Guest Post by Joette Calabrese, Classical Homeopath, HMC, CCH, RSHom
Snow is falling, cold wind is blowing. The furnace clicks on.
Uh oh! What about all that dust and dirt and who knows what else that has collected in the air ducts over the past months?
Here’s a simple solution for keeping the dusty and even moldy muck from spewing into your air and into your lungs when you breathe.
Make your own washable filters!
Find an old 100% wool sweater; perhaps at your local Salvation Army and wash it in hot, hot water and simple soap in your washing machine. This is not a time to worry about the delicacy of the sweater. We want it to felt up good and thick, even shrink.
The idea is to tease the fibers into felty submission. Then dry it in a hot dryer. This will further the felting process. Once the sweater is thick and misshapen, measure the perimeter of the register (the opening on the floor where the heat blows out) and cut the sweater to fit neatly into the opening.
The best part is that you don’t need to hem the ends since felted wool doesn’t fray.
It will make a tidy filter that allows the free flow of hot air while offering a hygienic filter.
This wool filter is as good, if not better, than any pre-made filter and is easily tossed into the washer monthly, so you and your family can breathe freely. When the furnace first comes on in the cooler months, clean the filter more often, perhaps even have a few of them already made and ready to fitted.
In your little girl’s room, choose a pink sweater. In your son’s, blue.
Simple solutions for a healthier life…made by you.
Our health is in our hands!
If you yearn to learn, contact Joette Calabrese at HomeopathyWorks.net for a free, 15 minute SKYPE or phone session and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for you and your family’s lifestyle strategy.
For a download of our new, printer-friendly First Aid Chart, go to www.homeopathyworks.net and find it in the “Free Downloads and Articles” box. Don’t forget to check out all the information on Joette’s upcoming system designed for moms. Just click Yearn to Learn.
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I bet this would work to replace the a/c filter too. Living in FL the heat only gets turned on during the quarterly system cleaning, but I’d love to get rid of those horrid pleated paper filters without the loss in quality we’ve experienced from commercially available washable filters.
wow thank you for this post so much!
I have dust/mold allergies which got a lot better since I took a course of strong probiotics, but we still have 3 HEPA filter air purifiers in our home to keep me from sneezing!
I am off to a local thrift store tomorrow to find a 100 % wool sweater to do this!!
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Would we need to attach the sweater to some sort of “frame” in order to allow the soft material to be firm enough to fit all the way into the register without crumpling all up at one end? My register is 16x25x1 and there is no way I could get a wool sweater to fit all the way into the register without some support. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
This sounds like it would really reduce efficiency of your furnace.
Bernice – I was thinking the exact same thing. I’m not sure it’s good for the furnace either.
Thanks! My brother and I always had allergic reactions to the constant presence of mold, mildew, and dust in our house. Especially since its so old. I may also try this with the A/C in the hotter months.
I wonder if this would pose a threat to the functionality of the furnace, it is always advised not to even close registers because then it pushes more air through less vents.
What a fabulous idea!!! I can’t wait to try this! I once called and asked how much it would be to have my heating pipes vacummed out and it was going to be over $600! What a great and economical solution. Especially where I live in Alaska. We use the heater for 6 months! Thank you Sarah!
Homemade Filters for Clean Indoor Air — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/q6QzN6DS
That is an awesome idea.
Now what about big, big ones that go on the furnace itself?
Great idea! I hate using the central heating, even as year-round Tahoe residents we use the wood stove as the primary heating source.
Be careful with these type of applications because they can change the pressures needed for the furnace to operate correctly. It could burn out the motor because you have increased the pressure required to push the air through a now restricted space.
Some manufacturers are making healthier vent filters that do not restrict the flow need to operate correctly.
Can you explain exactly how this works. I am having troubles picturing it. I understand how to felt sweaters, but not how to actually use it as a furnace filter. The blogger is talking about using it to replace actual furnace filters correct?
I wonder if I could do something like that to replace one of the filters on my bagless vacuum?
she’s just saying to put it in your heating vent where the heat comes into your room. Not the furnace filter.
But there are reusable furnace filters available too
Great topic.
this is really great!
This application is used at the vent, in each room, not anywhere near the furnace. So I wouldn’t call it a furnace filter, but a duct filter. In the houses where I’ve lived, the vents are on the floor and are sometimes called registers. lift up the heavy metal grate that covers the opening to the duct and place the wool flat at the mouth of the duct, making sure it is the exact size of the opening. then replace the metal grate directly atop of your filter. It indeed may make the amount of heat blowing through the grate less efficient, but the heat that is forced thorough will be cleaner.
I wish I would have read this earlier in the heating season! Bookmarking it for next year for sure!
Love this tip! Thank You
We don’t have to clean our furnace filters too often because I use the Norwex Microfiber for my floors, dusting and cleaning everywhere. Since I started doing that the filters don’t get dirty as quickly. We are allergy sufferers though and every little bit extra helps. Are you familiar with Norwex. It would probably be something you would love. No chemicals and it still removes all the Bacteria.
I was so excited to do this today, but when we turned the furnace on, no air was coming out! Can someone please help????? My husband was not a fan of my trying this, ha!
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