allergic to Christmas tree

After all these years of Ross's asthma getting worse during the holidays, he finally decided it must be the tree.

I thought I'd mention it here because Searcher mentioned in another post that she recalls her brother being propped up during the holidays with worsened asthma.

Onward with artificial...

It could be Dotsie or it could be all the nasty preservatives they spray on them now. We always had a real tree til 3 years ago when I started to wheeze and my eyes would swell every time we put the lights on- it wasn't pine trees it was chemicals

All the sellers of Pine trees spray them with flame retardent and keep fresh chemicals which may or may not work but they are not natural and in a cloosed warm home I imagine they output nothinhg good into the air....

I never thought aobut what they spray them with. YUK!

My problem is when I think of artificial trees, all I can think of is the dust that accumulates on them throughout the year. He's allergic to dust too.

Before I put the tree up, I lay out the branches, etc. on the back deck and hose it down. I guess I should use some antifungal soap. Maybe that would keep down the dust.

smile

Dotsie, If you put up the tree only one week prior to Christmas and take it down right after New Years there shouldn't be all that much dust. Also you might try that spray used on silk plants, eats the dust somehow, just vanishes.

I'm also allergic to Christmas trees....a real bummer. A few years ago we invested in a really nice artificial tree. People can not tell it's not real. I truly have not noticed dust on it as it gets pretty well shaken about when we take it down. I have had no "Christmas Allergies" since we started using this tree. It's truly worth it. I think you need to invest the most you can in it so it really "passes". Think how much you spend on real trees every year.

I have the same issue. I have allergies and asthma and stopped having real trees cause I was allergic to them but this year when I saw how dusty my artificial tree was I also realized that was a problem also and vowed that particular tree wasn't going up again next year. So I don't know what I am going to do either. I didn't want any tree next year......I said I was going to buy a glass/chrystal tree as my kids are grown up now and why should I go to all this trouble when they don't help and then my allergies are set off. They all groaned that we had to have a tree. I really don't have an answer yet.

Val you can buy a spray in a can that people use on their silk and other artifical plants when they get dusty, the dust disappears, puff gone! Don't know where and don't care but it is gone. My can is empty now and I need another one. I can't remember the name but got mine at K-Mart and most flower stores sell it too. Its some kind of a vegetable base I believe....I've used the same artifical tree now for years and its like new.

Thanks. I'll have to check into that. I'm still thinking;whats wrong with a 5 or 6 foot Waterford Chrystal tree tho? Other than I'd have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it:)

My family are/used to be, sellers of silver tip Christmas trees. The trees are not sprayed with anything to preserve them. if responsible merchants cut the trees or have them cut in nov, they should be well preserved already as the sap quits running and they are basically frozen in the winter.

However, having said that, I am allergic to them and never knew. We would have a tree in every room of the house, including the bathroom, decorated with something. LOL they were charlie brown trees, with character. He even sent them to me when I lived in Germany. Three. lol

There's no room here for a tree, so no problem with that.
one day SOON, I'm going to get rid of the loveseat that's never used and if anyone comes over they can sit on the sofa and we'll sit on the chairs. ANYthing for a little more room.