This post is sponsored by Clorox.
Every Saturday, I venture out by myself while Brett watches the kids for my “hour of power” which includes a coffee, sometimes shopping but always flowers–a trip to either our local U-pick field for snapdragons or one of my favorite stores for inexpensive fresh flowers to replenish the vases in our home. Having fresh flowers in our house brings such a simple but significant boost of happiness in my life, but there’s one small problem–we’ve got two Class 5 Sneezers in our family. Brett and Lainey suffer from major allergy issues–itchy noses, red eyes, sneezing (Lainey once sneezed ELEVEN times in a row) and sensitive skin which not only puts a damper on my flower obsession but presents some other tricky predicaments for everyday living like choosing what products we use in our home, how often I need to dust (never enough) and whether or not we can open our sliding glass doors for some fresh air. When it comes to handling the allergy issues in our home, Brett gets passionate. He’s practically an Allergy Fighting Superhero, added to his growing list of self-appointed titles (see also: certified meteorologist, expert in Amazon crap-we-don’t-need buyer, safety dad). Thankfully, with a little mindfulness, we don’t have to give up too much to keep the allergy reactions at bay. I’m partnering with Clorox® today to share a few tips and practices that we use in our home to address the allergies.
Use Fragrant Free Detergent
This tip is especially important for Gagoo. Who’s Gagoo, you ask? Gagoo is Lainey’s beloved puppy blanket she’s slept with since she was a baby. This thing has been pressed against my child’s cheek more than anyone in our family and gets washed once a week. For as much skin contact Lainey has with this puppy and her sensitive skin, Clorox offers their new Clorox 2® Free & Clear Stain Remover & Color Booster Packs, a 3-in-1 formula which removes tough stains the first time, brightens colors, and helps fight odors while being gentle on the senses and skin. For some families with sensitive skin and allergies, it’s hard to find a fragrance-free, dye-free product that actually works, but when you pair Clorox® 2 Free & Clear formula with your favorite detergent, you can actually remove 4X more stains and brighten 2X more than using detergent alone. Behold, the laundry dilemma solved–bright clean whites and vibrant colors with no irritants!
Watch What Fragrances You Bring in the Home
Back to my flower obsession. While I still buy them, I have learned that certain flowers are better than others. Daisies and sunflowers have a lot of plant pollen, so they usually get moved to the lanai. And I learned the hard way (poor Brett) that gardenia are way too fragrant to bring inside the house. Daffodils, zinnias, tulips, roses, snapdragons and hydrangea don’t have airborn pollen or overpowering scents, so our sneezers are much more tolerant. As for candles, I don’t buy anything with strong floral scents and try to stick to citrus and earthy/leather fragrances.
Dust Patrol
The first thing we do when the allergies kick up is do a good thorough vacuuming of the house, especially in areas where dust tends to collect and/or near where we sleep–baseboards, nightstands, behind the bed, etc.
Allergen Patrol
Brett’s good at this one because it involves weather watching, and he’s all over tracking that. Most weather app reports give pollen level predictions, so when we know there are a lot of irritants in the air, we keep our windows closed, limit time outdoors and put our car air conditioning on recirculate.
For more information on Clorox 2® Free + Clear Stain Remover & Color Booster Packs and how to safely and properly use them, you can visit the Clorox® site.
Gagoo’s up for another wash this weekend, and I have 21 mismatched socks to sort through, so you know where I’ll be ringing in the weekend…Happy Friday, from my laundry room!
Audrey Johnson says
Great information about the flowers. We have some allergy sufferers around too and this will be helpful. The dust is a big issue. Keeping up with it is rough during the summer if we are able to open windows. Thanks for sharing.
Cassie from True Agape says
Thanks for sharing this product. Kids especially are very sensitive with fragrances or scents. So it’s nice to find product that will be very helpful in aiding these allergies.