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Ionisers (or similar) for bedroom - any ideas?

(26 Posts)
Kate54 Wed 15-Sep-21 09:59:29

I’ve realised that I wake up every morning with a ‘stuffy’ head or full-on headache. This soon goes once I’m up and about. But it doesn’t happen when I’m away, in a hotel or elsewhere. The room is quite small which probably doesn’t help. It could be the mattress (getting on a bit but I do vacuum it) or the air quality in our town (wouldn’t be surprised).
Has anyone installed an ioniser or similar device? If so, do they work? I’ve seen a Dyson one for a mere £599!

geekesse Wed 15-Sep-21 10:18:41

I used an ioniser for years when I lived in a city and it was brilliant. Now I live in a rural areas, simply leaving windows open does the trick.

Blossoming Wed 15-Sep-21 10:25:56

If you’re waking with a headache I’d change your pillows. That could be a problem with your neck. Also a worn out mattress can’t be helping.

NotSpaghetti Wed 15-Sep-21 10:43:31

My husband has an air purifier which is a HEPA filter with a (quiet) fan.
Ours is a Blueair one. It takes out pollen and very small particles of bavteria/virus/dust etc. My husband has nasal polyps and polen seems to make things worse. It works for us.
We have the 205 version as was warned off the smaller ones.

We also sleep with the windows open as can't bear stuffy rooms.

Nonogran Wed 15-Sep-21 11:00:45

Vacuum absolutely everything with the appropriate nozzle for (example) curtains etc, bed head, under the bed. Shove bed to one side , Hoover that half then shove bed back over & hoover the other side of carpet. Slight damp duster for woodwork, picture frames, lamps, accessories, etc to pick up dust mite detritus
Sleep with windows cracked open.
If mattress is 8+ years, the industry would say it’s time to replace it.
If none of that works, try an ioniser!

Kate54 Wed 15-Sep-21 11:11:18

Thanks for all the advice. The mattress isn’t worn out but is definitely a bit more than 8 years old! It is a wool one, expensive at the time, and doesn’t have a lot of ‘give’. Have already invested in a Tempur pillow.

kittylester Wed 15-Sep-21 12:04:39

I'd use an air purifier. They help our snuffly DGS.

geekesse Wed 15-Sep-21 12:37:17

I should add that because an ioniser attracts the particles you are trying to get rid of, you get a build-up of dust around the ioniser, so you have to clean regularly around it.

NotSpaghetti Wed 15-Sep-21 15:44:28

We have stopped using an ioniser. Room ionisers can "create" gasses damaging to heart, kidneys etc. There is no industry standard test.
I'm wary of them now.

I did quite a bit of reading around them and actually disposed of ours.
Here's the first article I came across today that isn't written by someone with an interest:
www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2021-03-uncovers-safety-air-purifiers.amp

Grannyben Wed 15-Sep-21 19:11:02

There was an article on air purifiers yesterday, on this morning, with Alice Beer. I think the Dyson was featured along with two more reasonably priced ones. Have a Google, they all came out very well

BlueBelle Wed 15-Sep-21 19:25:05

I would never have anything artificial like an ioniser in my bedroom …. just open a window
I used to wake feeling a bit off but didn’t when I stayed at my daughters the only difference was I had one flat pillow at hers and two or more at mine I changed over to one and my funny feeling went and never came back

NotSpaghetti Wed 15-Sep-21 20:14:39

An air purifier is not the same as an ioniser Bluebelle

GagaJo Wed 15-Sep-21 20:18:36

I frequently get morning headaches and almost always wake with blocked sinuses. Most of the time they go off during the day, although not always.

I had a bigger problem with this years ago, and a humidifier helped quite a lot. I had it by the bed. I definitely had a lot less congestion with it, although the humidifier only had water in it.

Kate54 Wed 15-Sep-21 20:19:02

Bit of a minefield then!

LadyStardust Wed 15-Sep-21 20:21:21

The Blueair air purifier is very good and keeps the air in the room fresh and clean, when we are unable to have the windows open. This is the one we have. It came out top in a lot of reviews.
www.blueair.com/gb/blue/pure-411/2512.html?cgid=blue

BlueBelle Wed 15-Sep-21 22:28:36

Oh course notspaghetti I don’t know why we would need either, just have your window open

NotSpaghetti Thu 16-Sep-21 09:17:01

Bluebelle - if you suffer with (say) hayfever or nasal polyps or have easily irritated nasal passages (or live on a polluted road for example), opening the window doesn't do it.

With a decent air purifier (such as the Blueair HEPA filter ones), the particles causing irritation can simply be caught in the filter which allows you to sleep better. This is a simple mechanical process like using a tea strainer to stop tea leaves getting in a cup. It's basically a fan and a filter.

We sleep with the window open summer and winter. Having the air purifier running in the summer allows us to continue to have "fresh air" without my husband struggling to breathe.

Yes we can sleep without it but my husband sleeps much better with it in the spring and summer when there's more pollen about.

You need to make sure the air purifier will be strong enough to filter the air in the room at least 4 times an hour to be efficient.

Nannan2 Thu 16-Sep-21 11:45:28

I got a smallish fan from ao.com which was about £25-£30- but has ionisor inbuilt.its perfect for sons small bedroom.
Its quite powerful too for a small 'desk top' type.its about 18 inches tall.its got a timer too.we got it a while ago though (18 mths) so dont know if its still on there, but they may have an updated version.

Nannan2 Thu 16-Sep-21 11:52:37

So is the Blueair a SUBSCRIPTION only thing? Is it on this for a reason?(do they come& supply new replacement filters or something?) Or can it be bought outright? I clicked on link briefly but its not very clear.

Witzend Thu 16-Sep-21 11:55:18

Could it be anything to do with dust mites? After reading about them in Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything’ (not recommended reading for anyone squeamish!) I vacuumed our far from new mattress and was appalled to see how much yellowish dust - quite unlike ordinary dust - came out. I had to assume it was either dead dust mites, or their poo.

Since then I’ve vacuumed it regularly, and ditto machine washed our pillows - all down or feather and down. Again, the first time I did it the water in the machine went a yucky dirty yellow. The pillows weren’t very old, either.

Nannan2 Thu 16-Sep-21 11:55:46

Maybe our small one only has purifier then, as its so cheap.?

Nannan2 Thu 16-Sep-21 11:57:05

Its very good though.?

Nannan2 Thu 16-Sep-21 11:58:08

Witzend- i always thought feather pillows weren't washable?

NotSpaghetti Thu 16-Sep-21 16:32:35

I bought a second-hand blueair case from gumtree (basically a box like a pc but with a fan) and buy new filters as required which are pricey but worth it in my opinion.
I was advised not to buy the small version but to choose "classic" range (or above) for HEPA performance.

LadyStardust Sat 18-Sep-21 21:54:56

I didn't notice the subscription bit Nannan 2 But apparently it means you save 15% on replacement filters, that are delivered free. It is purely optional. We bought ours outright and have used it for about a year now on and off. We are still on the original filter, but i think it will be time to replace it soon. Blueair recommends changing your filter about once every 6 months, when used 24 hours a day, to maintain optimum performance. We only use ours maybe a couple of times a week just overnight so I'm assuming ours will last much longer. They are about £25 I think.