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Last week I took my oldest on a short car ride to our nearest McDonald’s for a special weekend treat (iced coffee for yours truly and a yogurt parfait for my mini-me). We were having a fabulously fun time on our little adventure until the moment when I rolled down my window to place my order.

The lady on the other end of the intercom asked to take my order and all I could respond with was a barrage of sneezes! I was instantly attacked by all of the pollen in the air. I finally got my order out, but I sneezed all the way through the rest of the drive-thru, including as I was paying for my food and as I was picking up my order. I’m sure I grossed out the people I came in contact with along the way!

It’s allergy season where I live, and between the large amounts of pollen in the spring and all the mold from decaying leaves in the fall, close to half the year is what I consider to be”allergy season”. Therefore, for half of the year the air is more of less debilitating for me. Much of the time I’m just heading to my car, but it doesn’t take long for the air inside the car to be just as awful as the air outside.

If you suffer from allergies, too, there are 3 things you can do to help keep the air inside your car as free from allergens as possible, and stay sneeze-free on your daily commute or while running errands.

1. Open Windows are Off Limits

I know, I know. Rolling down the windows on a gorgeous day is SO fun and refreshing. Except that it isn’t, because the price you will pay for that breezy feeling could last for weeks. All that pollen in the air is going to come right into your car, sticking to every surface to torment you for as long as possible. For the sake of your allergies, keep your windows rolled up and run the a/c unit instead, ideally on the recirculate setting so that you aren’t continuously pulling in outside, pollen-ridden air. You want to feel the fresh breeze on your face? Go get a box fan.

2. Commit to a Weekly Wipe Down

At least once this spring, and ideally more frequently, you need to do some serious vacuuming in your car. This will get rid of pollen that is sitting on your seats, but it will also help with other allergens, such as dust mites. Additionally, at least once a week you should take a wet cloth or paper towel into your car and wipe down the console, the steering wheel, and basically any hard surface that you have a tendency to touch while in the car. This will help keep the air inside the car from having pollen and other allergens stirring up again and again. By the way, this is a really fun chore for kids, so don’t be shy about asking them to be your wipe down warriors!

3. Change Your Cabin Air Filter for Maximum Benefits

Some people don’t even realize that their vehicles have Cabin Air filters.  I only learned about it a few years ago when I was first researching how to keep myself from sneezing constantly for the entire month of April. We now use the FRAM Fresh Breeze® cabin air filters, replacing it every spring, and it makes a really big difference in the air quality inside the car. It’s no wonder we can tell a difference, because it turns out that the air inside your vehicle can be up to 6 times dirtier than the air outside. During allergy season, to risk having even worse air quality in my car is something I can’t do. I would sneeze so much that I would likely get myself into an accident! That’s why now that I’ve discovered this often overlooked part of routine car maintenance and I make sure to take care of it every year (or if you put a lot of miles on your car, change it every 12,000 miles, and also follow recommended change intervals as noted in your vehicle owner’s manual).

The FRAM Fresh Breeze® cabin air filter can keep up to 98% of dust, dirt and allergens from entering your vehicle (though remember the wipe down rule…you’ve got to tackle what enters your vehicle when you open the doors!). I also like that it uses the natural deodorizing capabilities of ARM & HAMMER® baking soda. My allergies can’t hang with artificial air fresheners, and I like that FRAM Fresh Breeze® cabin air filter doesn’t try to mask anything, but rather to neutralize it.

You can determine the exact cabin air filter you need by going to the FRAM Walmart page and entering the year, make and model of your vehicle. Then write down the cabin air filter number, and head to your nearest Walmart. Or you can can use the texting feature on the website that allows your search results (including installation videos and part number) to be sent to your phone so you can easily pull up that info while in Walmart, and also while changing out your filter. And as for installation, you’ll have the pardon the pun but it honestly is a breeze!

Every vehicle is going to be somewhat different, but in the case of my car (a 2007 Toyota Corolla) all I had to do was remove the glove box (sounds tricky, but it’s only a few simple screws to remove!).

Then I removed the cabin air filter.

Then thanked my lucky stars that all of this junk was kept from my lungs and eyes!

Then I replaced the old filter with the new FRAM Fresh Breeze® cabin air filter.

Then I screwed back in the glove compartment. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, and I’m good to go for another year!