The Times - UK (2022-05-27)

Bricks

& Mortar

8 Friday May 27 2022

the times

H

ay fever might

seem like an

out-of-doors

plague but

pesky pollen can

invade our

homes, making

days and nights

a red-eyed misery of runny noses

and itchy throats.

Climate change means that

pollinating plants are becoming

ever more prolific, making our

allergy seasons longer and

stronger. City-living offers no

respite because traffic pollution

reacts with tree pollen to make it

even more irritating. However, you

can make your home a refuge

from seasonal allergies with these

gadgets and strategies.

Air purifiers

Air purifiers work by sucking in

air, trapping floating pollens and

venting out clean air.

Bargain-priced units are rare.

Tests by the Consumers’

Association this year concluded

that air purifiers that cost less than

£100 are often not adequate to the

task. This is because cheaper

machines tend to be smaller so

their fans don’t draw through

sufficient air.

Look for models with a Hepa air

filter. This stands for high-

efficiency particulate air filter, and

means it has to comply with

stringent EU standards. However,

anything marketed as having an

“Hepa-type” filter doesn’t.

Effective purifiers will have a

fan, which has enough air volume

to process all the air in your

largest room at least three times

an hour. If you can get a machine

that purifies the room’s air four or

five times an hour that would be

even better.

You will need to measure the

volume of the room in which you

wish to install a purifier and then

check it against the machine’s

manufacturer-quoted CADR

(clean air delivery rate) for the

nearest appropriate room size.

Humidifiers

Dry air exacerbates hay fever

symptoms and also helps pollen to

move around rooms. By contrast,

moist air reduces pollen’s ability to

float, and it can also help to soothe

sufferers’ inflamed and irritated

nasal passages.

It can therefore make sense to

buy a room humidifier, an

electrical device that releases

steam or water vapour into the air

to increase humidity. Your ideal

machine will have controls for

setting precise levels of humidity

in the room.

The humidity should never

be more than 50 per cent. Above

this level the environment

becomes humid enough for dust

mites to thrive. These minuscule

bugs can seriously worsen your

allergy symptoms. Using a water-

heating humidifier may make your

home uncomfortably hot,

however, so an alternative is to

spray the room occasionally and

lightly with a fine water mist.

Pollen screens

Keeping windows and

doors closed as much as

possible is a commonsense

way to keep pollen out of

your home. However, this

can make indoor life

unbearably stuffy.

Pollen screens fitted to

your windows and doors

can enable you to ventilate

the home without allowing

allergens inside.

Such screens need to be

cleaned at the start and end

of the high-pollen season lest they

get so fogged with pollen that

cooling air doesn’t flow. If you

would rather avoid the faff then at

least only open your windows in

the evening or at night when

pollen levels will be lower.

Vacuums

Having a vacuum cleaner with an

EU-badged Hepa filter can

significantly reduce indoor pollen

and other allergy-provoking

particles such as dust and

pollutants on floors, furniture,

curtains and bedlinen.

You’ll need to vacuum your

whole home once a week at least.

When you empty the vacuum

cleaner, experts advise that you do

this outside, wearing a dust mask

and gloves, otherwise you’ll be

giving yourself a dose of allergens.

Max Wiseberg, an airborne

allergens expert and lifelong hay

fever sufferer who markets

Haymax, a nasal allergy balm,

suggests that you ditch carpets.

“Many people who are allergic

to pollen are also allergic to dust,

so going for wooden floors rather

than carpets is better, as carpets

harbour pollen and dust,” he says.

“Frequent dusting is also key,

but use a damp cloth rather

than dry-dusting, as the

latter just moves the

problem around.”

Washing and drying

Wash bedding often to

remove allergens. During

high-pollen seasons it’s

advisable to wash your

pillowcases twice a week.

“Dry clothes indoors to

prevent pollen particles

being blown on to the

clothes by the outside wind,”

Wiseberg says. “And always

take off your shoes before

entering the house so you

won’t tread pollen in.”

How to hay fever-proof

your home

Air purifiers, pollen screens and dusting can all alleviate

your summertime misery, says John Naish

Pollen protection

Air purifiers

Look for models

with a genuine

Hepa air filter

Humidifiers

Humidity

should never

be more than

50 per cent

Vacuum

Models with an EU-badged

Hepa filter can significantly

reduce indoor pollen

Pollen screens

These need to be

cleaned at the start

and end of the high

pollen season

Washing and drying

Wash pillowcases twice

a week during high

pollen season

Pets

Ban animal companions

from bedrooms during

the warmer months

Humidifiers

Humidity

Washing and dr

Wash pillowcase

a week during h

ppolpolpolollelelelen season

Entrance

exam

Brass bees, storm lanterns and bright

colours — Harriet Walker on the new rules

of front door fashion

I

f the eyes are the window to the

soul, does that make your teeth

the front door? Let’s stick with

the analogy because where I live

in southeast London, there is a

lot of very fancy residential

orthodontistry going on.

Here — and in countless

suburbs across the country — front

doors aren’t just red or blue or black any

more, they are salmon pink, canary

yellow or lavender grey. They don’t have

anything as banal as a round knocker or

plain handle, but are home to little brass

foxes, rabbits and bees. Perhaps yours

still has a round automated light above

it? Time to upgrade to a pendant storm

lantern at the very least.

Walking the streets is like eyeing up

the pick’n’mix selection at the cinema:

zingy colours and exotic tastes in endless

rows. Stained-glass windows, frosted

panels, deco doors, tiled vestibules.

There are blue French enamel

numberplates and digits stencilled with

sloping serifs on to the brickwork. Some

even have exterior curtains that loop

back during the day — I know, I couldn’t

believe it either, but it’s a thing.

Add in potted and hanging plants,

ornamental trees, tiled walkways and

poured concrete steps and you can see

why I had to up my game. I began taking

and saving pictures of the doors I liked

the most. The creator of the Instagram

account @doorsofdulwich went one step

further and started posting hers. “It was

a lockdown walk habit that got out of

control!” Door Gal tells me over direct

message. “I love the sense of fun a

colourful door gives to a street — it

shows personality and brightens the day

of people who notice as they walk past.”

For many, front doors were the perfect

lockdown project: a small, focused space

that could be easily tended to, without

the need for professionals, between

WFH and cocktail hour, which might

Harriet’s old front door, inset, and her new door in Little Greene’s Hopper 297

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Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool

Formaldehyde purifying

fan heater, £599

AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE TIMES