Falmec Bellaria
£850
Cooker-hood company Falmec claims that the Bellaria removes 85 per cent of ‘bacterial charge’ in a room
I don’t need gadgets to remind me what a filthy, unhygienic pig I am. I have my wife to do that for me. But just in case I’d let that fact slip my mind, the green leaves on the front of the Falmec Bellaria turned an ominous yellow as soon as I switched it on.
Ambitiously, I’d parked the air-cleaning machine next to the cat’s lair, in the hope it might freshen the rather pungent aroma. The Bellaria is a mesmerising device: a glowing vase-like thing made of Venetian glass that promises to remove bacteria, allergens and other invisible gunge from the air.
Only the Italians would attempt to add style to something like an air ioniser, and the Bellaria is indeed gorgeous. As it cleans the air, the yellow LED leaves turn slowly back to green. The idea is that it releases a stream of negative ions which bind to stuff like cigarette smoke in the air.
It definitely creates a cool feeling, and a faintly ozone-y smell, but it sadly failed in what I wanted: creating the illusion I lived in a home without a cat. The three leaves also seemed to turn yellow when I fried bacon, the smell of which is a pollutant I’m happy to live with.
Cooker-hood company Falmec claims that the Bellaria removes 85 per cent of ‘bacterial charge’ in a room, whatever that is. It certainly creates a funny feeling of cleanness by the time the leaves turn green.
If I were slightly more prone to hypochondria, I might be tempted. As it is, at £850 a throw, it’s a little steep for a feeling I can’t quite put my finger on.