"As soon as I took it out to dry outside, I couldn't stop sneezing and a runny nose."
"When I dry it indoors, I notice a smell."
"I'm having trouble taking care of my futon and sheets."
Rie Hirashima, a mother of four and a laundry expert, will introduce washing techniques to prevent hay fever that will solve such problems!
Laundry points
During pollen season, it is important to wash your clothes and bedding thoroughly .In particular, change into new clothes after going out and wash clothes that have pollen on them as soon as possible.
Block pollen adhesion with fabric softener
Pollen easily adheres to clothing due to static electricity.You can reduce static electricity on your clothes by using fabric softener.
Fabric softener also has the effect of making it easier to remove pollen from the surface of clothing.
In terms of preventing static electricity, we also recommend using an anti-static spray.
We recommend wearing outerwear made of material that does not attract pollen.
Polyester and nylon are recommended because they are made of smooth materials that prevent pollen from adhering to them.On the other hand, be careful when wearing materials with fuzzy surfaces, such as fleece or wool, as pollen tends to adhere to them.
As a general rule, if you suffer from hay fever, we recommend hanging your clothes indoors or using a dryer rather than drying them outside.
Dry your laundry outside early in the morning
Pollen is dispersed from cedar and cypress forests in the early morning, and in the morning it is dispersed to suburban areas, residential areas, and urban areas.Therefore, in urban areas, the first peak of dispersion occurs between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Although the weather calms down temporarily in the afternoon, convection in the air due to the cooling air in the evening causes pollen scattered in the air to reach the ground, and the peak of pollen scattering occurs again from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm .
In early spring, when large amounts of pollen are scattered in the air, you need to be careful not only about pollen in the morning and afternoon, but also in the evening.
By avoiding this peak zone when drying clothes outside, you can reduce the amount of pollen adhering to the laundry.
Pollen tends to stick to wet laundry
When comparing the amount of pollen on wet sheets and dry sheets by drying them outside, Lion's experiment found that wet sheets had twice as much pollen as dry sheets.Therefore, you can reduce the amount of pollen attached by letting the clothes dry indoors for a while and then drying them outside.
Protect from pollen with a clothing cover
By placing a commercially available clothing cover over your laundry, you can prevent pollen from adhering to it.Shake it off by hand before taking it in.
It is said that you can remove 40-60% of the pollen from your laundry by brushing it off by hand.When doing this, be sure to gently shake off the pollen as it will get into the fibers if you hit it.
On days when a large amount of pollen is expected to be scattered, dry the clothes indoors.
The amount of pollen scattered varies depending on the weather.On windy days, the amount of pollen scattered increases, and on days when the air is dry, pollen tends to fly up, so it is recommended to dry your clothes indoors on such days.
Tips for drying indoors
Remove indoor pollen with an air purifier
Even if you try to dry your clothes indoors, there's no point if there's pollen floating around in the room.Before drying your clothes indoors, close the windows and use an air purifier to purify the air.
Dry quickly to prevent odor
Unpleasant odor that occurs when drying indoors.Actually, it is the work of bacteria left in the laundry.
To prevent the growth of bacteria, try to dry your clothes as much as possible after washing.
The following four points are important for quick drying.
- Increase dehydration time
- Leave a fist-width gap between laundry items.
- Apply wind using a circulator, etc.
- dehumidify the room
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How to care for futons and sheets
During pollen season, it can be a bit uncomfortable not being able to hang your futon out to dry all the time.However, it is said that if you hang your futon outside to dry during pollen season, you will introduce about 4 million pieces of pollen into your house.
Therefore, it is not recommended to dry your futon outside during the pollen season.
To take care of your futon during this time, we recommend using a futon dryer or coin laundry.
If you really want to dry your clothes outside, avoid drying them outside between 11am and 2pm, which is the peak time for scattering.
In order to make the pollen season as comfortable as possible, it is necessary to remove pollen from clothing and bedding, and to take measures to prevent pollen from being brought in .
I would be happy if you could make your time a little more comfortable by thinking about how to wash your clothes.
