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How To Clean Radiator Dust

How To Clean Radiator Dust

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR RADIATORS CLEAN?

Did you know that by keeping your radiator clean and free from dust and dirt it can actually help to keep your heating costs down.

Dust in between the fins of a convector radiator can prevent heat from escaping, which will mean your radiators have to work harder to heat up your rooms in your home. 

See Blog – The Importance of Maintaining your Heating System

It is also advisable when cleaning your radiators, to consider behind the radiator, this is the one place we all tend to ignore, indeed we seem to forget about all that build-up of accumulated dust over the years that could be contaminated and not good for your health.

    

What is dust made up of?

Indoor Dust: Indoor dust is comprised of things found within your home. Matter such as animal hair, pet dander, textile fibers, paper fibers, human skin cells, human hair, and food particles are just a few of the materials that make up indoor dust.

Outside Dust: Outdoor dust may be made up of soil particles, pollen, vehicular matter (like exhaust or tire particles), or even insect follicles or parts.

Every time you open a door you are also allowing access for outdoor dust particles to come into your home!

 

Is dust dangerous?

By having too much dust in your home it can actually become a health concern for you and your family.

Indeed dust can become the perfect breeding ground for allergens and insects, if ingested the particles can be harmful to humans and may cause allergic reactions or allow sickness to breed.

Dust Mites

Dust mites are small, microscopic creatures that actually feed on the dust and can live within your home without you knowing of their existence.

Dust mites make their homes in places where dead skin cells are most like to accumulate. They commonly live inside your mattress, within your curtains, or buried in carpet fibers, and can become a real cause for concern. These mites can unknowingly live in your home, varying from a few thousand to millions of these little aliens, just like Dwight our Rotarad space mite!

 

As you might imagine, millions of little creatures living in your home and feeding on your dust are likely to produce quite a lot of their own waste. Droppings from dust mites can carry diseases or airborne illnesses.         

Dust mite allergy is an allergic reaction to these tiny bugs that commonly live-in house dust. Signs of dust mite allergy include those common to hay fever, such as sneezing and runny nose. Many people with dust mite allergy also experience signs of asthma, such as wheezing and difficulty breathing.

While other bugs you encounter may bite, dust mites themselves do not actually bite your skin. However, an allergic reaction to these wretched creatures may cause skin rashes, which are often red and itchy in nature.

See article -  Dust mite droppings damages skins defenses

Did you know?

Asthma triggered by a dust mite allergy can damage the DNA in lung cells. The ability of cells to repair this damage may determine the disease’s severity.

See Article - Asthma caused by dust mites nay damage lung cells

Allergic Reactions

Having too much dust, or certain types of dust, may cause allergic reactions in some pets or humans. This reaction, although mild in most cases, may be serious, depending on the sensitivity.

Because dust contains so many particles, the exact cause or treatment plan for people with dust allergies may be slightly difficult to identify.

If you think you may have an allergy to dust, consider getting allergy tested to locate the cause.

  

Signs that you may be allergic to dust in your home:

  • Sneezy
  • Runny nose
  • Itchy, teary  or red eyes
  • Skin irritation
  • Coughing

Dust mites are prevalent in most homes, so regular cleaning and other preventive measures are key to stopping their large numbers while also alleviating your allergies.

Vacuuming and cleaning your home at least twice a week will help to keep dust from building up, always make sure that you clean the dust from inside and behind your radiator, as this is the one place that we never think about!

  

See Blog - Do Radiators Circulate Allergens

Covid-19

Since the outbreak of Covid in March 2020, we all spent a lot more time in our homes, and it was and still is now even more important that we keep up the daily, weekly regime of keeping our homes hygienic so that we can all stay healthy.

Current evidence suggests that COVID-19 may survive on surfaces for hours or days, but research is still ongoing.

Studies have found that similar coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS can persist on hard surfaces like metal, glass, or plastic for days. But they can be killed within one minute if cleaned and disinfected.

Always take the necessary steps in your home to limit contamination of surfaces from airborne particles (dust) or from touching surfaces with contaminated hands.

You should first clean hard surfaces with warm, soapy water and then disinfect them this also should include your radiators, always make sure when cleaning your home keep a window is open so as to ventilate the room.

 

Using the Rotarad conversion kits this allows you to position the radiator to 90 degrees making it easier for cleaning and decorating!

Keele University Research

We are proud to have been partnered with Keele University since 2018 working together on various projects, through the KRISP Scheme, aiming to identify the relationship between dust and common health problems, such as respiratory allergies and asthma.

Together we have identified that dust is becoming an ever-increasing problem, as the list of harmful cases to which dust has been linked is expanding. This is an issue we have found the majority of people are simply unaware of.

We wish to raise awareness of these issues, and aspire to help introduce new commercial standards which will ultimately reduce the chances of our health being affected by dust.

It is a requirement within NHS facilities that all parts of a radiator must be visibly clean, and we would like to see this standard become adopted across all households and commercial buildings.

Our research with academic from the Faculty of Natural Sciences is currently ongoing, with more testing for contaminants being carried out on dust samples  collected from the back of radiators in various premises.

We will publish more on this research very soon, watch this space!

 

The easy solution to clean dusty radiators!

By Having full access behind your radiator this allows you to see and freely remove accumulated dust more efficiently and hygienically.

Picture 1 – Remove the excessive dust and grime with a vacuum

Picture 2 – Remove any stains and very fine particles of dust with a moist cloth.

Picture 3 – Shows the amount of dirt that has been cleaned from the radiator

See blog – How to clean dust from inside radiators

Conclusion

By being able to access your radiators for periodic deep cleaning to remove the dust this could make a significant contribution to improving your health and wellbeing as now are currently being used in the health care sector.

 

You should be aware when cleaning your homes to remember your radiators, as they are an important influence on air quality around the home.

        

 

For ease of decorating using Rotarad please see a couple of recommended blogs:

 How To Wallpaper behind Radiators

How To Drop a Radiator For Decorating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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