When you can’t breathe: how to freshen the air in an apartment without air conditioning?

Ventilation is the easiest way to freshen the air in your apartment. But in hot weather it does not work due to low humidity, so you have to look for other options. Ventilation also turns out to be ineffective if a persistent unpleasant odor appears in the room (for example, after cooking fried fish). In both cases, the problem can be solved quickly, and without the use of industrial aerosol air fresheners, the safety of which is questionable.

Getting rid of junk

If the air always seems dusty and heavy, it means there are a lot of heavy curtains, canopies, blankets, bedspreads, carpets, and soft toys in the apartment. The same problem occurs in rooms where old books and newspapers are stored. The fact is that microscopic fibers constantly peel off from fabrics and paper - together with invisible particles of dust, they fly in the air, making it dirty.

To cope with the situation, you need to put your home in order:

• free up space as much as possible - throw away, give away or sell everything unnecessary, including excess furniture;
• replace duvets and pillows with modern ones with synthetic filling;
• To store books, equip closed shelves with doors or sliding glass;
• Instead of thick curtains, sew light curtains from cotton and linen. Roller blinds or wooden blinds are also a good solution;
• get rid of carpets.

When everything is done, it will be possible to maintain clean air through regular cleaning and ventilation.

Air humidification

Dry air, even if it is clean, is not perceived by people as fresh. Therefore, the first thing to do is to moisturize it in one of the following ways:

• Wash the floors after vacuuming them. If the floor covering allows, do not wring out the mop head all the way - drops of water evaporating from the floor will contribute to creating a comfortable microclimate.
• Do a wet cleaning - wipe all horizontal surfaces with a damp microfiber cloth. You will also have to pay attention to the chandeliers - without regular cleaning, a lot of dust collects on the lampshades.
• Purchase and turn on a special device - a humidifier. Using sensors, it will monitor the level of moisture in the air.
• During the heating season, you can hang a wet towel or washed sheet on the radiator.

When the house is cold (the thermometer shows less than +18°C), it is better not to increase the humidity, otherwise mold will form on the walls and ceiling. Use other ways to freshen the air.

Houseplants

Plants in pots are not only part of the interior, but also one of the ways to purify the air, humidify it and saturate it with oxygen. Therefore, you should not replace them with artificial flowers, even very beautiful and naturalistic ones.

The best way to purify the air is chlorophytum - an unpretentious, tenacious and very decorative plant that looks like a porcupine's tail. It absorbs toxins, carbon monoxide, benzene, ammonia vapor and even formaldehyde. The top five “green friends” also include begonia, spathiphyllum, chamedorea and sansevieria.

Air humidification occurs after watering, when water gradually evaporates from the soil. In summer, you can spray the leaves of plants - this will benefit both them and the people living in the house.

Elimination of unpleasant odors

Another way to freshen the air in your apartment is to eliminate unpleasant odors. These odors can arise for various reasons, including penetration from the outside. Some of them go away easily when aired, others may remain for several days. This happens because they are absorbed into fabric (carpets, curtains, blankets, clothing) and other porous materials.

You can get rid of the smell in several ways:

• Global wet cleaning using special products. Carpets and carpets need to be vacuumed or beaten, and then cleaned with a stiff brush and wiped with water and vinegar. If possible, you should leave them outdoors until they dry completely. Bed linen, bedspreads, blankets, curtains, and clothes will have to be washed. Things that should not come into contact with moisture can be placed in the freezer - in most cases this method is effective.
• Spraying odor-killing agents into the air. This can be a mixture of water and vinegar in a ratio of 10:1 or 10:2; soda solution (a tablespoon per liter of water); decoction of pine needles or leaves of myrtle, basil. You need to spray so that as few drops as possible get on furniture and other objects.

If you have a bright interior, it is better not to use decoctions or replace them with infusion of lemon peels. Folk remedies should be used when the smell is not very pronounced.

Essential oils

Essential oils can not only refresh, but also aromatize the air. There are many options for using them in everyday life:

• Oil burner. This device consists of a plate on which oil is dripped, and a candle - it heats the plate, promoting the active evaporation of aromatic substances.
• Diffuser. A glass container filled with glycerin or coconut oil, into which one essential oil or a mixture of several is added (about 20 drops in total per 100 ml of base). Next, thin bamboo sticks are inserted into the container - through them, a pleasant aroma “is released from confinement” and spreads throughout the house.
• Scented sachets. A fabric bag is filled with cotton wool, onto which 5–10 drops of oil have previously been applied. Then it is hung or placed in the room. When the aroma weakens, open the bag and add a few drops of oil.

Since essential oils affect not only the microclimate in the house, but also human health, before purchasing them you need to carefully read the instructions - there may be contraindications for people with chronic diseases, children and pregnant women.

As you can see, you can freshen the air in your apartment and get rid of the smell not only using household chemicals, but also using improvised means. And to achieve high efficiency, you need to use several options at once - for example, do wet cleaning, ventilate, turn on the humidifier and make several aromatic sachets.