Decoration, Furniture, And Bedding: 5 Tips For A Healthy Bedroom
Did you know that you spend a third of your life in your bedroom? Therefore, it's very important to arrange this room in your home so that it promotes sleep and health. Here are 5 tips for creating a healthy bedroom.
Remove shoes to limit bacteria and toxic substances.
The first tip for maintaining a healthy bedroom is to take off your shoes when entering the room. We're not always aware of it, but the shoes we wear outside bring harmful bacteria and toxic substances into our homes.
Walking on the street, we pick up bad bacteria from animal droppings and harmful products like tar, pesticides, or fuel residues on the soles of our shoes.
These unwanted substances should not cross the threshold of the house, let alone the bedroom, as they promote infections and respiratory problems, especially in vulnerable individuals.
Limit fragrances and pollutants.
Among the undesirable substances to avoid for maintaining a healthy bedroom, it is also important to mention the notorious VOCs or volatile organic compounds. These substances that pollute the atmosphere inside the home can be found in new furniture but also in all interior fragrances.
To limit this indoor air pollution, you can adopt the following good practices:
• Let new furniture air out for several days outside, on your balcony for example, before installing them in the bedroom. The glues, paints, and varnishes that compose them are indeed filled with formaldehyde, a toxic product.
• Avoid textiles like curtains or duvets treated with flame retardants. These products are well-known endocrine disruptors.
• Be wary of pillow mists and essential oils that are supposed to help you sleep better or purify the atmosphere. These products, which may contain volatile organic compounds or VOCs, are also allergenic and irritating to the respiratory tract.
3- Choosing the Right Bedding.
The choice of bedding is, of course, important for setting up a healthy bedroom. A mattress should be neither too hard nor too soft in order to conform to the body's natural curves and avoid back pain and other joint discomfort.
When purchasing, it is also necessary to check the safety of the materials used. Polyurethane foam mattresses emit volatile organic compounds, as this material is nothing more than a petroleum derivative.
The same attention must be paid to the materials when buying pillows, and it is best to opt for a harmless material like natural latex.
4- Change the sheets regularly.
Even though this household chore may seem tedious, ideally you should change the sheets every week to maintain a healthy bedroom. This routine helps to limit the growth of dust mites who love lounging in your bed!
It's not good to cohabit with these microscopic creatures as they promote respiratory and skin allergies. Therefore, if you can't change the sheets very regularly, it's essential to air out the bedding every day.
To limit the proliferation of these unwelcome guests, it's also advisable to keep the temperature between 18 and 20°C maximum in the bedroom because dust mites thrive in warm, humid conditions.
Lastly, to avoid the presence of toxic substances on the sheets, it's better to not choose so-called non-iron sheets. After purchasing, always wash new sheets at 60°C before putting them on the bed.
5- Protect yourself from electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones are suspected to be carcinogenic. That's why you should not place your smartphone near your bed at night.
If you want to use your phone as an alarm clock, consider putting it in airplane mode each evening. That way, it won't emit potentially harmful radiation close to you while you sleep.
To maintain a healthy bedroom, also avoid installing the base of a cordless phone in this room. The bases of these phones constantly emit radiation, just like Internet routers. If your router is located in the room where you sleep, it's advisable to turn off the wifi during the night.
