We open the window wide, but instead of the expected cleanliness, after a while we are surprised by a heavy, musty or greasy whiff that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. This paradox of spring ventilation is not just our misplaced feeling. In March, several problems are encountered in our homes.
While nature is waking up outside, inside we are fighting an “invisible criminal” that degrades the quality of our every breath. The main cause of March odor is high humidity combined with temperatures that rise and fall as they please. They have the right to do so during this period, but it really does not suit us if we want to have a pleasant environment in the apartment. What can we do about it?
Can you ventilate properly? A YouTube video by Martin Beneš will tell you:
Moisture is a problem
After winter, the walls of the houses are still cold, but the air outside is already starting to get warmer and more humid. Once you let this moist air in, condensation occurs on cold surfaces and in the corners of rooms. This (even if only slight) moisture wakes up dormant fungi and bacteria in curtains, upholstery, even behind furniture and in other places that we might not even have thought of. It is their rebirth that releases that specific spring odor into the space, which we will not ventilate until we get rid of the very source of moisture in the depth of the materials.
Accumulated substances are released
An important point that the EPA agency (i.e. the American government agency for environmental protection) draws attention to is the so-called “pollutant accumulation effect”. During the winter, we only ventilate briefly and intensively, which leads to the accumulation of volatile substances in the furniture, in the plaster and in the floors from cleaning products, from cooking or from air fresheners. In March, when the home starts to warm up naturally, these substances start to be released back into the space much faster. This creates a situation where ventilation will bring oxygen, but at the same time it “stirs up” the chemical particles, which are calm for the time beingwhich we then perceive as an unpleasant smell.
Watch out for the hood
But the biggest source of pollution in the kitchen, which literally wakes up from hibernation in March, is the hoodwhich few households can do without today. Fat particles from frying and cooking all winter settled in the filters and pipes, where they start to oxidize and go rancid. If it is not cleaned on a regular basis, it becomes a place for exhausting vapors rather than a generator of odors, which, when ventilated by a draft, spreads throughout the apartment. Grease coating on extra filters captures dust and pollen from the outsidethereby creating an ideal environment for various harmful microorganisms.
It won’t work without deep cleaning
So how to really clean the air in the house? The path does not lead through scented candles, which only make the situation worse by adding more chemicals, but through thorough deep cleaning and strategic ventilation. It is ideal to ventilate with a morning draft, when the outdoor air is the cleanest, and then focus on critical areas. Washing curtains, cleaning upholstery and especially degreasing kitchen appliances are the steps that will bring back the real smell of cleanliness to your home – not only in spring…
