https://imgur.com/a/imVz1D9
We live in a new construction apartment on the first floor facing a street. The street isn’t a major street, but it is two lanes and has fairly regular travel during busy times of the day (maybe a car ever minute or something drives by).
I decided to do a little experiment and stuffed 3M floor sweeping clothes / papers in the some of my vents, including the one by my bed (see photo). I just took them out and you can see how absolutely gross these are after ~1.5ish months. Note the one that has the more distinct pattern to it is from the bedroom where I actually keep the vent CLOSED (but a bit of air still gets through obviously).
Is this normal?
Does this seem crazy?
Are there any more purpose built filters that would fit over these types of vents?
Any other advice or tips? I’m sort of concerned about my long term health with this much dirt getting into our apartment. I realize an air purifier is an option, but the vent by my bed is literally right next to my face.
Thank you!
7 comments
My room faces a National Route, shit gets dirty, can’t be helped. I just put normal filters over all the vents and only open the windows during the day to air out.
Yeah any city as dense and nature-free as Tokyo will have shitty air.
You should consider that if those filters are as dirty as they are, they are working.
It would be a good idea to get one or more air purifiers. Those 3M cloths are only filtering some of the larger particulates, while the smaller ones aren’t being captured.
I spent 3 days just walking in Tokyo in shoes with white edged soles and they turned black like that. Tokyo is a grimy city, it seems normal to me. Bleh.
Nope very normal. My windowsills get like that as well when I leave the windows open during summer. What you are looking at is dust of tyres, asphalt, and brake pads. Imagine what we breathe in on a regular day for the glory of the automobile…..
I use those sticky filters outside and inside with a thicker one in-between. They all get filthy after a month but the inside of my home is much cleaner (I hope)
Unfortunately it’s normal.
OP, you’ll want to get a filter [like one of these on Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.jp/stores/page/8DCD194E-5869-4BE6-8040-532D932D2E76).
You’ll need to change the filter and wipe around the fan area every month or two, but it will help keep a lot of the black dust out.