Natural And Effective Ways To Purify The Air In Your Home

Although we’re taking all the necessary precautions instructed to us by healthcare authorities such as hand washing and social distancing, it’s a good idea to keep the spaces in which we live in clear from any potential virus transmissions as well. We at HELLO! would like to share some useful tips on keeping your living space clean and safe for you and your family.

Needless to say, if you want clean air in a room, you can’t have dust or dirt around. So first things first, clean up! Once you’re done dusting, changing sheets and wiping furniture clean, open the window and put the fan on. This will ventilate the room letting new fresh air in and letting the stale air out. Mornings are the best time to do this because the air is generally cleaner in the morning  -- by evening you may have pollutants in the air outside. Once you’ve done that, here are two more things you can do to enhance the quality of air and purify it.



 Keep Plants in Your Home

Plants are natural air purifiers. Indoor plants can protect us from side effects of toxins prevalent indoors. Plants that most effectively filter toxins from the air are spider plants, dracaenas, golden pothos, pothos ivy, bamboo palms and chrysanthemum flowers – species that are often available in our local nurseries. So it's generally a good idea to have plants in your room. Place them in a spot where the light can touch them and watch them grow healthy and strong.

  Activated Charcoal

Charcoal or activated carbon is known to have very effective absorptive properties. It helps remove toxin particles in the air by binding them to the surface. It’s carbon filters also work to remove unpleasant odours (smelly shoes, for example) in the air as well. Activated charcoal removes Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) from the air produced by common household cleaners. VOCs are dangerous because they cause damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system. 

Note: Charcoal leaves a burnt odour so I would suggest you open the windows and light a scented candle/essential oil diffuser once you’re done using it. 

  Salt Lamps

While salt lamps (Pakistani one’s from the Salt Range are the best) and essential oils are thought to purify the air naturally, there are no scientific studies to prove that they actually help in doing so. What is clear is that they certainly aren’t health hazards so you can use them for decorative purposes and to scent the room -- especially after using activated charcoal.