A clean environment for your bird will keep you and your pet healthier. Sometimes it may feel like effective cleaning is easier talked about than done. But following the 5 suggestions below will help you drastically reduce the number of particles in your bird room.
Avoid Particle Traps—-There are so many places in the usual home and even bird room that can trap allergens. Wall-to-wall carpet, upholstered furnishings, piles of books and magazines, fabric draperies, horizontal blinds, and the list goes on and on.
Most of these surfaces are woven and can trap an unbelievable number of particles that can and are sent airborne with daily activities. The more of these you can eliminate, the better you will be able to clean thoroughly and really reduce the number of particles that are even available to get into your air.
As you add to and replace furnishings in your bird room and home, think bird-friendly replacements. Opt for easy-to-launder throw rugs that are easy to launder. Consider furniture that can be wiped down with a damp cloth rather than fabric covered pieces.
Choose linoleum, tile, wood, or other hard surface that can be mopped clean. And think about shades that can be rolled up and wiped clean and vertical blinds as options that will allow more particles to fall to the floor.
Say No—Saying no to just one more bird can mean that the bird(s) you have already adopted will have a better life. If you are a bird-lover you probably want to give every homeless bird a good life. But depending on the size of your space, continuing to add birds past a certain point makes it nearly impossible to keep conditions healthy.
“The more the merrier” rule does not apply in this situation. Offering fewer birds a good life trumps having a ton of birds that you are unable to care for properly.
Clean Often—How often you clean will be your call based on your situation. But you’ll be able to tell if your schedule is working pretty quickly. Some people are able to clean every couple of days, and others feel they need to clean every day and sometimes more than once a day.
Your frequency will depend on the number and type of birds you have. Those with powder-down birds such as African Greys, Cockatoos, or Cockatiels may find that more frequent cleaning is necessary to keep up with the incessant white powder that these parrots produce.
The goal is to literally keep the dander and dust down. Your room doesn’t need to be able to be able to pass the white glove test, but almost.
Clean Smarter—One of the best ways to really take particles out of circulation is to use water to clean. Adding water to the mix with a damp mop or cloth makes the particulates too heavy to escape into the air again and gives you more of a chance of permanently eliminating them.
A vacuum with a HEPA or high efficiency particle arresting filter is also an excellent way to make sure that what is sucked into the vacuum cleaner stays in the vacuum cleaner. Keep the broom and dust mop out of the mix and opt for the vacuum cleaner.
Filter The Air—Regardless of how smart or frequently you clean, particles will get into the air. Particles just come with the territory when you live with birds. The only way to reliably keep the air clean is to filter it continuously.
HEPA filtration is best because its only by-product is fresh air. There are no ionized particles or ozone levels to worry about.
HEPA filtration is used by hospitals and will surely work for you in your situation. This type of filter must have proven that it is able to eliminate 99.97% of airborne particulates that are.3 microns or greater.
Together, these 5 steps can take you closer to providing a wonderful life for you avian friends, and a healthier life for all who live with them.
