Worried about pollution when travelling in Asia? The Easy Solution

Are you worried about the pollution when travelling in SE Asia during the burning season?

Then don’t worry any-more as I’ve got the best travel-friendly tip about how you can effectively reduce the air pollution in your Airbnb and hotel when travelling.

And yes… we all know you can just buy an air purifier. But… that’s impractical and expensive when you’re travelling between cities/countries regularly.

Travelling to Asia Soon? Check out our Asia Travel Guides & Tips!

So what’s the Best Travel-friendly Pollution Solution? Tell me already!

The cheap and easy way to turn any Air Conditioner or Fan into an PM2.5 Air Purifier is… 🥁🥁🥁

Using 3M Filtrete PM2.5 Air Cleaning Filter Wrap

(No affiliation, just a cool product)

What the heck is 3M Filtrete??? I hear you asking…

It’s a roll of polypropylene statically charged fibres that can be cut to any size and catches irritants in the air as small as 0.1 microns (including PM2.5 which is 2.5 microns) #science.

This stuff weighs next to nothing, easily attaches to an air conditioner’s dust filter and will remove the air of pollutants in your room, trapping them in the fabric.

What’s not to love…

I’ve been using the stuff for years and it’s sold in most hardware & DIY stores across Asia.

Plus… having survived 4 burning seasons in Chiang Mai, I’ve learnt a thing or two about keeping my air clean 😎.

Pros of Filtrete 3M

• Cleans as small as 0.1micron
• Cheap, lightweight & easily packed for travellers.
• Also great for reducing smells, and other non-pollution contaminants (Dust, Mould, Bacteria etc)
• Great if you have sensitive lungs.

Cons of Filtrete 3M

• Not as effective as a HEPA13/HEPA14 filter
• You might get a nasty surprise when opening a hotel air filter.
  • Hotels should regularly clean their filters, just take a photo, ask reception… politely!!!… to clean them, and then add the filters after.
• Might not be worth the installation hassle for less than 4 days.
  • Unless the pollution is really bad then it’s worth it. You’d be surprised how much better you’ll feel sleeping in clean air.

Testing The Effectiveness of Filtrete 3M Air Cleaning Filters

Recently I travelled to Da Nang, to escape the smokey season in Chiang Mai.

While it was all blue skies and sunshine for the first two weeks, we then started getting rising levels of PM2.5 pollution from waste burning and construction.

A perfect time to put the 3M Filtrete to the test.

Over a few different days, there were varying PM2.5 levels across the city.

I’ve listed below the levels outside on my balcony, vs inside using the air-conditioner on Fan mode with the filters.

Test Day 1:

• Outdoor Air Quality: 144 PM2.5
• Indoor Air Quality: 25 PM2.5

Test Day 2:

• Outdoor Air Quality: 70 PM2.5
• Indoor Air Quality: 12 PM2.5

Test Conclusion

As a cheap, travel-friendly alternative to a full-sized HEPA air purifier, it’s a success.

We’re getting around 5.5 to 6x less pollution indoors using this 3M filter.

But.. its still not a “zero” on the PM2.5 monitor…

So I’ll stick with the following advice.

For stays over 1+ months, invest in a real HEPA13 air purifier. You can often buy them 2nd hand on facebook marketplace, and then sell-on before you leave.

For shorter stays, or if you’re moving rooms often then the 3M Filtrete is the lightweight and best option for reducing room pollution.

Travelling with Air Pollution - FAQs

Isn’t the indoor air less polluted and safer to breath than the outdoor air?*

Contrary to popular belief, air molecules are pretty good at getting through walls, doors, cracks and window gaps.

While the popular advice is to stay indoors, unless the indoor air is actively being filtered then it isn’t going to vary much from the outside air quality.

Since I’m a bit of a pollution nerd, I’ve taken my portable detector around to numerous malls and coffee shops in Asia during periods of strong haze.

The difference between indoors and outdoor PM2.5 levels were negligible…

It’s sad to see the common advice from places of authority being to stay indoors during periods of heavy pollution when this isn’t an effective solution and often with the same pollution levels.

How do I know if the air is polluted when I’m travelling?

Chances are that if the air is polluted when travelling, you’ll smell it, taste it or see it.

The pretty fog or mist rolling in could have a more sinister side.

If that fails… then it’s the 21st century, so you can always just check your local air quality levels by visiting either AQICN or IQAir.

Are there any other ways we can reduce pollution at a hotel or Airbnb when travelling?

As pollution has become more of a problem worldwide, there are now portable travel air purifiers available.

The downside to these are that they are often heavy, bulky and have low airflow.

For shorter stays, I think 3M Filtrete has you covered. For longer stays invest in a dedicated machine and sell it before you leave.

Can I use 3M Filtrete instead of a traditional air purifier in the long term?

I wouldn’t recommend it as your sole solution to combatting air pollution if you live in a high pollution environment.

It can’t compete against a HEPA13 or HEPA14 dedicated air filter in terms of volumetric air cleaned.

Better to use it when you’re in a pinch, like travelling, or if you live in a low pollution area. Otherwise, it can be used in combination with other air filters.

I’d love to hear your tips, stories and experiences of travelling during periods of haze, burning & pollution.

Comment below.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re sensitive to pollution depends on a few factors.

Mainly… the type of pollution or burning that’s happening, your outside of purified areas time and your exercise levels will all make a big difference.

It’s common knowledge that you’re eyes are going to sting and be irritated a lot more from burning plastic waste than from agricultural leaf & crop burning.

I’ve met many travellers that can barely breathe around heavy diesel traffic and others that don’t even notice the orange skies and limited visibility of a full blown burning season.

Pollution complications aren’t always visible…

You don’t need obvious symptoms of irritation to experience the harmful effects of air pollution.

We can all agree… it’s not very healthy to be living in pollution 24/7. And while we can’t do much except wear a mask when outdoors, we can make big changes to the quality of your air indoors.

That’s why I hope that this super lightweight indoor air pollution hack will help you breath cleaner air when travelling.