I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls Collective on behalf of Claritin®. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program.

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We sneeze in this house.  All seasons, all times, no matter what.  We live on an acre with 29 trees, some almost 200 years old, and the dirt and pollen flies through the air and never really leaves.  So me and my kids are a sneezing mess, especially when it is actually allergy season!

To help me put allergies at bay, I have started doing some things to eliminate the growth and spread of allergy inducing germs inside and outside of my home.  And to help me get even more ideas, I am checking out the tips and advice from Sabrina Soto on Facebook!

First of all, I found out through my doctor that allergies are at their highest level in the mornings.  I do not know why, but even the tips from Ms. Soto talk about it.  I save all of my weeding and gardening for the evening hours.   And I tend to have the kids doing indoor craft activities then too!

We routinely spray our inside trash can to not only prevent odors, but also the spread of mold or spores that could aggravate our indoor allergies.  But I never thought to do it to our outdoor ones as well!  I’d say every three months or so, we do wash them out, but I think a germ killing spray would help too!  Especially since the cans are in the back yard and the kids do play around where they are.

I already have allergen preventing sheets on the kids beds, but I also added the plastic mattress and pillow covers.  Not only does it help with odor if there is a spill, but it also helps block allergens from getting into their bedding and causing those nightly sneeze attacks!

Since summer is upon us and we are either on our water slide or the neighborhood pool every day, I am alert to the fact that the towels we use to dry can breed germs.  Have you ever smelled a towel that was musty and the smell lingered even after you washed it?

I usually throw the towels that get that smell out but I try to prevent it all together by immediately washing wet towels.

My last tip, which I also see on the Claritin Facebook page, is to make sure that bedding is washed at temperatures above 140 degrees – or HOT/COLD on my machine.  This is the magic number to prevent those icky, make my skin crawl, dust mites in bedding.

These small changes I seem to be making a difference in our family!  I hope they can help yours too!

For tips on making your home and garden more beautiful, functional and allergy-friendly visit www.Facebook.com/Claritin. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.