, mold, and pet dander in home air ducts. Once these particles make their way into your ducts, they can use them as a transportation system to spread through the rest of your home.

Crawl Space

If your home is built atop a crawl space, it could be greatly impacting the air quality of your home. In fact, up to 50% of your first floor's air supply comes from your crawl space. As we have discussed in the past, many crawl spaces suffer from humidity problems – which often leads to mold growth. This is bad news, as exposure to mold spores can cause asthma attacks, allergic reactions, and respiratory infections.

If you live on Long Island, GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration can help you with all of these problems and more. We offer specialty cleaning services such as crawl space and attic cleaning, air duct cleaning, water damage restoration, and more. We only use environmentally cleaning products and procedures to ensure your home is safe and free from harmful chemicals. If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, call us today for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

Are You Making These Air Quality Mistakes?

Indoor air pollution is a prevalent problem in the United States, and we aren't doing ourselves any favors. Due to a lack of knowledge on the subject, many of us are making bad choices that can have disastrous effects on our home's air quality levels.

If you want to improve the air quality in your household, stop making these four mistakes.

Mistake #1: Using air fresheners to eliminate odors.

Air fresheners make your air fresher, right? Wrong. Despite their name, air fresheners don't clean your air at all, they just mask it with harmful chemicals. Use these homemade deodorizing jars to keep your house smelling fresh, and light a match to quickly eliminate unpleasant bathroom odors.

Mistake #2: Not ventilating your home enough.

In an effort to lower their energy bills, many homeowners are fixated on sealing all the air leaks in their home. Eliminating all sources of ventilation might be helpful for your wallet, but it can be detrimental to your health since the pollutants in your home have nowhere to escape.

Mistake #3: Burning candles.

The main ingredient in most candles is paraffin wax, a well-known carcinogen that releases dangerous chemicals into the air as it burns. Even worse, the wicks on many imported candles contain lead, a material that was outlawed in paint during the 1970s due to its toxicity.

Mistake #4: Neglecting your air ducts.

Air ducts are an afterthought for many people, but they are one of the home's primary sources of air pollution. These ducts can accumulate dust, mold, pet dander, and pollen, and then circulate them throughout your entire house.

In order to keep your air ducts clean and pollutant-free, experts recommend having them cleaned every 3-5 years. Long Island homeowners can count on GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for a professional air duct cleaning at an affordable price. Call us for a free quote today at (631) 940-8100.

5 Ways to Clean Up the Air in Your Office

Indoor air pollution isn't limited to just your home, it can be found anywhere with four walls and a roof – including stores, hospitals, schools, gyms, and even your office. Since many of us spend 40 hours a week (or more) in our workplace, clean air is important.

Use these five tips today to start improving the air quality in your office:

1. Keep your workspace clean. It is crucial to keep up on cleaning your work area, as accumulated dust, dirt, and moisture can all impact air quality. Make sure not to neglect germ hot spots such as your keyboard, mouse, and phone.

2. Use natural cleaning products. Don't use store-bought products for your cleaning needs, they are loaded with harmful chemicals (even the ones labeled “all natural”). Instead, use baking soda, vinegar, and lemon – you'd be surprised at everything you can clean with these simple ingredients.

3. Boost ventilation. Do anything you can to improve the air flow in your office: use fans and open up your windows when the weather permits. This keeps air moving and can even vent some toxins to the outside.

4. Add more plants. Did you know that house plants can improve air quality by naturally removing airborne toxins? Some plants are more effective than others – these five in particular are very useful for air purification.

5. Have the air ducts cleaned. The air ducts in your office could be harboring all kinds of contaminants such as cigarette smoke, pet dander, dust, pollen, and mold. These pollutants can use the ductwork as a transportation system to circulate through your entire office.

Not only does poor air quality affect employee health, it affects their productivity too. If you are a business owner on Long Island, cleaning your air ducts can provide you with real, tangible benefits. Want to learn more? Give GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration a call at (631) 940-8100.

How Indoor Air Pollution Affects Your Health

You may know about the air pollution problem, but what you don't know is that it is happening right inside of your own home. In fact, your home's air may be up to ten times more polluted than even the dirtiest of cities. If you think it's no big deal, think again. Read below to discover how indoor air pollution can affect your health.

Short-Term Health Effects

If you are exposed to indoor air pollutants, you may begin to feel the effects within a very short period of time. The severity of these symptoms can greatly vary based on factors such as age, gender, preexisting medical conditions, and individual sensitivity.

Most of the time, these immediate effects can be confused for allergies. The symptoms basically are the same, and can include sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, sore throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Indoor air pollution can also trigger symptoms from other diseases, such as asthma. In order to determine whether your symptoms are caused by poor indoor air quality or actually being sick, it is important to pay attention to the time and place they occur.

The best way to treat symptoms is by identifying and eliminating your exposure to the source of pollution.

Long-Term Health Effects

It's not just the immediate effects you have to worry about. Years of exposure to bad indoor air quality can lead to some pretty serious health complications down the road. While further research is needed to better understand the specifics, indoor air pollution is being linked to various heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and certain forms of cancer. You can see why it is important to improve the air quality in your home, even if symptoms aren't yet noticeable.

One little-known source of indoor air pollution is your air ducts, which could be harboring dust, mold, pet dander, and other harmful pollutants. Experts recommend having your home's ducts cleaned every 3-5 years in order to remove these contaminants.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers duct cleaning services to homes and businesses across Long Island. Our methods have been tested and proven to be 100% environmentally-safe. If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, call us today for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

How Cleaning Your Ducts Can Improve Your Home's Air Quality

Indoor air pollution is nothing to sneeze at – no pun intended.

It sounds like a fictitious problem, but the dangers are very real. The EPA ranks indoor air pollution as a top five risk to public health, and the WHO links it to several diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, and COPD.

Indoor air pollution can come from a variety of products, many of which we use every day. We think that these products are completely safe; after all there's no warning label and some of these goods are even labeled as “all natural”. Some potentially harmful products include kitchen and bathroom cleaners, candles, heating equipment, paint, furniture, and ironically – air fresheners.

To combat indoor air pollution, many people invest in HEPA air filters for their homes. While this is an effective way to remove some of the airborne contaminants floating around your home, it is nothing more than a band-aid approach.

To really fix the problem, you have to eliminate the source of what is causing it. Here is an easy comparison to understand this: think about rotten food stinking up your fridge. Which is the more effective way to clear out the odor – placing an open box of baking soda on the top shelf, or throwing the rotten food away? The answer is obviously to remove the source of the problem, and the same logic applies to indoor air quality.

One of the most surprising sources of indoor air pollution stems from your home's air ducts. An afterthought to most people, these ducts can collect all kinds of nasty pollutants such as:

• Dust
• Mold
• Pet Dander
• Pollen
• Pest Droppings

Once these contaminants are in your air ducts, they can use them as a means of transportation to spread throughout your entire home. The only way to prevent this is by having your ducts professionally cleaned.

Duct cleaning is not something to do on your own, as it requires specialized knowledge, industrial-sized rotary brushes, and truck-mounted vacuums to get the job done right. It is recommended to get your air ducts cleaned every 3-5 years, but it should be more often than that if you own pets or smoke in your home.

If you live on Long Island, contact GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for all of your air duct cleaning needs. We serve all of Nassau County and Suffolk County, so call us today for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

4 Surprising Sources of Indoor Air Pollution

We are all familiar with the dangers of breathing in polluted air, but what most people don't know is that the air inside your house is most likely more polluted than the air in even the dirtiest of cities. In fact, unless you are making a conscious effort to purify your homes air, it could be up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside!

Indoor air pollution comes from many sources; some of them, like paint and secondhand smoke, are easy to guess, but some of them are not so obvious. Check out these four surprising sources of indoor air pollution.

Air Fresheners

If your home's air is dirty, the best way to clean it is with an air freshener, right? Wrong. Despite their name, most air fresheners actually fill the air with high levels of toxins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – even ones marked as “all natural”. If you are looking for a better way to eliminate toilet odors, try lighting a match.

Carpets

New carpeting can emit harmful gasses and VOCs, and old carpeting can harbor dust mites, pet dander, and mold. This can be made even worse if you wear shoes in your home, which can drag in dirt, fungus, and even pesticides. Keep your carpet clean by regularly vacuuming and cleaning it, and implement a strict no-shoe policy for your guests.

Heating Equipment

From your stove top to your furnace, one of the main byproducts of heating equipment is carbon monoxide. If yours isn't properly vented to the outside, the odorless, colorless, toxic gas may be collecting in your home. At low doses, carbon monoxide can cause fatigue, but at high levels it causes nausea, headaches, loss of consciousness, and possibly death.

Candles

Paraffin wax – the main ingredient in most candles – is known to release carcinogens into the air as it burns, such as benzene, styrene, and acetone. To make matters worse, the wicks on many imported candles are made with lead, a well-known toxin.

Want to know another unsuspecting place in your home that is potentially full of bacteria and allergens? Your air ducts. If you haven't had yours cleaned within the past three years, chances are yours are full of dust, pollen, animal dander, and maybe even mold. If you live in Long Island, call GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for a professional-quality duct cleaning at an affordable price. Contact us now for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

5 Ways to Improve Your Home's Air Quality

If you haven't heard by now, indoor air pollution is nothing to sneeze at – no pun intended. The air in your home could be up to 10x worse than the air outside, and the EPA reported that 96% of homes they tested had at least one problem with their indoor air quality.

If these facts have scared you into making a change and making a conscious effort to improve the quality your household air, here are 5 ways you can do it:

Use Natural Cleaning Products

It's counterintuitive, but most commercial cleaning products aren't very clean. In fact, they are some of the most toxic products in the home – about 10% of all toxic exposures reported to the U.S. Poison Control Center involved cleaning products. Most surfaces in your home can safely be cleaned using nothing more than baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and salt.

Houseplants Help!

Adding some house plants to your décor can not only boost the appearance your home's interior, it can actually help purify your air too. In the 1980s, NASA conducted a study which found that certain houseplants – such as bamboo and English ivy – can naturally remove harmful toxins from the air.

No Smoking

The dangers of smoking are no secret. Not only are cigarettes harmful to the smoker, they can effect those exposed through secondhand smoke as well. There is also the lesser-known phenomenon of thirdhand smoke; this occurs when cigarettes are smoked inside and the toxic particles settle onto surfaces in your home, where they will remain long after the smoking has stopped.

Minimize Moisture

Mold can grow virtually anywhere is moisture present – indoors or outside. To prevent the health effects associated with mold exposure, it is important to minimize the moisture levels in your home. Use dehumidifiers in damp areas such as the basement, and run your exhaust fan for 15 minutes after every shower to remove excess moisture from your bathroom walls.

Have Your Air Ducts Cleaned

You would never know it, but the ductwork in your house is a common hiding spot for all kinds of allergens such as dust, pollen, animal dander, and mold. If your air ducts aren't professionally cleaned every few years, these pollutants can be circulated throughout your entire house and inhaled by your family, causing allergy-like symptoms and even respiratory infections.

If you are looking for a professional duct cleaning company on Long Island, look no further than GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration. Rest assured – we only use environmentally-preferred supplies and bio-friendly cleaning methods. We serve all of Nassau and Suffolk County, call us today for a free quote at 631-940-8100.