Can my vacuum help me fight my allergies?
Springtime for many people means puppy love and picnics, but for others it marks the beginning of another allergy season of itching, sneezing and wheezing. While they'd love to enjoy lunch in the park, allergy sufferers are rubbing their eyes, watching as their skin turns red and blotchy, and hoping their nasal congestion doesn't get so bad it causes rings to develop around their eyes.
Allergies to ragweed and pollen are seasonal, but people who are allergic to dust mites or common household pets may suffer these symptoms year round. One recent study shows an allergy to household pets or dust mites can actually worsen the symptoms of ragweed allergies [source: Queen's University]. And allergy seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer, possibly due to rising temperatures around the globe [source: Landau].
If you have allergies to pets, you probably notice how quickly the direct presence of a cat or dog affects you, and you may have to take allergy shots or medication to reduce or suppress the symptoms if you have pets yourself. These medications come in handy -- no matter how careful you are about keeping pets outside, their hair and dander have a near-miraculous way of working their way deep inside your home. People's shoes track in traces of animal waste from outside, while other clothes distribute animal hair from room to room.
If you want any hope of allergy relief, you must work to eliminate allergen sources while also working to rid your house of existing allergens. Whether it's dust mites, pollen particles or dander that trigger symptoms, carpets and rugs make inviting, long-term homes for allergens.
Like many people, you may have a stand-up vacuum that's several years old, and hopefully a backup supply of the disposable bags many of these vacuums require. It's important to rid your house of dust, dirt and dander when you're fighting allergies, and frequent vacuuming is an important part of this strategy. However, older bagged vacuums may not do the trick. For one thing, since you have to replace bags, you may vacuum less to conserve them (or not vacuum at all when you're out of bags). Also, as bags become full, suction power decreases, meaning the allergens in your carpet remain after the vacuum has passed over them.
So can vacuuming help you fight allergies? Read on to find out.
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Bagless Vacuums and Allergies
In the previous section, we mentioned that older, stand-up vacuums that use bags may not be effective at eliminating dust mites, dirt and animal dander, which contains hair, skin flakes and traces of feces or urine.
Many people don't like having to keep up with a supply of vacuum bags and might push off vacuuming to another day when they realize they'll have to run to the store to get more bags. Worse yet is having to open the vacuum and examine the bag to see if it's full. Yuck!
There's one sign your vacuum bag is full: decreased suction power. As a vacuum bag fills up, the vacuum's suction decreases. You may think you've vacuumed an entire room before realizing you've just been operating a four-wheeled device without suction power.
Bagless vacuums have grown in popularity for these and other reasons. Unlike bagged vacuums, bagless vacuums use a built-in, removable dust cup that collects dirt and allergens from the air being forced through the vacuum. It does this by using centrifugal force to whip the air around the cup, forcing debris outward to the cup's walls and allowing air to escape while the debris falls off the walls and into the cup. Other than this, the designs of bagged and bagless vacuums are fairly similar. A fan pulls air in through an intake valve, runs it through a filtering system (either a bag or the chamber with the dust cup), and then forces air out through an exhaust valve.
An advantage of bagless vacuums is not having to open the vacuum case to find out if the collection device is full -- you can see directly through the clear plastic cover to see if it needs emptying. Additionally, manufacturers of bagless vacuums boast their vacuums -- unlike bagged vacuums -- maintain suction power no matter how full the cup is. However, in practice, bagless vacuums usually do lose some suction power as the dust cup becomes full.
The primary advantage for allergy sufferers is that vacuuming can be done anytime without any worry as to whether spare vacuum bags are somewhere in the house. You can simply empty the dust cup, replace it, and you're ready to vacuum.
There are big drawbacks to bagless vacuums, too. We'll discuss them -- and a filter that might change your allergy-plagued life -- in the next section.
HEPA Filter Vacuums for Allergies
We just discussed the reasons why some people prefer bagless vacuums over bagged vacuums. But are bagless ones the right choice for people with allergies?
There are major disadvantages for allergy sufferers when it comes to bagless vacuums. The process of emptying the dust cup is by no means a clean or tidy affair. As soon as you remove a dust cup from a bagless vacuum, the uncovered cup releases dust and dirt back into the air. If you empty it into a bag, you're going to create a dust cloud as you dump it. If you empty the dust cup outside, you better stand upwind, or you'll end up covered in the very dirt you just removed from your rugs and carpet.
Sometimes the vacuumed debris gets stuck in the bottom of the cup, requiring you to pry it loose. This, too, is likely to cause dispersal of the allergens over yourself or your home, and shines a light on the convenience of just being able to toss a bag of dust into the trash as you do with a bagged vacuum.
Many vacuums sold today offer a relatively new feature: HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters. These filters are constructed of tightly interwoven fibers (often fiberglass) that trap tiny particles that other vacuums often don't catch. HEPA filters are able to trap particles as small as 0.3 microns, but only when properly installed by the manufacturer. HEPA filters require good engineering and strong seals, so that dust and dirt (and the air that carries it) won't take the path of least resistance: a crack in a seal of the vacuum itself. Additionally, vacuums with HEPA filters require more suction power than they do without HEPA filters, so if the filter has been arbitrarily added to an otherwise low-end model, the resulting suction power will leave much to be desired.
For the person with allergies, the best bet is probably a quality, high-end bagged vacuum with a HEPA filter. While the upfront price and the cost of maintenance will be higher (HEPA filters will need replacing every year or so), the results will be worth it. You'll rid your house of more allergens than with any other type of vacuum, and you'll be less exposed to those allergens when handling the vacuum and changing bags.
For lots more information on vacuums and allergies, see the next page.