Tile that improves air quality – oh, really?
In case you’ve ever wondered, the Kitchen Clarity “Oh, really?” category deals with the strange, illogical, or just plain misleading things that are said or written about the world of kitchen and bath design. The “Calamities” category, on the other hand, is reserved for kitchens or bathrooms that suffer from design done so badly that the result is dangerous, or sometimes hideous, or even both. Imagine my consternation then, as I browsed through Style at Home’s “Bathroom Trends 2010″ this weekend, to find a bathroom that could fit in either category, or both at the same time:
Styleathome.com Bathroom Trends 2010
First, these words jumped out at me, provoking a raised eyebrow and big “Oh, really?” :
If nothing else, 2009 was a year about communicable diseases, namely the H1N1 virus. In 2010, expect to see technological advances in kitchens and bathrooms, such as this brand-new self-disinfecting “antibacterial tile.” It won’t kill viruses, but when sunlight or artificial UVA light shines on the tile, the reaction with titanium dioxide kills nasty bacteria found in bathrooms.
Antibacterial tile? But doesn’t UV light kill bacteria anyway, without any special tile? Sure sounds like pseudo scientific mumbo-jumbo to me. I just had to mosey on over to the internets and look into this. And, knock me down with a feather, there does seem to be actual science behind the claim. I’m probably translating this into gobbledegook, but on the Active Ceramic site, I found that this clever technology involves a film of titanium dioxide and water, permanently bonded to the surface of the tile, which reacts with UV light to not only kill bacteria, but also to take environmental nasties and render them harmless. Amazing. And yes, it does kill bacteria much more quickly than plain old sunlight alone. They’ve even figured out how to make sure the titanium dioxide particles are too large to be absorbed, so that they are not harmful to humans. I’m not qualified to judge the quality of it, but this certainly seems like science to me.
Active Ceramics
Well then, you are surely wondering, why is this post still in the “Oh, Really?” category? Did you notice how that little blurb opened by mentioning the H1N1 flu virus, and in the very next sentence states that the technology doesn’t work on viruses? So why mention them in the first place? It’s still an overwhelming “Oh, really?” to me. And that’s before we even get to the question of whether the technology is necessary or useful in the average family bathroom – hospitals, nursing homes, public spaces, yes I could see it making sense. But for the home, wouldn’t soap and regular household cleaning be just as good?
Oh, and the calamity? The bathroom is a bit drab, design wise, but I’m not condemning it for that. No, it’s that step up to the shower and tub, with not a grab bar in sight, or even a wall to steady yourself against. Looks like an accident waiting to happen, don’t you think? And I really don’t suppose that micro layer of titanium dioxide has any sort of cushioning effect! If this is a trend for 2010, it’s one I’ll be taking a pass on.
In praise of imperfection
Playful Kitchens - Karim Rashid for Scavolini
Architect designed seaside kitchen