I live with two cats and a man who is allergic to cats. Winning  housemates, but not always a great combo (sorry Tim!). So when I read about Purely Products Pet CFL Lightbulbs, which claim to help control pet dander (and other allergens) just by using them like a normal lightbulb, I was really intrigued. Could it be true?

The Pet CFL has a built-in ionizer, which generates negative ions to attract positively charged airborne allergens like smoke, mold spores, dust and pet dander. When the two ions meet, they become too heavy to stay in the air, and therefore, out of your breathing space.

Because the Pet CFL needs to come into contact with the allergens, the bulb works best in an open or semi-open light fixture and in an upright position. It also needs to be on (duh). I’m not a huge fan of naked light bulbs in my apartment, so I had a hard time finding lamps to use these in. I decided to put them into the two bedside table lamps in our bedroom.

So far, I’m not really sure if the bulbs are really doing all that much. Perhaps it’s because the lamps have shade on them. But if nothing else, because the Pet CFLs are compact fluorescent light bulbs, they are energy efficient, so it couldn’t hurt to use them, anyway.

Has anyone else used the Pet CFL bulbs and have positive results?