The Hidden Health Hazards of Dirty Windows in Your Home
When the coronavirus pandemic started rapidly spreading across the U.S., homeowners flocked to grocery stores to stock up on cleaning supplies and other essentials. According to officials, the virus can be transferred by touching contaminated surfaces and then their eyes, nose, or mouth. As a precaution, people started sanitizing every surface, nook, and cranny of their homes.
But one area that remains overlooked when cleaning is the window. Even before the pandemic, it’s a part of the house that homeowners skip or forget to clean. From our experience providing residential window and gutter cleaning services, we know some people have gone several months up to a year without cleaning their windows.
While the coronavirus isn’t likely to get transmitted through your windows, there are other ways a dirty window can be harmful to your health. We listed these hazards below.
- Mold and mildew
Where there’s moisture, there’s mold and mildew. These are types of microscopic fungi that grow in moist or often wet places, such as bathroom walls and under kitchen sinks. When it rains, moisture condenses on the window or rainwater seeps through tiny gaps, making mold and mildew grow on your window frames.
Mold and mildew may look harmless, but you might inhale their microscopic spores mixed with indoor air. This can aggravate allergies at best and cause chronic respiratory issues at worst.
Windows have plenty of crevices where dust and other debris gather over time. While dust can be somewhat controllable, you might have a bigger problem when dust mites appear. These microscopic insects love to stay in dusty areas, such as window crevices and windowsills.
If anyone in your house has asthma, the presence of dust mites can aggravate their condition. Prolonged exposure to dust mites also causes allergic rhinitis and physical allergic reactions due to their feces.
When your windows are open, pollen can get in or accumulate on your windowpanes and windowsills. But because they are so tiny, they can even slip through cracks in your windows when they’re closed. They are also stubborn and will coat the surfaces of your windows.
When a collection of pollen gets disturbed or blown by the breeze, you may ingest them, which can trigger allergic reactions that affect your sinus and respiratory tract. You might experience sore throat, coughing, and watery eyes. They may also aggravate any existing respiratory issues you or your family members may have.
- Bird droppings
If you live near a heavily wooded area or you have a lot of trees in your yard, your window might often be a victim of bird excrement. Besides being unsightly and difficult to clean once they harden, bird droppings also carry various diseases that can result in different conditions, from respiratory infections to skin problems.
Keep Your Windows Clean All the Time
We know how difficult it can be to maintain the cleanliness of your windows, but it must be done if you want to avoid experiencing the health hazards we discussed above. Fortunately, you can always reach out to Renova Exterior Detailing and our professional window cleaners.
Interested? Get a quote today.