“Woahh, the air is thick in here!” Most of us will have heard this exclamation at some point – or exclaim it ourselves from time to time. For example, because of the smell of cooked food that lingers in our flats for hours despite leaving the windows open. Or because of chemicals evaporating, or the musty smell of mould. While most odours do not usually cause health problems, they can cause nausea. That’s why, in this practical knowledge series, we will give you the necessary tips to help you remove those pesky stinkers from your house and flat.
As a general rule, indoor environments should only contain odours that are normally present there, for example food odours in the kitchen. All other smells may be an indication of chemical evaporation that originate, for example, from paints, floor coverings, adhesives or from furniture and carpets. Such smells can often cause fears of pollution. If it is the musty smell that mould releases as odourless substances, the danger is real because such fungal infestation is indeed very dangerous to health. In general, simply ventilating or airing the room is no longer helpful. However, only the use of professional air purification devices is. For example, the 3-in-1 Air Washers AW 10 S and AW 20 S as well as the tried and tested air purifiers of the AirgoClean® series offered by Trotec.
How to avoid unpleasant sources of odours from the outset
- Paints, varnishes and adhesives
For these materials you generally choose ‘solvent-free’ products. However, this term only indicates that no volatile substances are used. In contrast, heavy volatile materials may well be included, for example, as solvents, plasticisers, preservatives, emulsifiers or dilduters. The amount of chemical given off by volatile substances is higher, it does however fade away quicker– heavy volatile substance gases are weaker, but linger for longer. Therefore even ‘solvent free’ products can give off unpleasant odours. Flooring adhesives also often smell very unpleasant, especially parquet adhesives. Solvent-free or low-dispersion primers and adhesives in particular often lead to unpleasant odours. Nevertheless, it is advisable to choose these products for reasons of health and safety, and environmental protection.
- Furniture and flooring
Furniture can give off odours such as formaldehyde, or so-called volatile organic compounds (VOC). On one hand, the support material may be the source, so the wood or chipboard and fibreboard. On the other hand, coatings can also leave solvent odours behind, or odorous compounds can arise after oxidation processes. Odours are also frequently emitted from new floor coverings.
As a rule, the new smell should disappear after eight weeks at the latest. But those who cannot ‘smell’ it anyway have probably been smelling it a while longer. In any cases, installing without adhesives is definitely environmentally and nose-friendly: floor coverings can be laid loosely, fixed with tape or braces; parquet can be nailed, screwed or stapled.
- Mould
Often, an odour problem is caused by exposure to mould. The infestation may be visible, but often the annoying room-mate is hiding in cavities behind cladding, ceilings or walls for example. A first indication is given by its typical, musty smell. This suspicion should be explored by determining the concentration of spores in the air. Incidentally, a hidden infestation can also be ascertained with a mould tracking dog.
Odourless air – with Trotec air washers AW 10 S and AW 20 S
The two Trotec air washers AW 10 S and AW 20 S clean the air and free it from unpleasant odours such as cold tobacco smoke or food smells. As 3-in-1 devices, they each integrate the functions of an air humidifier, air purifier and odour improver in just one device. Both air washers operate according to the best recognised principle of humidification of cold evaporate, an innovative technology that excludes the release of unwanted particles into the room air. For this, they dispense ions, by means of the integrated plasma generator, into the air, which bind the unwanted odour molecules together.
- The AW 10 S is a 3-in-1 combination device – it not only humidifies the air in a self-regulating manner using cold evaporation, but also washes the air and removes animal hair, house dust, pollen and odours. For this purpose, before the air escapes into the room, it is additionally ionised in a plasma generator – to eliminate odours and pollutants.
- As a 3-in-1 combination device , the AW 20 S has an intelligent combination sensor which, in addition to the relative humidity, also permanently detects the particle load in the room air and thus automatically controls the automatic mode for perfectly humidified and purified air. The 3-stage high-performance filtering of the AW 20 S effectively eliminates particles, viruses, bacteria, dust and odours from the air, by means of a pre-filter, HEPA filter as well as the plasma generator.
Clean air without unpleasant odours – thanks to the AirgoClean® series from Trotec
By directly combining several different filter technologies, the air purifiers of the AirgoClean® series not only frees indoor air from suspended particles and pathogens, but also reliably from odours.
- In addition to the highly effective HEPA filters of filter class 11, for example, to filter bacteria, viruses, pollen, allergens, fine dust particles or mould spores measuring as small as 1.0 micrometer with a separation efficiency of 95% from the indoor air, the air purifiers AirgoClean®10 E and AirgoClean® 15 E, as well as AirgoClean® 100 E have an additional DACRON® filter (synthetic fibre pre-filter) to reliably separate light to medium odours, coarser house dust and animal hair from the air.
- As the most powerful device in the AirgoClean® series, the “Triple Protection” filter technology of the AirgoClean®100 E air purifier also features a carbon filter to effectively neutralise tobacco, pet, kitchen, smoke, as well as formaldehyde and solvent odours. For the AirgoClean® 15 E from this air purifier series, you have the option of a carbon HEPA filter, which is available as an accessory.
Odourless room air – thanks to innovative solutions from Trotec
Inform yourself comprehensively about all the advantages offered to you by our air quality management system. And also benefit from our current special offer prices because you get Trotec brand quality:
- the Air washer AW 10 S reduced from £293.98 to only £210.13,
- the Air washer AW 20 S for only £489.97,
incl. VAT. – now in the Trotec Shop!
Trotec practical knowledge ‘Tips for a better room climate’
1/7 Simply ban viruses, allergens and fine dust from your home
2/7 How to ventilate your room correctly and sustainably
3/7 How to avoid dry indoor air and reduce the risk of corona infection
4/7 How to prevent excessive indoor humidity
5/7 How to prevent health-threatening mould growth
6/7 How to banish bad odours and stench from indoor air
7/7 How to improve your well-being with indoor plants
