This post is sponsored by Venta Airwasher. Thanks, Venta! 

I’m not sure if I’ve ever really talked about this, but I suffer from a lot of allergies. I am allergic to most dogs and horribly allergic to all cats, but the majority of my suffering is caused by seasonal allergies. California’s ongoing drought has made my allergies pretty mild the last few years, but since we actually had rain this spring the air was thick with pollen and other allergens. I was so miserable, and my regular allergy medication barely helped.

EVERYONE had a suggestion. Some of the moms at school said I should get an air purifier, while one of my friends swore by her humidifier. Dr. Looove suggested I get both, but having two machines running sounded really loud and distracting. So instead, I bought more kleenex and allergy medicine and prepared myself to just deal with it. And then, I had the opportunity to get a Venta Airwasher and my life was changed. Seriously.

The Venta Airwasher is an air purifier and humidifier in one. I decided to put our unit up in our family room where we all spend the majority of our time and would all be able to benefit from it. I set it up (all I had to do was remove the packaging and add water, so simple), and then? I basically forgot about it. Luckily, Annabel didn’t — refilling the Airwasher became one of her daily chores.

refilling the air washer

After about a week or so, Mike said something like, “Hey, how’s that air cleaner thing doing?” And I realized that I hadn’t had a sinus headache in a week, and I wasn’t going through a box of tissues every other day. So I said, “Um…I think it’s…actually working.” We’ve used it over the entire summer, and I’ve noticed other improvements, too. When we run our air conditioner during the hot months, I often wake up with a dull headache. Those have almost disappeared this summer! Annabel also has very sensitive skin, but she had no skin issues over the last three months. No dryness, no itchiness – she was so happy.

James loves to go over to it and take deep breaths of the clean air:

taking a deep breath

(Although to be honest, he was really more impressed with the box it came in.)

venta (boy not included)

The airwasher works by drawing in particles like dust pollen and trapping them to the wet rotating discs inside the unit. As the discs spin, the particles are pulled into the water below. The water evaporates into the air, but the particles stay behind in the bottom of the unit. Every two weeks, I pop the motor out of the Venta and wash off the whole thing. There are no filters that need to be replaced! I usually do it in the bathtub, but I could run it through my dishwasher if I wanted to! I am someone who hates to clean, but this is so easy to wash that I don’t mind it at all.

I can’t say enough good things about our airwasher. It’s quiet, compact, and really works (and I was pretty skeptical about it when I first turned it on). We were very lucky to get our family room unit for free, but I am going to buy units for our bedrooms. In a few months we’ll be running our heater and I want the Venta Airwasher to help all of us sleep comfortably through the night despite the dried-out air.

venta airwasher behind the couch.

Venta_USA_Aircraftiing_130716

Now if it could just give me a neck massage, it would be perfect.

Disclaimer: We received the Venta Airwasher for free, but all opinions are my own! For real, I am a little obsessed with my Airwasher. Probably too obsessed.