The ultimate guide to hidden pollutants inside your home

The Heroes Team

8th September 2026

We all want our home to feel clean and healthy. We hoover, dust, wipe down the sides and generally do our best to keep on top of it. But what about the stuff we can’t see?

The air inside our homes can be full of pollutants we wouldn’t know were there. The surprising bit is, they come from completely normal things too, from cooking dinner and cleaning the bathroom to the furniture we sit on every night.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

What are hidden pollutants inside your home?
Types of air pollutants
Who’s most affected by indoor air pollution
How to stop polluting the air in your home

Key takeaways

Many pollutants are invisible and can build up in the home, particularly when there isn’t enough ventilation.
Children, older adults and people with existing sensitivities can be more affected by pollutants.
Normal life can add to it, with cooking, cleaning, decorating, dust and pet hair can all contributing to indoor air pollution.

What are hidden pollutants inside your home?

The tricky thing about indoor air pollution is that most of the time, you wouldn’t know it was there. Unlike dust on the side or a mark on the wall, a lot of what’s floating around in the air is completely invisible.

Put simply, we’re talking about gases and tiny particles in the air around us. They can come from all sorts of places too, from what we’re cooking for tea to the new sofa in the living room.

Most of those things are just part of normal family life, but depending on the pollutant and level of exposure, they can affect our health and the health of the people we share our homes with.

Modern homes are often pretty well insulated and airtight too, so these pollutants can stay inside your home for longer, especially when we don’t give them enough ventilation.

What types of indoor air pollutants are there?

When we say ‘indoor air pollution’, we’re not talking about one mysterious thing floating around your home. It’s a name for lots of different gases and particles, including a few you’ve probably heard of before:

VOCs – Gases released by certain products and materials around the home, including some paints, cleaning products, furniture and flooring
Formaldehyde – A type of VOC that can be released by things like furniture, flooring and other household materials that can irritate the nose, mouth and throat, and is classified as a carcinogenic chemical in humans¹
Particulate matter – Tiny particles that can get into the air from things like cooking, candles and fires
Allergens – Things like pollen, dust mites and pet dander that can become airborne and cause problems for people with allergies
Mould spores – Microscopic spores released by mould that can travel through the air
Gases from combustion – Cooking and other forms of burning fuel indoors can release pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide

Kitchen worktop

Where do air pollutants come from?

The thing is, there’s no one overall cause or source. A lot of them just come from the things we do, use or bring into our homes every day.

We asked homeowners which everyday items or activities they thought most commonly released pollutants into all of our homes. Cleaning products and log burners came up quite a bit, but what surprised us was how few people mentioned everyday things like furniture which can release pollutants into the air without us even realising.

Cooking

Smoke, grease and gases can be released into the air when we cook, leaving tiny particles in the air. Using an extractor fan or opening windows are nice and simple ways to help remove these from your home.

Cleaning products

A clean home doesn’t necessarily mean clean air. Many cleaning products contain ingredients that release chemicals into the air, including formaldehyde, which is why using the products as directed and keeping the room well-ventilated is important to reduce their concentration in the air.

Dust and dirt

We all know dust has an uncanny ability to get anywhere and everywhere. It can contain a mixture of particles from indoors and outdoors that can irritate people with allergies.

Pet hair can add to this too, especially if you have cats or dogs. Regular cleaning and vacuuming can help keep dust, pet hair and allergens under control, while good ventilation can help keep these to a minimum though.

Paints

Some paints, furniture and other household items can release VOCs into the air. These are gases released into the air by certain products like paint, some of which can affect indoor air quality and our health without us even realising.

Furniture and flooring

All sorts of everyday things around the home including furniture, flooring, paints, cleaning products and even cooking, can release formaldehyde into the air we breathe.

Heroes Fact

In one UK study of new homes, 6 out of 10 bedrooms tested had VOC levels above the recommended standard.²

Dog and owner

“The tricky thing about pollutants is you don’t even know you are releasing them. Formaldehyde for example is a really common indoor air pollutant that can be released from everyday household items.”

THE HEROES TECHNICAL TEAM

Who is most affected by indoor pollution?

Indoor air pollution can affect all of us, but some people can be more vulnerable to its effects than others. That’s particularly worth thinking about when we’re talking about the air in the places where our families spend so much of their time.

Babies or young children – Developing lungs can be more sensitive to these indoor pollutants
Older adults – Lung function and your body’s ability to cope with these pollutants can become more sensitive the older you get
Pregnancy – Pregnancy can make you more sensitive to changes in air quality³
Living with a lung condition – Indoor pollutants can make it harder to deal with existing respiratory problems
Living with allergies – Dust, mould and other airborne particles can trigger or worsen allergies

We spend a lot of time thinking about what we bring into our homes for the people we love. What’s in the air around them probably deserves a little thought too.

Paint dropping from roller

How can you improve the air in your home?

We know, this can all sound like a lot, but creating a healthier home doesn’t mean worrying about everything you bring through the front door.

The good news is, there’s lots of little things you can do to help improve the air in your home. You don’t need to stop cooking dinner, ditch the cleaning products or start eyeing up the sofa suspiciously.

A few really easy habits can make a difference:

Let some fresh air in – Opening windows regularly can help pollutants escape rather than build up indoors, even in winter months!
Use your extractor fans – Especially when cooking or showering, to help move moisture and particles out of the room
Keep on top of dust – Regular cleaning and hoovering can help reduce dust, pet hairs and other particles in the home
Think about what you bring in – When decorating or buying something new, look for lower-VOC products where you can, if they are something you want to minimise in your home

There are also ways the things already in your home can help, which got us thinking about something there’s quite a lot of in every room – the walls.

So, what about the formaldehyde we’ve already talked about? We started exploring whether the paint already going on our walls could do more than just sit there looking nice.

A few years of research and development later and we came up with Heroes Pure, a paint that helps tackle formaldehyde.

It contains what we call ‘Pure Air Technology’ that gets to work on formaldehyde in the air, binding to it and turning it into a harmless compound.

Using Heroes Pure

The brilliant thing is, that’s all happening in a paint you’d be putting on your walls anyway. It goes on like normal paint, comes in the colour you want and leaves you with the finish you’d expect.

The only difference is, once the decorating is done, Pure keeps doing something useful for your home.

If mould is one of the problems you’re dealing with, it’s worth looking at how anti-mould paint can help too.

So if you’re painting the room anyway, why not ask a little more from the paint you’re putting on the walls? We think it makes a lot of sense, anyway.

Cleaner air

Go be a hero

Heroes Pure

£60.00

A smarter paint for a healthier home. Combines premium paint performance with air purifying technology, so you can create beautiful rooms that look after your families health.

Find out more

Heroes Shield

£30.00

Anti-mould paint that does things a bit differently. Helping you break the cycle of recurring mould, so you can enjoy a healthier home without the worry of it coming back.

Find out more

Heroes Mould Remover

£10.00

Heroes Mould Remover is a mould and mildew cleaner for preparing interior walls before decorating. Use it on areas affected by mould, mildew and staining to clean the surface before applying paint.

Find out more

Using Heroes Pure

Frequently asked questions

Does Heroes Pure remove all indoor hidden pollutants?

Not quite. Heroes Pure was made to help reduce formaldehyde, while also minimising VOC’s it releases with its low VOC formulation, but it can’t tackle everything in your home.

Keeping your home well ventilated, cleaning regularly and reducing sources of pollution are still important for keeping your indoor air clean.

Can Heroes Pure be used throughout the home?

Heroes Pure can be used on interior walls and ceilings. From bedrooms and living rooms to hallways and home offices, it can help you create a fresher-feeling space wherever you need it.

What are the most common indoor air pollutants?

There are lots of everyday things that can affect the air inside your home, from cooking and cleaning products to smoke, dust, furniture and household materials. When there isn’t enough ventilation, these pollutants can hang around for longer.

Can paint affect indoor air quality?

It can! Some paints can release VOCs into the air as they dry, which can affect the air around you. That’s why choosing a paint that’s been made with indoor air quality in mind can help reduce certain pollutants and give your home a little extra protection.