Next week will be the beginning of May. 

Will you remember to clean or change your air filter?  Once upon a time, when the world was a more simple place, I recommended that people clean or change their air filter when they mailed their mortgage payment.  I thought that by connecting the air filter maintenance to the one activity that you would never forget was a great way to remember to clean or change your filter.  Mail a check, clean/change your filter.  Once a month, easy peasy.

Times have certainly changed.  Some people pay their mortgages bi-weekly.  With the spread of electronic debit and on-line banking many people don’t even mail a check to their bank or mortgage company, they just have the funds automatically transferred.  So, the old thinking needs some updating.

If you have allergies, it is important that you keep a good filter on your forced air system.  This keeps your HVAC or heating system from circulating the same dust all over your house as well as serving its primary purpose of keeping the blower motor clean. If your ductwork is dirty, a good filter won’t clean it, but it will keep it from getting worse. 

There are two styles of filters; permanent and disposable. The permanent electrostatic filters are highly recommended because they trap the most particles.  However, because they work well, they need to be cleaned on a regular basis. And if you can’t remember to clean the filter (despite the tips I am going to give you) the permanent filter is not for you.  Disposable filters come in a spectrum that ranges from high-quality (like a pleated MERV8) to useless (like the blue ones at the grocery store). Either style needs to be changed on a regular basis.

So, if you don’t mail a mortgage check, how do you remember to take care of your filter?  You can put that same electronic technology that makes bill paying easy to work as your filter reminder.

If you have an Android smartphone, just go to the “Calendar” function and pick your filter maintenance day.  For example, you can pick the first day of the month.  Now, create an event called “filter maintenance” and set the frequency to one a month.  Your phone will now remind you take care of that filter. You can do the same thing with your Iphone.  If you don’t want your phone nagging you, add filter maintenance to your Google Calendar our your OutLook calender and your PC, tablet, or laptop can do the nagging.  Just create the event and set the frequency to once a month and the expiration to never.

Now that your electronic device is set to do the nagging, all you have to do is take action.  If you have an idea on how you remember to take care of your filter, let me know.

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

Related Posts – Breathe Dirty Air … Not a Good Idea … Clean Your AC Filter

Most of the allergy-related articles you read in the spring time cover avoiding your exposure to those pesky pollens.

I have written several posts myself about what to do to minimize your exposure and reduce your allergic reactions if you have seasonal allergy.

Once thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the phenomenon of cross reactivity or oral allergy syndrome. 

This occurs when a person has been sensitized to proteins found in certain tree pollens that are very similar in structure those found in foods.

For example, the birch tree (a big pollen producer and the enemy of many a hay fever sufferer) produces a pollen called Bet v1 that is similar to plants in the apple, plum, and parsley family. Because the chemical structure of the protein in the pollen is so close to the structure found in the food, your body gets confused and thinks that juicy apple is a nose full of birch pollen.  For the botanically challenged, that means apples, pears, plums and prunes, peaches, apricots, cherries, almonds, carrot, celery, fennel, parsley, and parsnip may be seen by your immune system as birch trees.

During the birch pollen season, you might want to reduce or eliminate your consumption of these in their raw state. In the case of oral allergy syndrome, you will want to eliminate them year-around.  The good news is that like all proteins, these cross reacting pan proteins can be denatured (or broke down).  Now that doesn’t mean that you can spray your food with ADMS Spray to denature the way you would with dust mite allergy.  What is does mean is that you can apply heat to break that protein down.  So, while a raw apple might cause symptoms, apple sauce, apple juice, or apple pie might not.  That is because the cooking process (whether stove top, oven or microwave) will raise the temperature of the food high enough to neutralize the pesky protein.

None of this is “new” news.  A study done back in 1998 and published in The Journal of Immunology determined that alder pollen was just as bad as birch pollen. It just doesn’t seem to get much attention, so I thought I would bring it up.

Do any of you have any problems with oral allergy syndrome or do your pollen allergies make it harder to eat certain foods?  I’d love to hear your stories and how you cope with it..

Til Next Time

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

Did you know that April is the official Grilled Cheese month in the United States?  And today, April 12 is the official National Grilled Cheese Day here in the United States. 

Is this a great country or what?  We actually set aside a day to celebrate that ooey gooey melted goodness that is known as the grilled cheese sandwich.  Whether it is good old fashioned American cheese grilled with butter on white bread or creamy brie on brioche with herbs or swiss on rye, we love our grilled cheese sandwiches.

What does this have to do with allergies?  Well, nothing unless you need to use gluten free bread or soy cheese.  But grilled cheese is so awesome, I thought we should honor it with a post today.

My family likes the taste of grilled cheese and tomatoes.  My daughter likes a slice of tomato on her grilled cheese.  I think that is sacrilege.  My mother likes grilled cheese with tomato soup.  I think that is disgusting. The whole grilled cheese and tomato gene must have skipped a generation because just the thought of desecrating the simplicity of my grilled cheese turns me off. 

But, call that grilled cheese a quesadilla and make it with cheese and a flour or corn tortilla (no meats…I am a purist) and you bet I want some tomato salsa on there.  The hotter the better. 

I have made grilled cheese with sharp cheddar and granny smith apple.  I saw Paula Deen make grilled cheese with mayo on the outside of the bread instead of butter.  I admit I tried it, but I will stick to butter.

So, in honor of Grilled Cheese Day, tell me how you like your grilled cheese and we will post it here.

Till Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

People love their pets.  I heard someone on the radio a few days ago that really made me chuckle.  He said 15 years ago “people had pet cats and dogs and now they have children in fur coats”.  He was speaking of the growth in the pet care industry.

You don’t have to tell me that people love their pets.  I know personally.  I love my pets (well except when they are tearing something up or making a mess). Don’t you love your pets?  I also hear the heartbreak in people’s voices when they call and are faced with giving up a pet because someone in the house has an allergy.  They are faced with very real pain from the loss of their loved one in a fur coat. 

The conversation usually starts like this, “I need some cat dander allergy spray” or “do you sell that cat dander allergy soap?” or “I heard you have some stuff to rub on the dog to get rid of the dander”.  The first thing we try to do is educate the caller.  When people are informed, they are better able to make rational decisions about the actions they need to take.  See, it is not the cat or dog dander that causes the allergy.  The actual substance that triggers the allergic reaction is a protein that is found in the saliva and urine.  There are several proteins involved, but when it comes to cats, the most common is the Fel d1 protein. All cats and dogs produce this protein. Some more than others.  Don’t buy into the notion of the “hypoallergenic” cat or dog.  It doesn’t exist.

These allergy-causing proteins get spread on the animal’s skin and fur every time the animal grooms itself and empties its bladder.  It sticks to bits of hair and it sticks to little bits of skin.  It can dry up and flake off on its own or more commonly, it gets shed when that piece of skin or that strand of hair is shed.  The bits of dry dead skin on animals is referred to as dander, and that is why so many people mistakenly think it is the cat dander that causes the allergy.  Just think of the dander as a carrier of the allergen, not the actual allergen and you will be well on your way to understanding what is happening.

Knowing the source of the cat allergen helps to understand how to control it in the environment.  It almost goes without saying that the person with the cat allergy should not be in charge of cleaning the cat litter box.  That is because the protein is in the urine and the urine is in the cat box.  If you have cat allergies and must clean the cat box, then wear a mask.  Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards (that applies if you have cat allergies or not..eeewww).

Control where the animal sleeps.  Don’t let them sleep with you.  I know it is hard, but your body really does need the restful down time to recover from the stresses of the day and if you are subjecting your immune system to allergens unnecessarily, that just can’t happen..  Besides, you might even get a better night’s sleep if the cat isn’t waking you up every 2 to 3 hours because it is bored or wants to be petted..  That doesn’t sound like any pet you know does it?

You can wipe the cat down at least once a week with a coat conditioner made especially for controlling the allergens riding on the cat dander.  It is called Allerpet/C.  They also make a formula for dogs called Allerpet/D.  I have personally used the Allerpet lotion on my cats before I have visitors with cat allergy and have wonderful results.  You just pour the Allerpet on a clean rag and wipe it all over the cat (or dog).  It is not a shampoo, so you are not soaking and rinsing the animal.  You are just rubbing it on the animal.  It goes to work right away to get rid of the cat allergen.  As a bonus, it contains ingredients that make the animal’s fur very soft and shiny.

If the animal roams freely through the house, you have a bit more work in store.  You will need to spray down the fiber surfaces that can collect those little bits of shed skin, hair, or dried saliva or urine with a denaturing agent like ADMS Spray.  This goes for any upholstered furniture that the cat gets on as well as rugs or carpets.  This needs to be done at least once a month.

If you or someone you know is allergic to cats, it may be possible to get that “cat dander allergy relief” without getting rid of the cat.  But at least now you know its not really relief from cat dander you need.

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

Last week-end I was doing my own spring cleaning for our rental property (if you ever want a great place to get away from it all, check this place out Cabin On A Creek).  This included all those steps in the deep cleaning blogs I wrote previously.  As my dust mite covers were coming out of the washer and into the dryer a light bulb came on over my head.

In all the times I have written about the care and cleaning of zippered dust mite covers for the mattress, pillow, and duvet I never mentioned two important things.  First, when you wash your covers, make sure the zippers are open.  Second, when you are drying the covers don’t mix laminated and microweave fabrics. 

You want the zipper open so that both the inside and the outside of the cover can be laundered.  You don’t want to mix laminated and microweave fabrics in the dryer because they have different care needs.

The laminated fabrics protect because they are a conventional fabric to which a thin urethane laminate has been fused.  Because the membrane is fused to the fabric with heat, if it is subjected to high temperatures, the fusing will release and separate from the fabric.  This will ruin the dust mite cover and this situation is not covered by warranty.  Once the fabric and laminate separate, it is almost impossible to put the cover back on the pillow or mattress.

The microweave fabrics protect because they are a specially woven fabric that is constructed with a weave so tight that allergens cannot pass through the spaces between the fibers.  There is no urethane or any other form of laminate.  These types of covers can be dried on higher temperatures.

Drying of the covers becomes important when you are laundering a mixture of both types.  Since one takes higher heat than the other, they cannot be dried together unless you want to run your dryer for a long time on a low setting. 

What I do is wash both types of covers together (with the zippers open) and then I dry the microweave fabric first in the dryer on the medium setting.  While the microweave fabric (in my case it was the AllerSoft 100% Cotton) covers were in the dryer, I had my laminated covers (in this case it was the Bed Bug proof pillow covers) drip drying while they waited for their turn in the dryer.  When the cotton covers came out, I adjusted the heat to the low setting and tumbled the laminated the covers.  Because they were almost dry from the drip dry, it only took a few minutes for them to become completely dry.

The entire washing and drying process took place while I steamed the mattress and pillows with my Vapamore and treated the carpets with a denaturing agent.  So when all the covers were dry the bed could be put back together again and the room was finished.  It was perfect timing!

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store