Indoor Air Quality Shutters: Ensuring a Healthy Home Environment

The average home contains airborne toxins up to 5 times higher than outdoors. Choosing shutters made with healthy materials minimizes indoor contaminants for cleaner air. Here are top considerations for improving shutter-related indoor air quality.

Low-VOC Shutters

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gas from standard shutters made using adhesives, binders and paints with solvents. Specifying ultra low-VOC or zero-VOC shutters keeps indoor VOCs minimal.

Formaldehyde-Free Materials

Conventional composite wood glues contain formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen. Selecting shutters made with formaldehyde-free adhesives improves air purity and reduces respiratory irritants.

Unfinished Solid Wood Options

Unfinished solid basswood, poplar or ash wood shutters avoid the glues and binders found in composites. Choose no-VOC stains and topcoats to maintain air freshness.

Natural Materials like Bamboo

Bamboo shutters made from sustainable moso bamboo avoid off-gassing issues associated with composite wood and plastics. Bamboo offers durability similar to hardwoods.

Inorganic Core Composite Panels

Luxury composite shutter brands like Shuttercraft utilize an internal inorganic mineral slab core between wood veneers to create a non-porous panel that cannot absorb or emit VOCs.

Edge Banding to Seal Cores

Vinyl edge banding applied to the edges of composite shutters prevents exposed inner particleboard from off-gassing contaminants. The banding seals the shutter core.

Recycled PVC Shutters

PVC shutters containing post-consumer recycled content avoids VOCs from PVC plasticizers that can occur with virgin vinyl formulations. Brands like American Shutters use recycled PVC.

Extended Off-Gassing Period

Responsible factories cure new shutters in climate-controlled rooms for over 90 days to complete VOC off-gassing fully before installation in homes.

Capped Composite Wood

Quality composite wood shutters feature a vinyl encapsulation layer or cap layered over exposed edges and surfaces. This prevents off-gassing from inner wood particles into living spaces.

Periodic Surface Cleaning

Vacuum shutters with HEPA filters followed by damp microfiber cloth cleaning every 2-3 months removes irritating particulates and allergens settling from indoor air onto shutter surfaces.

Choosing shutters made without harmful ingredients combined with vigilant cleaning improves indoor air quality for a healthy living environment. Discuss material options with your shutter retailer.