How to improve the quality of air inside your home

Air quality is important, especially if you live in a busy, bustling city. It’s no secret that we need oxygen. But we’re also drawn to fresh, clean smells, and these make us feel at peace. It’s the reason we love the smell of clean washing, fresh air, and scented oils or candles.

It can be difficult to know how to improve the air quality inside your home. You might think you’re limited in choice, especially if you live in a congested area, and in a building with single-glazed windows.

But we think we can help. Here are our top tips for improving the quality of the air inside your home.

Use natural materials

Using natural materials is important almost everywhere, from the sofa you sit on, to the mattress you sleep on, to the insulation you use in your walls.

Recent studies have shown that air quality has a profound effect on the mental and physical wellbeing of humans, and we must limit the use of non-sustainable and toxic materials to limit off-gassing and pollutants within buildings.

Foam, for example, is made from volatile organic organic compounds, which are prone to off-gassing. They even release a funny smell when they do this. Foam is found in a lot of soft furnishings, like sofas and mattresses.

To combat these, choose furnishings made from natural materials, like wool, cotton, and horsehair.

Ely natural mattresses are made from thirteen layers of natural materials, and are a good place to start. This is a growing movement, so you’ll find natural replacements for all of your household items if you care to look. Just make sure you recycle your unnatural materials properly, or else they will end up in landfill, we’re they’ll pollute the wider environment for a long time to come.

Buy an air purifier

Air purifiers are a great way to get rid of indoor pollution, which can be five times as high as the polluted air outside. This is because pollution in your home does not circulate in the way pollution does outside.

Air purifiers refresh stale air. If you have ever been in a room with an air purifier, you’ll recognise the freshness of the air immediately. They can remove 99.7% of all pollutants in the air in your home, and help relieve symptoms of asthma, eliminate harmful chemicals, neutralise unpleasant odours, and improve sleep quality.

Let fresh air in

This might seem counterproductive if you live in an area with high pollution levels, but the pollution is likely already in your home. Circulating the air by opening your windows is a good way to get things moving and remove stale and stuck pollutants from your rooms.

Open your windows to let in a little fresh air. This will stop stagnant air from settling, then sitting in your soft furnishings and smelling.

If the air outside is too gross to bear, consider scented candles, or an air purifier, as listed above.

Air purifying candles

Air purifying candles are a great quick fix. Beeswax candles have been around for a very long time. Beeswax is known as ‘nature’s purifier’ for a reason. They have lots of health benefits, including improving allergy and asthma symptoms. Beeswax candles work in the same way air purifiers do, by releasing negative ions that neutralise the particles from air pollutants, rendering them harmless.

They’re usually lightly scented, which means you won’t be overpowered by a heavily perfumed scent. Air purifying beeswax candles work instead to leave a fragrance of fresh nothingness behind in your home.

Air purifying candles are renewable, which means they’re not damaging to the environment. They emit the same light spectrum as the sun, which means they won’t interfere with your circadian rhythm. This gives them a comforting ambiance, so they’re perfect for your bedroom.

Buy more plants

It’s long been debated if plants can clean the air or not, but some studies suggest fifteen plants in a 1,800 square meter radius is enough to have an impact on the quality of air in your home.

It isn’t the plants themselves alone that clean your air, but also the dirt they are potted in. Dirt microbes play a big part in purifying air.

And plants are lovely. They make oxygen, which we need. So, we vote for more plants!

Go natural

One thing is for sure; as the world has moved to a more unnatural way of living, our mental and physical wellbeing has gotten worse. Our key piece of advice is to move towards a more natural way of living.

Ely can help. Our mattresses are made from all natural materials, which means they are resilient, comfortable, and good for your health. For more information, read about our thirteen layers of goodness.