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Summer is in full swing, and, if you’re like my family, we are excited for the epic ROAD TRIPS we have planned! We’ve already been to Lake Louise and Banff, Alberta and are heading to Muskoka and Montreal next!
We’ve had enough of being locked at home with the pandemic and work-from-home/school-from-home and have been anticipating this warmer weather and vacation time together for months! As an allergy mom, one of the things I have learned a lot about early on was indoor air quality and the importance of maintaining this to help my kids breathe! With seasonal allergies being really bad this year, many of you are suffering and I’ve been sharing my best tips for alleviating itchy eyes, runny noses, sneezing and asthma associated with pollen and other environmental allergies. So what happens when you venture out of your homes and are spending more and more time in your vehicle? I would imagine most people haven’t really given their in-vehicle air quality much consideration, and, honestly – it’s a game changer when you do!
Here’s what you need to know:
- You can alleviate your seasonal allergies and asthma by keeping your windows (and sunroof) closed – especially during the peak pollen times of day.
- Wiping down the interior surfaces of your vehicle with a damp cloth and vacuuming helps to remove dust and pollens from the carpeting and surfaces to minimize these pollutants in the air while in the car.
- Your vehicle has an air filtration system just like your home does, called a Cabin Air Filter, which helps to remove harmful pollutants including pollen and dust from the air you breathe in your car.
…. Did you know that you’re supposed to change this cabin air filter regularly?! I had no idea!
I’ve spoken a lot about the importance of quality air filters for the home and was really interested to learn that I had a similar system in my car!
Check this out:
Canadian Tire and Parts Source stores carry these FRAM® Fresh Breeze Cabin Air Filters that you can buy and easily install in your car to replace your existing filter when needed (I personally recommend changing each season – quarterly as I do with my home furnace filters).
In the Canadian Tire store there are computers right at the shelves with the filters to look up the correct filter for your car (input year, model, and engine type). You can also look this up online on Canadian Tire’s website and it will tell you what you need.
I easily found the right model for my car and felt a little bit unsure of what to do with it but figured as with all things that I’d figure it out! How hard could it be?? I imagined it would be under the hood and that I would just swap out the old filter with this new one…. When I got home and opened the box, I was directed to the FRAM website which had video instructions for my exact vehicle – amazing! The video was short and sweet and told me exactly what we needed to do to replace our filter.
I discovered that the cabin filter housing is inside the car under the passenger side glove box- who knew? We simply had to unscrew two wing nuts that held a panel to hide the filter, slide off a plastic piece and pull out the old filter.
It was super easy!
The old filter was disgusting!!!
It took us less than 5 minutes and we would classify ourselves as “NON-HANDY” people! Ha!
We’ve noticed a huge difference in the air quality of the car since replacing the filter – no more stinky, stale, smell when we turn it on. As an allergy mom, I worry about perfumes and other “car fresheners” to mask odours but with this FRAM Fresh Breeze Cabin Air Filter, it is Arm and Hammer baking soda that deodorizes the air and removes the odours – leaving a fresh scent! Love it!
More importantly, the FRAM Fresh Breeze technology keeps up to 98% of road dust and pollen particles from making their way into the vehicle.. And that’s what really matters when you have family members with allergies and asthma.
My advice – take the time it takes to replace your cabin air filter before heading out on the road! FRAM is an expert in filtration and their website and tutorials make this a no-brainer process. Find FRAM products at Canadian Tire and Parts Source locations. You don’t even realize until you’ve done it, what an impact this will have on your in-car experience – if you try it, please comment and let me know how it went.
