Clutter Costs Health

Most people don’t think about how their clutter is affecting their health.  Housework is much more difficult to accomplish in a cluttered house.  As a home gets more cluttered, cleaning may be so difficult that it can’t be done at all.

Most of us have some piles of stuff waiting to be dealt with.  Who would even think about dusting a pile of paper?  After all, it’s temporary and you plan to get to it soon.  My clients, even the ones that are not terribly cluttered, have dusty stacks.  They are always shocked by the amount of dust that has built up on their “temporary” stacks.  We can tell how long things have been sitting around by the depth of the dust. 

“Depending on its content dust can be harmful to your health.  What is dust?  It’s a little like sausage: You don’t want to know what’s in it,” states Dr. Anthony Komaroff in this article about dust.  The article goes on to say that household dust can come from the outside air, dead skin cells from people and pets, kitchen grease, carpet fibers, and remnants of household chemicals.  Yuck!  All this stuff can cause allergies or make them worse. 

How can reduce the dust your family is breathing?  Cut down on dust from outside by using doormats.  Dusting using a vacuum with a HEPA filter stirs up less dust than using a cloth.  If you have allergies wear a mask while dusting.  Changing the furnace filters and using HEPA filters can also help.

We all have dust in our houses, and it’s a constant for those of us in New Mexico with our dry and windy climate.  The more clutter you have to dust the longer it takes and the more dust you will stir up.  Getting rid of the stacks, even the small temporary ones, will make a difference in your health.  

Live long and prosper in an uncluttered, less dusty home.       

Copyright© 2019 Elizabeth Tawney Gross, Organizing For Everyday, LLC