How to improve air quality in your home

Home is where a lot of life happens. We cook, clean, decorate, light candles, bring in new furniture and generally get on with family life without giving much thought to what any of it might be adding to the air around us.

But all of that living releases pollutants into the air we and our families breathe without us realising, often coming from surprisingly ordinary places, from cooking and cleaning to furniture and decorating. 

With how much time we spend in our homes, it’s worth knowing where these pollutants come from and what you can do to reduce them, so in this blog, we’ll cover:

• What causes poor air quality in your home?
• The common sources of these pollutants
• Simple steps you can take to improve air quality in your home

What causes poor air quality in your home?

The air inside your home can be affected more than many of us would ever think. Without even noticing, normal household items can be actively releasing pollutants into the air we all breathe.

One of the most common pollutants is formaldehyde, which is a colourless gas that can be released naturally from everything from furniture to carpets. Levels can be higher in newer or recently furnished homes, especially when there isn’t enough ventilation.

Other things that can affect indoor air quality include:

• High VOC paints and decorating products
• Cooking fumes and cleaning products
• Mould
• Dust and pet hair

You can’t control everything floating around your home (family life is quite enough to keep on top of), but there are a few simple things you can do to help.

Simple ways to improve air quality in your home

Open the windows and let fresh air in

A simple daily burst of fresh air can help improve ventilation, letting stale air and indoor pollutants out and fresh air in.

Keeping condensation under control

Showers, cooking and drying clothes can all fill your home with moisture. Use extractor fans, open windows and keep air moving to help stop condensation before it has a chance to settle in.

Keep dust at bay

Dust, pollen and pet hair can quickly build up around your home. Regular vacuuming and dusting help keep them under control, creating a cleaner, fresher space for the whole family.

Choose a paint that works with your home

Paint doesn’t have to just change the colour of a room anymore.

That’s why homeowners, particularly parents, are increasingly starting to choose paints that actively help create a healthier home long after decorating is finished.

So, where does paint come into all of this?

One thing we’ve noticed when talking to homeowners is that low VOC paint is increasingly becoming an expectation rather than something special.

It’s a good step towards a healthier home, but it’s only one part of the picture. Low VOC limits what the paint itself releases into the air, rather than tackling pollutants already coming from other things around your home.

But if you’re going to put something across four walls of a room, why shouldn’t it do something useful while it’s there?

For us, that meant looking at some of the things happening every day in most of our homes, which kept bringing us back to formaldehyde in the air and mould on our walls.

So we looked at whether paint could actually help with them and years of development later, we launched two clever paints in the form of Heroes Pure and Heroes Shield.

Heroes Pure is everything you’d expect from a really (really) good interior paint with a beautiful finish, family-proof durability and thousands of colours to choose from. The clever difference is, it doesn’t stop there.

It contains what we call ‘Pure Air Technology’, which captures airborne formaldehyde and converts it into a harmless compound, working day and night while it’s on your walls to make the air your family breathes cleaner and healthier.

Heroes Shield came from looking at anti-mould paint a little differently.

Many traditional anti-mould paints rely on fungicides to inhibit mould growth and something about that didn’t quite sit right with us.

So Shield tackles the moisture behind mould, rather than simply waiting for mould to grow.

The clever bit is what happens before mould gets a chance. Millions of tiny Micro-Spheres hold onto the warmth from your home to help keep walls warmer, so less condensation forms and mould is left with a lot less moisture it needs to grow.

So instead of just dealing with mould when it turns up, you’re tackling one of the reasons it keeps coming back.

Final thoughts

Creating a healthier home isn’t about making big changes overnight. It’s about the small choices you make that can mean a home that not only looks good but helps look after them too.

Let some fresh air in, keep on top of moisture and dust and have a think about the products you bring into your home. They’re all small choices, but when it comes to the place you and your family spend so much of your time, they’re worth making.
Want help with how you can take on your project? Sometimes it’s easier just to talk it through with someone isn’t it?

We’ve got a friendly technical team here at Heroes who know a thing or two about paint and are always happy to help you work out what to do next. Give us a call on 01254 936151 or drop us an email at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to have a chat.