Who is MERV and What Does He Have to Do with My AC Filter?

What Is a MERV?

MERV isn't a who, it is a what.  It stands for Minimum Efficiency Report Value.  That is a fancy term dreamed up by the geeks and nerds at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

courtesy Witthaya Phonsawat

They wanted a standard way to evaluate how well a filter captured particles.  We know that we have tons of stuff in our air like:

• Dust
• Pet Hair
• Mold
• Pollen

These guys (and gals) knew that we were all out there buying filters to capture the crud in our air but that we didn't have a way to compare filters.  So they came up with this scale.

Is More MERV Better?

As the filtering capacity goes up, the MERV number goes up. So, you would think that a bigger number is better.  That is not the case.  So, the higher the number, the more it filters, and the more it restricts the air. Wait, restricts air?

Find the Right MERV

Different applications call for different MERV ratings.  You can read here to find out more about MERV ratings and how to pick the MERV rated filter right for you.

If you live in Broward, Palm Beach, or Miami-Dade County Florida, you can pick up the phone call the experts at Broward AC Filters to help you pick a filter or order on-line.

Clean Tile Floors and Keep Them Clean

Tile floors are very popular.  Whether you have ceramic or stone, natural or engineered, sealed or unsealed, matte or shiny, tile floors will last for years with proper care.  Here are some tips for cleaning your tile floors:

Cleaning Spills – Immediately

Wipe up spills immediately.  Spills left to dry will just attract more dirt. Quick clean up also prevents stains before they start.  Wipe up the spill with a terry towel or paper towel and then follow up with a soapy towel.  Polish with another clean damp towel. 

I’ve been known to spray a particularly icky spill with glass cleaner and then wipe clean.

Sweep, Swiffer, or Vacuum – Every Few Days

It is important to remove the loose dirt regularly from your tile floors.  Small particles of dirt and sand particles can actually scratch the surface of your tile.  That is why it is important that you remove dirt and debris on a regular basis.  If you keep the floors swept, vacuumed, Swiffered or dust mopped, you should only need to mop on a weekly basis.

If you have vinyl tiles or flooring, the Swiffer or Cuban mop style cleaners work well.  However, if you have ceramic or stone tiles, the tiles are connected with grout. This grout seam does not present a smooth surface to your cleaning tool.  Swiffers and Cuban mops will not do a thorough job of lifting up all the soil; and much of it will fall back into the grout!  Why waste your time and energy on cleaning that doesn’t clean?

A broom will remove loose dirt from tile and grout surfaces, but they aren’t very effective.  In fact, sweeping may just throw the dirt around.  If you have loads of large pieces of debris, a quick sweep with a broom will do the trick.  For everyday cleaning, leave the broom in the broom closet.

A good vacuum cleaner or electric broom with a non-electric head is the best for cleaning tile floors.  Look for a cleaning head with soft bristles that will dislodge the debris without scratching your tile.  Most upright vacuum cleaners don’t do a good job with cleaning tile floors.  The motorized heads mostly kick the dust behind the vacuum and spread it out the sides.  Look for a canister vacuum with a hard floor tool of at least 12” wide. 

Clean Tile Floors Easily – Once a Week

Steam cleaners work great for tile floors.  They are safe to use on any sort of tile or stone and will gently lift soil up from the tile.  Steam cleaners have the bonus of being safe to the grout.

If you mop, a string mop is better than a sponge mop. Sponge mops will actually push the dirt further into your grout.

No matter what mop you use, rinse the mop head often. If the water looks dirty, empty the bucket. You can’t get floors clean with dirty water.

photo courtesy Keerati@freedigitalphotos

Vinegar and water is great for ceramic tile. Check with your installer before using vinegar and water on stone tile.  Add ½ cup vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Because vinegar is acidic, it kills bacteria but can harm some porous surfaces.  Vinegar and baking soda can be used to clean grout, but do not use vinegar alone.  The acid can damage the grout over time.

Always use warm water. It cleans better.

If you don’t like the smell of vinegar, use ½ cup rubbing alcohol to 1 gallon water and map. Rinse mop frequently and empty mop bucket when water is dirty.

Make Tile Shine Every Time!

If you have a hazy finish to your floors, that is soap residue.  Just add a bit of vinegar to your rinse water to remove the soapy haze and return the original shine.

For a really nice shine, put a terry cloth towel over your dust mop and dry floors. 

Tile floors are durable and beautiful.  If you have allergies or asthma, they are a must for improved indoor air quality.  Don’t let cleaning them be a hassle.

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Clearing the Air with Natural Air Fresheners

That linguini with garlic butter sauce was incredibly yummy last night and the smell from the kitchen filled your home.  Everyone wanted to know what time dinner would be ready.

This morning that heavy garlic and butter smell in your home is not so appealing.  So how can you get rid of that smell without reaching for a can of toxic chemicals that will pollute the air or burning a candle that will only make the air quality worse?

Natural Air Fresheners Ingredients

Head back to the kitchen.  Almost all the natural ingredients you need to freshen up the air in your home are already there.

Citrus.  Start with citrus.  Lemons, limes, and oranges have the freshest aromas.  But, in a pinch tangerines, tangelos, and grapefruits will do as well. 

Herbs. Next, see what fresh herbs you have on hand.  Woody herbs are best.  Fresh herbs always have more essential oils than dried, so go with fresh when at all possible.  Rosemary, bay leaves, lemon grass, and any of the mints are great choices.  While technically a spice, fresh ginger is also a great addition.

Spices. Dried spices pack an aromatic punch.  Star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice are all great choices.

Extracts and Essential Oils.  Look at your bottles of extracts.  Vanilla, orange, almond, coconut, and peppermint pack a powerful punch.  Just a little will go a very long way.  If you have essential oils you can use a small amount of that as well.

Flower Petals and Heads. Talk a walk through your garden.  Rose petals, plumeria petals, and lavender will bring a hint of sweetness to your mixture.  Cedar twigs and mulch are also great additions.

How to Make Your Own Natural Air Fresheners

Now, put two cups of water in a saucepan and add your aromatics.  Bring to a boil and then quickly turn down to simmer.  You can simmer from an hour to two or all day long, just replenish the water.  When you are done, allow your mixture to cool and pour it into a clean jar and place in the refrigerator.  You will be able to use it 2 or 3 times at least.

Let your favorite smells be your guide.  For example, I love a mixture of lemon and rosemary.  Some people only use the peel of the lemon, but I like to use slices or quarters.  Some other great combinations are:

• Lavender and vanilla;                
  
• Orange, ginger, and cinnamon
• Lime, mint, and lemongrass
• Coconut extract and plumeria petals
• Orange and vanilla
• Lemon or lime and coconut extract
• The only limit is your imagination.

 Give Natural Air Fresheners as Gifts

If you are crafty, you can place the aromatics in a jar, fill with water, tie with pretty ribbon and give as gifts.  Be sure to attach a tag with the simmering instructions.  Or, you can keep the secret to your pleasant smelling home to yourself!

all images courtesy of  Serge Bertasius Photography FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

Cleaning Glass - Tips & Techniques

One of the most dreaded household cleaning tasks is cleaning glass.  So many things can go wrong with cleaning glass.  You squirt, you spray, you wipe, you polish and when you step back to admire your hard work streaks and lint give you the stink eye.  What sent wrong?  Here are some tips for cleaning glass:

                                     Cleaning Glass – Use the Right Tools

What are you using for your cleaning agent?  To start with, make sure that no matter the cleaning agent, you use distilled or reverse osmosis water to rinse or as part of your cleaning mixture.  Tap water contains calcium, lime, magnesium and other minerals that can leave a haze behind.  Also, make sure your water is never super hot or cold.  Otherwise, your glass could crack.

Use a squeegee when washing outside windows.  It will make the job so much easier.

artwork courtesy vectorlie

Do not clean or buff with paper towels.  Paper towels leave behind lint. When you are cleaning glass you don’t want to leave lint behind.  If you want to use paper, use newspapers or newsprint paper.  If you use newspapers, be sure to wear gloves to keep the ink off your hands. 

Microfiber towels are great for cleaning glass, but expensive.  A tee shirt in good condition will work as well.

Use a steam cleaner to clean glass without chemicals.  Many of the newer steam cleaners have attachments for cleaning glass.

                                Best Agents for Cleaning Glass

You do not need to buy the blue stuff in the bottle to get glass that is clean and shiny.  You can make several glass cleaners from things you already have around the house. 

One of the most common DIY glass cleaners is white vinegar.  Make a mixture with a ratio of 50/50 vinegar and distilled water.   

If the smell of vinegar bothers you, use a 50/50 mixture of alcohol and water and spray on glass.

For particularly dirty outside windows, you may want to use ammonia and water.  Remember that ammonia contains soap.  Soap leaves residue.  Residue is what makes streaks and smears.  If you use an ammonia solution rinse thoroughly.

 

Use the Right Procedure for Cleaning Glass

How you clean can be almost as important as the cleaning agent you use. Do your glass cleaning work on low humidity days.  This is especially important in South Florida during the summer.  If it is too humid, your cleaning solution will never evaporate.  Trying to wash outside windows on a humid day is an exercise in futility.   A cloudy day is better than a sunny day.  The higher the temperature, the faster your cleaning solution will evaporate and leave streaks.

Work fast and buff streaks before they get a chance to form.

Clean in different directions on different sides of the glass.  Use an up, down motion when cleaning on one side, use a back, and forth motion on the other.  This will make it easier to find out on which side the streak lies.

Clean from top to bottom

When cleaning outside windows, first wash with soap and water then rinse. Once you have the heavy soil removed, spray glass cleaning solution and squeegee clean.

When cleaning inside windows, put a towel down in the window sill to protect it from any dripping cleaning solution.

Cleaning Cloudy Glass

Sometimes your glass wear will get a foggy appearance.  This is commonly caused by a buildup of calcium and other minerals from the water.  Sometimes this cloudiness can be removed.  However, if it has become etched in the glass, you might not have success.  But it is certainly worth a try.  If you use ammonia you must rinse, but it will clean cloudy glass.

If the cloud is on the inside of the glass or vase, fill with a mixture of ammonia and water and let stand for a few hours.  Then lightly scrub and rinse thoroughly.

For clouds on the inside of the object, fill it with water and drop in a denture cleaning tablet.  This will also remove mineral deposits from toilet bowls!

If the clouds are on the outside of the glass, you can spray with Dow Tub and Tile Cleaner or Lime Away.  You will need to do some scrubbing, so be sure to use a light touch and circular motion.  When you finish, rinse thoroughly.

If you have the right tools and use the right process cleaning glass doesn’t have to be a big chore.  However, remember if despite your best efforts you get a streak, it can always be buffed away with a chamois cloth.

Lemon Juice is for more than Lemonade - Great Uses for Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is nature’s deodorizer, bleacher, and cleaner.  It has a pH of about 2.0 to about 2.3, which is highly acidic.  Here is just a few ways to harness that power in your home.

Uses for Lemon Juice In the Kitchen

Polish copper by rubbing it with a lemon juice soaked cloth and buffing it dry.

Deodorize your garbage disposal and drain by grinding one half of a lemon in the garbage disposal.  Add ½ cup of ice to sharpen the grinder’s blades.

For sparkling and spot-free clean smelling dishes, add half a lemon to the dishwasher and run with your regular detergent.

Good cooks know that you can substitute half as much lemon juice for salt in your dish and it will taste great and reduce the sodium content of the dish.

Clean and deodorize your cutting boards - plastic or wood – by rubbing them with a cut lemon half. For stubborn stains (like the juice from beets) or caked-on food, use some coarse salt or baking soda to help scrub the board clean. Rinse well and dry.

If drinking glasses or serving dishes are dull, rub with a cut lemon or soak in lemon juice and water to add sparkle. This woks great on cloudy coffee pots, pitchers, or decanters.

Don’t throw out a used lemon!  Even if you have zested the peel and used the juice there is still some power in that lemon. Drop the used lemons in a small pot of water, bring to a boil and then simmer for a few hours. Your entire home will smell fresh.

Cleaning with Lemon Juice

Remove lime scale, hard water stains, and soap residue from your faucets and porcelain fixtures by rubbing with lemon juice.

For fresh smelling laundry and to brighten whites and remove some stains, add lemon juice to a wash cycle along with your detergent.

To remove unsightly shirt collar and underarm perspiration stains scrub with a mixture of equal parts lemon juice and water.  For extra bleaching, let dry in the sun.

Make your closets smell fresh and ward off moths by hanging sachets of dried lemon peels.

Mix 1 part lemon juice with 2 parts olive oil to make a natural furniture polish.

First Aid & Personal Care Uses for Lemon Juice

Lemon juice can be used to lighten scars and lessen their appearance.  Once a week, rub the scar with a cut lemon and leave it there for fifteen minutes. Rinse with cool water and pat dry.

To stop a nose bleed, apply lemon juice to a cotton ball place in the nostril

Mix lemon juice and water and swish in your mouth to relieve a canker sore. Add salt and gargle for a sore throat relief

Remove hair product build-up by rinsing your hair with 1 part lemon juice to 4 parts water.  Rinse lemon mixture through your hair and then rinse with water.

Apply lemon juice to hair and sit in the sun to speed up blond highlights

To soften cuticles, soak in a mixture made of  2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp honey, and 1/2 cup warm water. Rinse hands, dry, and push back cuticles.

You can use lemon juice to shorten the healing time of a cold sore. Just dab a little lemon juice on and while it will burn a little, the juice will act as an astringent and promote healing.

Apply lemon juice directly to affected areas to relieve the itching and rash from poison ivy.

To stop the itch from insect bites or allergic reactions,  make a paste of lemon juice and cornstarch and  rub gently on the spots.

Images courtesy of Sommai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Clearing the Air on Candles

Nothing can take the place of a candle for soft lighting, aroma, and setting the mood.

The gentle flicker of the flame can evoke a variety of emotions. There are many scented candles marketed as having the ability to clean the air and take care of odors.  The only emotion these candles evoke in me is anger!

© Johanna Goodyear | 

If you are trying to keep your air clean; if you have an odor problem; or if you have allergies or asthma you should not be burning candles.  Candles actually pollute the very air they are supposed to clean.

Ask a person in the HVAC duct work profession about burning candles.  They can tell you that the inside of the duct work in a home that frequently burns candles looks as if it has been in a fire.  The lining of the ducts will be covered in soot.  This soot only serves to collect dust.

In addition, candles emit a number of toxic chemicals into the air that can be as bad as second-hand smoke.  In addition, if that isn’t bad enough, may candlewicks contain lead and release lead into the air as they burn. Lead wicks were banned in the US in 2003, but many of the imported candles (especially from China) still contain lead wicks. If you haven’t burned the candle, you can rub the wick on a piece of paper.  If it makes a mark like a pencil, the wick has a lead core.  Take it back to the store where you purchased it and let the manager know why you are making the return. Remember, lead core wick candles are prohibited by law!

Most candles are made from paraffin.  This is a by-product of petrochemical processing.  When it is burned, it releases toxic chemicals into the air and can aggravate or even trigger asthma.  Many other chemicals can be mixed into the paraffin.  Just read the label on the candle.  If you cannot pronounce it, do you want to burn and breathe it?

© Bruno Pagnanelli

But let’s face it, sometimes the mood just calls for a candle.  So, here is what you can do:

Look for taper candles.  These release fewer candles than tea lights or other candles where the wick floats in the pool of wax.

Buy beeswax candles.  Be sure to read the label to see it is 100% beeswax.  Beeswax is expensive so many candles may be a blend of beeswax and paraffin.

Buy soy candles.  These will burn clean and you can avoid all the nasties found in paraffin.

Keep wicks trimmed short.  The shorter the wick, the less soot produced.

You can still have pleasing scents in your home by simmering potpourri or essential oils in a small amount of water on the stove top.  Alternatively, if you need personal aromatherapy just add a few drops of essential oil to a bath and soak.

Clearing the Air on Air Fresheners

If you watch almost any TV channel long enough you will see a commercial for an air freshener.  Whether it is Febreze or Lysol telling you they remove odors or Glade telling you they create a “more tranquil atmosphere” in your room someone is going to try to sell you something to clean your air.

The Problem With Chemical Air Fresheners

The problem is these products do not clean the air; they actually pollute the air.  Therefore, when you buy an air freshener you are spending money to decrease the air quality in your home when what you want is the exact opposite!

If you know anyone with asthma (or if you have asthma yourself), you already know that these toxic products are tough on the respiratory system.  Consider yourself lucky.  Many people spray, plug in, and burn wax melts or candles in hopes of making the air fresher. 

According to the EPA, these air fresheners are made of ingredients such as formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, dichlorobenzene; and the aerosol sprays contain propellants.  So if you have musty smells, do you really think the answer is formaldehyde?  Formaldehyde is used as an embalming fluid.  Spraying air freshener is like embalming your family while they are sill alive!  Dichlorobenzene is a known respiratory irritant.  OSHA has even set limits of exposure to this chemical in the workplace.  That is what you want to spray in your air?  The solid fresheners, candles, plug-ins, and wax melts mostly contain the same ingredients.  If you care about your indoor air quality, you will stay away from these products and take a different approach to controlling odors in your home.

Go to the Source of the Odor

The most common sources of odors in the air are mold spores, bacteria, and cooking/smoke odors.  If you have a musty smell, it is probably molds or bacteria causing the smell.  To get rid of the smell, treat it at the source.

If the bathroom is musty because of mold, increase air circulation and do not throw wet towels in a pile on the floor. If you re-use a towel, make sure you hang it up. If possible, add an exhaust fan to the bathroom or open a window when taking hot showers.  If you have poor air circulation in the bathroom and cannot add a fan to the room, do not keep a laundry hamper in that room. In the bathroom, eliminate smells by cleaning with vinegar and baking soda.  Sodium percarbonate is great for getting rid of mold and mildew and it will not pollute the air.  Most of the products with this ingredient have something like “Oxy” or “Oxygen” in the name. Look for this ingredient on the label.

Natural Options for Air Fresheners

 

If you have cooking odors or smells from smoke, you can place a bowl of vinegar in the room.  The vinegar will get rid of the smell.  If it is especially strong or in a large room, you can put several bowls out.  Vinegar has a strong smell at first but it dissipates quickly and when it does, it takes odors with it.

If you need to deodorize your sinks, drains, and garbage disposals just grind up ½ a lemon with a cup of ice cubes.  You will get rid of the odor and sharpen the blades at the same time.

You can sprinkle baking soda on the trash to get rid of garbage smells.  If your trash can smells, wash it out!  Just use soap and water; and the smell will be gone.

 If you want fragrance in a room, you can do this without adding chemicals to the air.  Just simmer a few spices in a small amount of water or orange juice.  For a fresh smell, just simmer ½ a lemon in a small amount of water.

If you like floral fragrances, you can purchase essential oils (be sure to get the real thing) and just put a drop in water and simmer.  If you want to spread the aroma through the house, transfer the warm oil and water to a bowl and sit out in the room for an hour.