Home · Cleaning · Best practice · Low-tox cleaning around infants and asthma
Cleaning best practice
The short answer
Reduce what is sprayed, ventilate while cleaning, choose low-VOC and fragrance-free products, and rely on mechanical removal wherever it will do the job.
A nursery does not need a stronger product. It needs less airborne chemistry and more physical removal, followed by air exchange.
How it is done
- Mechanical first: HEPA vacuum and damp microfibre remove most soil.
- Fragrance-free, low-VOC products where a product is needed.
- Ventilate during and after; run extraction or open up.
- Keep disinfection targeted to hand-contact points and sanitary ware.
Why it matters
Cleaning products are a recognised source of indoor VOCs, and sealed air-conditioned homes exchange very little air. Both facts point the same way: use less, and let the room breathe.
questions
Asked about this
Not automatically. Several plant-derived compounds are respiratory irritants, and citrus oils react with indoor ozone. Fragrance-free and low-VOC is a better filter than the word natural.
Once surfaces are dry and the room has been ventilated. If the product's own guidance is longer, follow that.
references
Background reading
- Volatile organic compound — Wikipedia
- Indoor air quality — Wikipedia
External encyclopaedia entries for the underlying concepts. They explain the science; the practice above is how we apply it in UAE properties.