apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Permit me please, to seriously encourage you to investigate jalaneti, or nasal lavage. I suffered badly for years because of allergies. The solution is not necessarily the filter in your heating and air conditioning system, but the filter on the front of your face.

You can buy a neti pot for about $20, or you can use a baby bottle which is what I use. Drill a 4 mm hole in the bottom of the baby bottle, and cut a 6 mm hole across the top of the nipple (so it will siphon) It's soft and comfortable to use.

There is a wealth of information available on the internet. If you would like my (perfect :) formula for neti water (saline solution), ask and I will post it here.

Or you can use the sinucleanse system from walgreens for 6.99. It really does work wonders.

Fontesa: Thanks for the advice. We actually own and use a neti pot, and I'm quite fond of using it when congested or feeling sinus pressure. It helps a bit (though my allergy ridden girlfriend seems to find only modest improvement using the neti), but it certainly is nowhere as effective as the HEPA grade air purifier for long term allergy relief indoors. Her allergies literally disappear completely in just a few minutes with the machine on at half way settings...a magic machine, I tell ya!

You could just put it in your ical, entourage or outlook calendar.
BTW here is a great memory tip;
Get your dental and dr check up in the month of your birth.
Then in an emergency you'll remember when you were last at the dentist or dr.

Gregory, I used to be allergic to house dust, and found (purely by chance) that having a glass of water left out 24 hours, then drinking it (complete with that day's catch of dust etc), refilling it and then leaving it again, and so on for several weeks got rid of my allergy. Theory is, your body slowly acclimatises when the allergen is introduced via a more robust body system, in this case digestion.

Obviously, it's not something to try if the allergic person has a life-threatening anaphylactic shock reaction - but, maybe worth a try for sniffles.

2 years after I realised this worked, I read about an "allergist" in London's Harley St (where all the posh/pricey celeb docs work) charging £200 to give people - well, basically water with a little dust/cat dander/whatever in it!

He explained it the same way... gah anyway sorry for the wander off into homespun remedies there, but thought I'd post my experience fwiw. It's sheer bliss to happen across some dust, and not feel like I've been Maced!

Hi Greg,

Dumb question... but what kind of vacuum are you using? For home allergy control - a top quality HEPA vacuum is just as important as the IQAir air purifier.

I am like Emily in that I have severe allergies and asthma. My wife and I vacuum daily with a Miele when allergy season is at its highest pollen count. It helps a lot.

- Kirk

I just got an IQAir based largely on this site.

How long and how often do you have it running?

I experimented with having it run between 8-11 each day at speed 5, but I'm wondering if it should be closer to when we come home or when we're in the house too (at speed 3 maybe?)

If you go to this Furnace Filter website, you can set a reminder to be emailed to you periodically so you don't forget to change your air filter. There is no way I'd remember to do it without this!

typeshige, I bought the IqQair too and have kept it on the next to the lowest setting 24 hours a day. It works great and is fairly quiet at that setting.