Children tend to accumulate so much these days—trinkets, paper, stuffed animals. With the advent of low-cost plastic toys, there is more than ever in their rooms.

Yet today, helping a child tidy his or her room isn’t just about putting clothes, toys, and other items in their proper place. Information published from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) reports that 8.4 per cent of children in the U.S. under 18 years of age suffer from hay fever, while 10 per cent deal with other respiratory allergies such as allergic asthma.

With these statistics in mind, cleaning a child’s room becomes a health issue, not just a tidying issue.

“My youngest child has dust mite allergies, so the most frustrating thing about cleaning her room is helping her understand that having fewer objects in her sleeping space is healthier for her body,” says Shannon Cowan-Walshe, blog editor of Earth Easy, Solutions for Sustainable Living. 

Steam cleaning a child’s bedroom—or any room in the house for that matter—can help to decrease dust mite allergy symptoms. Dust mites can make a home in your child’s mattress, bedding, carpets, windowsills, curtains, and stuffed toys. These pesky microscopic organisms feed off dead skin cells and can cause sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, coughing, and difficulty breathing. Yet with steam as your ally, you can rid dust mites and their eggs from your child’s mattress and bedding, shelves, floor, and baseboards.

Steam cleaning tackles dirt, and mold naturally with water—eliminating the need to use harmful cleaning agents that can trigger allergies. Not only that, steam can remove pathogens so your child’s allergy symptoms remain under control.

Top steam-cleaning models have an array of multi-purpose cleaning attachments such as brushes, scraper or floor pad, all designed to help you clean your windows, floors, and everything in between. A micro-switch, and temperature pressure gauge mean you can easily monitor and regulate steam control at the drop of a hat. Both handheld steamers and floor models afford portable, powerful, and efficient steam cleaning to reach awkward surfaces without wrist strain.

Whether using a multipurpose handheld steamer or canister steam cleaning system, both are lightweight, chemical-free, and represent a smart cleaning option for parents committed to raising healthy kids.

With a steam-cleaning tool in your arsenal you won’t have to worry about dust mites and other pathogens that cause allergy symptoms to flare up. Also, quality steam cleaners even kill bed bugs!

 “I try to help my daughter understand that she doesn’t need everything she receives, and that putting things away will help her sleep better,” says Cowan-Walshe. She adds that the family organizes what they call a “share box” where they put anywhere from three to 10 items in a cardboard box that they’re no longer using to be shared with friends or donated to charity.

“This helps open up space for things that might be coming in the door from other friends and family, and helps to tame the clutter that goes along with our kids.” 

At Reliable, we do what we love, and we take pride in doing it right. Quality, functionality, design and customer service play an equally important part in delivering what’s right for you. From irons to steam cleaners to sewing machines, you can count on us to be right there with you. That’s the Reliable Way.