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cleaner air in our homes

The Answer To Cleaner Air In Our Homes

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Are you a city dweller? If so, do you often find yourself walking down a busy road and seeing thick dark exhaust fumes pouring out of cars? Or feel the desire for cleaner air? Well if the city you live in is anything like ours here in London, we often find that pollution levels are through the roof. In fact, the road Athina lives on in South West London exceeded it’s annual pollution limit advised by the government in a day – A DAY! So, naturally, it made sense for us to seek out ways in which we can cleanse the air of harmful toxins in our homes. So, we tested out the new GUNRID ‘air purifying’ curtains from IKEA. But how do they claim to work and can they really provide cleaner air in our homes. And are there other ways we can boost cleaner air at home?

What do the IKEA GUNRID curtains claim to do?

According to IKEA, the curtain purifies the air inside our homes without using any sort of electric or complex filter system. The fabric of the curtain is treated with a mineral-based, coating which reacts to natural light and breaks down indoor air pollutants such as acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a carcinogenic pollutant so one advised to keep at bay. But that’s not all, the curtain also uses energy from natural light to transform volatile organic compounds (aka VOC’s) to clean air.

 

What are VOC’S?

Amy and I often talk about the damaging nature of VOC’s to our workshop guests. They’re essentially harmful pollutants created as a by-product many industry’s such as the motor industry and surprisingly the paint industry. They are harmful for us to breath and have a huge impact when introduced into our homes. VOC’s caused by paints and carpets for example can even live for years within the home, so longterm can be really damaging to us. Thus, it’s really important to to keep your home as VOC friendly as possible and we think it’s absolutely amazing these curtains turn VOC’s into clean air.

Are they eco-friendly?

Yes! In fact, the curtains are made from 50 recycled 0.5l PET bottles. Using waste as a resource gives means we can give a thumbs up for IKEA for their sustainable approach.

How else can I boost cleaner air within the home?

According to NASA, indoor plants can clean up to 87% of toxins within the home within the first 24 hours. So, give your home a bio-phillic injection with indoor plants. For those not very green fingered, try a Calathea or Pothos as they don’t require a huge amount of care. IKEA offer a range of Calathea plants for just £9.

Use VOC friendly paints

The paint industry, after the motor industry, is the largest contributor to VOC’s globally. Choose paint brands with VOC friendly options or low VOC ranges.

Ventilate your home regularly

Especially important for those with damp homes, basement flats or homes with a lack of windows, make sure you open your windows for better ventilation. This will prevent mould and mildew build up and keep your home’s air much cleaner.

So there you have it – easy ways for cleaner air in our homes, that are not only simple but affordable too.

This post has not been sponsored by IKEA, but the curtains were gifted for us to test! We only ever work with brands we respect & trust.

All images supplied by IKEA or Patch plants and Topology Interiors do not claim copyright to any of them.

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