Important Production Update 🧰
about 4 years ago – Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 03:26:30 AM

Dear fellow air breathers,

We’re going through final testing right now, and everything is looking solid. 🙌 We just went Gold Master on our firmware last week and are shipping out our first batch of production units to some lucky beta testers and some of our Mila Cares package recipients next week.  We wish we could get them to all 248 of you who signed up to be beta testers (that’s amazing, thank you!!!), but we had to trim the list down due to air freight costs.

That’s the good news. The bad news is the unprecedented demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has resulted in the Chinese government placing restrictions on all melt-blown fabrics, the raw material behind HEPA filters and N95 masks.  Similar measures have been taken across the world, and some governments have banned the export of these materials altogether.  💣 

Thankfully, we pre-ordered all our stock in anticipation of the demand so the skyrocketing costs haven't affected us too much. But the restrictions are wreaking havoc on our filter manufacturer’s supply chain. In addition to absorbing the increase in costs, they are reaching deep within their network of suppliers to responsibly secure the melt-blown fabric needed. 

What this means is that instead of shipping out all units on April 30 at once, we will stagger shipments starting on May 15 through May 30, barring any unexpected issues that come up with this initial production run. We don’t expect there will be, but COVID-19 has put us all in uncharted waters so we want to be transparent with any uncertainties.

We hate these delays as much as you, but our suppliers are managing a supply chain that's been turned on its head over the past few months. We recognize/applaud how hard they have worked to rebuild the pieces since reopening last month while taking on additional safety measures to keep everyone healthy.

The silver lining in all this is that when you lock a bunch of engineers in their homes for a few weeks, they can be quite productive. 🙂 Here are a couple things we have been cooking up over the quarantine ...

•  We made some music 🎶.  

We had a sound designer add a series of tones for different Mila interactions. He didn't have much to work with because Mila just has a simple piezo speaker, but he's like the Mozart of beep tones. 🙂 We think you'll like it. 

•  Mila received her final lens. 

Here’s a sneak peek of the final result as snapped on our iPhone. 

• We gave Mila bamboo legs. 

We swapped these out for the earlier wooden legs because they are sustainably grown.

•  We finalized our packaging. It looks epic. 😎

•  Mila got smarter. 👩🏻‍💻 

Mila was always pretty smart, but unlike some of us, she is really thriving in this new home schooling environment :) We've rewritten big chunks of the control system to make it faster, more robust, and way smarter. Part of that is we've enabled it to improve its predictions over time. We've also made some pretty good progress on a super secret feature we might have let slip once or twice. That feature may be ready for launch. 

•  We put Mila in the Thunderdome ⚔️ with Molekule to get some head-to-head tests. 

A ton of you have asked us for our opinion on Molekule. We’ve tried to be polite in expressing our reservations because Mila is a 🤗🤗 not a 🥊🥊. More importantly we didn't have any real test data. Our opinions were based on a) reading their studies (which we felt were misleading), b) the Wirecutter and Consumer Reports reviews (which were bad), and c) the recent report from the advertising watchdog National Advertising Division (NAD) which rejected all 26 of Molekule's 26 marketing claims (which is really bad). 

But as you know, we’re big fans of specificity so we decided to put Mila and Molekule in the Thunderdome test chamber for the past couple weeks. ⚔️⚔️  We ran a whole range of tests and this may be one of the most comprehensive third party studies ever done on Molekule, as neither Wirecutter nor Consumer Reports have access to the type of test chambers we do. 

We’ll be sharing our findings with you in a separate update, but in a nutshell, Mila blew Molekule out of the water. It wasn't even a fair fight. In fact, we redid some of the tests because we actually didn't believe the results the first time. The results for Molekule were worse than the worst reviews said it was.  Stay tuned for the full, detailed report. 

We’ve got a couple more in the works with Dyson and Coway right now. 

We know these are challenging times for everyone, and we hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy.  We'll continue to share updates as we have them, including weekly production updates in our comments. 

Stay safe 😷😷

The Mila Team 

Production update and notes from our manufacturing partners
over 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 02:41:46 AM

Dear fellow air breathers,

First, we hope you’re staying safe and healthy, both physically and mentally, in the face of COVID-19. 

Over the last month, we’ve been keeping you updated about the impact that the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 has had on production.  The good news is that we’re continuing to see our manufacturing partners resume operations as the situation in China stabilizes. 

We had previously mentioned that our tooling partner was the biggest bottleneck as they waited for government approval to re-open.  This restriction has now been lifted and they have made the necessary modifications.  Given where we are now, and based on discussions with all our vendors, we anticipate shipping product on Thursday, April 30.

As always, we’ll continue to post regular shipping updates as comments.  If we have any major production updates, we’ll issue a Kickstarter update. 

Behind the scenes with Mila's partners

We mention our manufacturing partners a lot in our communications, and wanted to also take this opportunity to give our backers a behind-the-scenes look at the people and processes that are the backbone of our operations.  It’s something that we’ve always wanted to do — our suppliers and partners are a key part of the Mila family, and particularly in light of the current state of global health, sharing their story seems more important than ever.    

Today, we’ll take you backstage with two of our 12+ suppliers/partners — one, our assembly partner in Suzhou (East China), and two, our filter supplier in Shenzhen (West China) — and the processes each have in place to ensure the safety of their teams and the products they build.  

Mila's Assembly Partner

Mila’s assembly partner is located in Suzhou, a rapidly growing industrial hub located approximately 60 miles from Shanghai in Jiangsu province.  Our partner employs more than 2,000 employees on-site, including 1,800 individuals on the assembly lines, and specializes in manufacturing household electronics such as vacuum cleaners and air purifiers.  Their clients include some of the biggest global household names, including Electrolux and Philips. 

Even though they were among the first allowed to re-open on February 10, it has taken over six weeks to start to regain any sense of normalcy. As of earlier this week, 30% of assembly line workers remain quarantined either in their hometown or locally in Suzhou. “When Chinese New Year first ended, we only had 10-20% of our team back,” recalled Edward, who works closely with the Mila team. “The only people you saw were those that chose to stay in Suzhou for the new year.” 

As a result, only three assembly lines were open for February, and even then, were running at one third capacity given limited manpower and resources.  Re-opening of the factory has been slow, like it has been for all our partners, due to a combination of government regulations and increased safety measures.

In order to re-open, the local government requires all factories to meet a series of requirements, including having enough masks for all employees and demonstrating a clear business reason to resume operations.  On the factory floors, new measures have been instituted for everyone’s safety, which include:

• All employees have their temperature checked at least twice a day—once in the morning, and once in the evening.
   
• All employees are provided with new masks and necessary protective gear daily (e.g., gloves), which must be worn at all times while at work.
   
• All countertops and surfaces must be sanitized using alcohol daily, with disinfectant supplies readily on hand.
   
• Cafeterias which would normally seat 40-50 people at a time are now limited to 3 individuals at a time.
   

Additionally, anyone who is traveling back to Suzhou from outside provincial lines is subject to a 7-14 day quarantine.  Those coming from Hubei, the province hardest hit, must be quarantined for 14 days under medical supervision in pre-designated housing blocks set by the local government.  All other returning employees are quarantined for 7 days either in their own homes or in temporary housing the factory has rented on their employees’ behalf. 

While safety remains the top priority, work capacity is expected to increase next month. “Our customers have been very understanding of the circumstances, and we have committed to ramp up in April to make up for the lost time,” said Edward. This includes hiring temporary laborers and negotiating additional hours with existing employees. 

When asked what he would share with those currently experiencing the effects of COVID-19 and similar lockdowns that had engulfed China just last month, Edward has this to share: “Use this time to spend more time at home with family and loved ones, to watch movies, read, and slow down. In Chinese, there is a phrase that goes ‘in the warmth of spring, flowers bloom.’ We’re optimistic, and have learned a lot from this experience. Know that we can get past it.” 

Mila's Filter Supplier

On the other side of China, Mila’s filter supplier sits in an industrial park in Shenzhen, a booming high-tech metropolis nearly 1,000 miles away in Guangdong province. Our supplier employs about 100 employees, who have now all returned to work. Any employees traveling from outside Guangdong province were similarly placed under a 14-day quarantine before being allowed back on site.

They, too, have instituted additional safety measures, which include:

• All employees have their temperature checked at least twice a day — once in the morning, and once in the evening.
   
• All employees are provided with new masks and necessary protective gear daily, which must be worn at all times while at work.
   
• Disinfection work takes place twice a day to cover every inch of the factory floor and all offices. This involves disinfecting the assembly line, warehouse, and production room.
   
• Non-employees are currently not permitted on site nor in the industrial park where the factory is located.
   

All these measures are being taken for the safety of the team and their customers. The team has also noted very minimal risk on the filters themselves. “The biggest challenge is actually the increase we’ve seen in demand for HEPA’s base materials,” said Lynn, who works closely with the Mila team. “We’re seeing increases of more than ten-fold in both demand and price as these materials are also used in face mask filtration.  However, we have previously communicated Mila’s needs with our suppliers and they have already reserved these materials for us.”

Like our assembly partners, Lynn’s team is excited to resume work, although she did enjoy her extended time off to pick up baking. 🙂🧁

What's next 

We hope this gives you a glimpse into the work that goes on behind-the-scenes, the people that are involved and the steps our partners are taking to ensure everyone’s safety — including yours. Thank you for your ongoing support and for the overwhelmingly positive feedback so many of you have shared with us.

Thank you also to the 2,671 of you who have completed your Backerkit surveys (that’s a 73+% response rate!) — we’ll be “locking down” the survey at 12 a.m. PST on Wednesday, April 1 to finalize manufacturing counts and guarantee your pledge shipping as soon as possible. You’ll still have an opportunity to update your address until closer to shipping.

If you haven’t had a chance to fill out the survey, now’s the time to do it (find your survey at https://mila.backerkit.com). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. For those of you who have already filled it out, you’ll also have an opportunity to update your answers until April 1.

To cleaner air for all,

The Mila Team

Backerkit Surveys are here | Here’s the 411 ✈️
over 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 01:42:58 AM

Dear fellow air breathers—

Thank you for your patience as we worked to get you all the information you need for your Backerkit survey.  With the unexpected impact that COVID-19 has had on production, our sourcing and operations team has also been hard at work to find ways to improve on quality while reducing costs, including:

• Lower costs for The Rookie Parents and The Mama-to-be filters. Both will be $10 lower than communicated during our campaign as we were able to get better volume pricing on the anti-bacterial coatings.  These will be available for $59 and $69, respectively — exclusively for our Kickstarter and early Indiegogo backers.
   
• Introducing The Over-reactor 🤯 (thanks to Branden M. for the suggestion and the feedback you’ve all shared in the comments!) as a “stretch goal” on Backerkit! This triple threat filter includes a H14 HEPA + anti-bacterial coating + 1.58 lbs of carbon.  We have the materials and pieces lined up, and if we receive 100 orders of these, we’ll produce and ship them along with your Mila units.
   
• Introducing Mila Socks, thanks to our Kickstarter backers Olivia V. and Abdelrahman.  This is our updated and improved version of the traditional fixed mesh pre-filter, and will cut down on the risk of inhaling resuspended particles usually associated with traditional pre-filters. Simply pull these off and wash them in the sink.  And as an additional thank you to our backers, we’ll be including one Mila Sock in each of your pledges.
   
•  Bulk-friendly shipping prices for Mila filters (and Mila units). One of the most commonly asked questions we’ve received on shipping is for filters, which is why our team has worked particularly hard to secure the lowest possible prices for global delivery. Plus, we’re helping subsidize shipping for those ordering multiple filters or units.   For US backers, shipping is $5 for one filter, and orders including two or more filters will ship for just $10.   For international backers, shipping is $10 for one filter, and $15 for two or more filters.

Survey Details

Your Backerkit survey will be coming your way over the next 72 hours, and will be sent to the e-mail address associated with your Kickstarter account, with the subject line: “Response Needed -- Get your reward for Mila: A smarter, more thoughtful air purifier.”

In your survey, you'll be asked for the following info:

• Your shipping address
   
• Your Mila color choice (White or Black)
   
• Your filter choice (we've put  here for a refresher on how each Mila filter compares in this Mila Filter Primer)
   
• You will also have the ability to buy any additional items (at exclusive Kickstarter prices) that will be shipped alongside your reward.
   

We know there are often questions that can arise with surveys and shipment, and have included a FAQ for you below. If you have a question that you don’t see an answer to below, please send us a message or e-mail at [email protected] and we’d be happy to help you out!

Mila Kickstarter Survey FAQ

What is Backerkit?

For those of you who may not be familiar with Backerkit, it's a third-party service that helps streamline the survey process to make it as simple as possible for you to get us the information we need -- and for you to get your Milas as quickly as possible.  Backerkit has powered the fulfillment process for hundreds of Kickstarters so you’ll be in good hands :)

Where can I find my survey?

You’ll be receiving a link in your e-mail from Backerkit that will be sent to the e-mail address associated with your Kickstarter account (don’t forget to check your spam folder).  If you're not sure what e-mail address is linked with your Kickstarter account, you can check your account settings here. 

If you don’t receive a survey by Monday, March 23, please go to https://mila.backerkit.com/.

What if I included extra funds for a specific filter or add-ons?

If you pledged extra funds for a specific filter or add-on filters and/or Mila units, you’ll find a credit in your BackerKit account.  As you go through the survey process, you’ll have the opportunity to choose your Add-On items.

What if I’m planning a move?

You should enter your current shipping address, and can change your shipping address any time up until we lock down the Backerkit surveys (you’ll receive a notification by e-mail before this happens).

If you have any other questions, we’re here to help. Send us a note on Kickstarter or email us at [email protected].   We know that these are crazy times for everyone around the world right now, and here at Mila, we’re doing our best to keep ahead of changing schedules while making the most of this time to improve on your Mila experience.   We’ll also be sending another update specifically focused on production, which will include a behind-the-scenes look at the measures our partners are taking to ensure everyone's safety, including that of their team and customers. 

To cleaner air for all —

The Mila Team

Mila Engineering Update 💻
over 4 years ago – Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 11:56:48 PM

Dear fellow air breathers —

It’s Jeremy from the Mila Engineering team! I wanted to jump in with a short product update on some of the work we’ve been doing behind the scenes.  While we have had delays to our hardware production because of COVID-19, we’ve been able to use this time to continue to fine-tune and iterate on the overall user experience.

Some are features we’ve planned for, and others are areas we’ve been able to accelerate thanks in part to your support.  

This includes:

We partnered with our friends at PurpleAir to add 6,000 more outdoor air quality stations to the Mila database. 

We have mad respect for the team over at PurpleAir. Their PA-II is one of the best outdoor air quality monitoring stations on the market and over 6,000 citizen scientists from around the world have purchased it, creating a hyper-local air quality map.

To put this in perspective, the entire San Francisco Bay Area only has three government air quality stations reporting on the hour. PurpleAir has hundreds of stations in every neighborhood reporting in realtime.

Another plus is that their PA-II uses the same laser particle counter as Mila, which means that you'll be looking at an apples-to-apples comparison between your reported indoor air quality and the outdoor air quality metrics.

We upgraded the display ... then we upgraded it again ... 

We said Mila was the world’s most thoughtful air purifier. We might have meant the world’s most neurotic… 🙂 

In January, we upgraded the display from TFT to IPS to get better viewing angles. And now, our firmware engineers developed some anti-aliasing magic to make the fonts even sharper. 

And we’ve got another little surprise we are cooking up.  With the extra time the team was able to source an even higher quality 250ppi IPS display with 16M colors (our current display is 166ppi and 256k colors). It looks sweet. It's a lot of work to port over the driver and redraw the screens — so we can't make any promises right now, but we are doing our best to get this in before production. 

We designed a bunch of new screens in the firmware.

In addition to improving the actual display, we've been having a lot of fun improving upon and including some new screens. We'll also continue adding even more via over-the-air updates along the way. 

We reworked the app onboarding process to make it simpler, more secure, and sooo good looking.

As part of the onboarding development, we’ve implemented OAuth 2.0 for our authentication process. This is quickly becoming the new standard for app and web sign-ins, and is now the de-facto technology behind interconnected applications.

Amazon Alexa and Google Home both require OAuth for integration, so implementing that from the get-go allowed us to move full-speed-ahead with Home Integrations. 

This also begins the exciting journey into third-party API development which will allow our technical customers to develop their own integrations, dashboards and what-have-yous. 🤓

We started on smart home integrations with Alexa and Google.

We’ve already hooked up our initial set of Alexa intentions and have moved on to Google Home, and they’ll be ready in time for product shipping.  And yes, R&D is on-going for you Apple Homekit fanatics.

We’ve been testing the control system and added some fun new modes. 

In addition to the original modes we spec’d for launch (Manual Mode, Automagic Mode and Quiet Mode), there are a couple new ones we’ve added that were originally planned to be part of an over-the-air update. We’ll keep a couple of them as surprises but wanted to call out the White Noise Mode that oscillates fan speed to create a soothing rhythm.  This mode was actually suggested by a couple of our backers so thank you to Marie H., Allison T. and Melissa for the thoughtful suggestion. 

We finalized our lens selection.

We tried many different lens variations, and we finally settled on IMD (“In Mold Decoration”). This option was a lot pricier than we expected, but the results are second-to-none.

While COVID-19 has had an undeniable impact on all of us, know that we’re working as quickly (and safely) as possible with our partners to get your Milas to you while looking at all the ways we can make the most of this unexpected production downtime.  We’ve also been able to use this extra time to work on delivering a better, more thoughtful experience to all our backers, and hope you appreciate the improvements that will be part of your Mila (these are just a few of the upgrades we have in store for you :)).

On the manufacturing front, our biggest roadblock continues to be our tooling partner.  While they have been permitted to re-open in the last couple weeks, re-staffing the team back to full capacity remains a challenge.  We will have a more concrete timeline to share next week (week of 3/16), and will issue another production update at that time. If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to reach out and we appreciate your patience and understanding.  We're thankful our immediate team has remained safe and healthy, and we thank everyone for expressing their concerns and wishing us good health.

Join our beta crew!

We’ve absolutely LOVED hearing the thoughtful feedback you’ve had to share and are looking for backers who may be interested in joining the inaugural Mila beta crew.  This may include being asked to share your thoughts online, by phone or in-person on upcoming features, products, etc. We're looking for backers who enjoy digging into products and how they work to deliver the best user experience. If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you — please fill out this short survey here.

To cleaner air for all —

Jeremy and the Mila Team

 

The Mila Filter Update 🍃
over 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 01:07:59 AM

Dear fellow air breathers —

The filter tests are in and we’re excited to share the results and final specs on all six filters. We wanted to publish this update separate from the Backerkit survey (which you will be receiving shortly) to give you time to review and ask any questions before finalizing your filter order.

Which Filter Is Right For Me?

At Mila our goal is to provide you the right filter for the right job.

Unlike traditional air purifiers that have one generic filter that tries to do a little bit of everything (and ends up doing nothing well), Mila has designed six unique filter configurations to address your specific needs.

For those of you who just want to know what’s best for you, we have provided a TL;DR summary below.

But as many of you know, here at Mila we are big fans of specificity :). If you enjoy geeking out on this stuff and diving into the details, we have also provided the technical specs and performance figures on each filter. We also wanted to take a moment to explain some of the science behind air filters in the FAQ section.

If you’re still confused after reading all this, don’t hesitate to ping us and we would be happy to guide you through it.

TL;DR Summary

To help you choose which filter is best for you, we’ve included a snapshot of each filter in addition to suggested choices for commonly asked-for scenarios.

The Basic Breather 🍃

• Perfect for the everyday lover of clean air
• Best suited for larger rooms
• This H12 HEPA filter is optimized for maximum particle filtration (pollution, dust and smoke) where VOCs, pets, or household odors are not a concern

The Big Sneeze 🤧

• Ideal for those dreading seasonal allergies
• Best suited for smaller living rooms and larger bedrooms
• This H13 HEPA filter is optimized for pollen, dander and dust allergies and includes an extra layer of defense with a special anti-allergen coating that denatures allergen proteins on contact
• The Big Sneeze does not include a carbon filter so if you are looking for odor and VOC filtration, we recommend The Critter Cuddler

The Critter Cuddler 🐶

• Built for fur families everywhere
• Best suited for smaller living rooms and larger bedrooms
• This H13 HEPA filter is optimized for filtering pet dander, allergies and odor. It includes an anti-allergen coating that denatures allergen proteins on contact and 500g of granular activated carbon modified to target pet odors (ammonia), and a washable pre-filter for large particles and pet hair

The Rookie Parent 👶

• Perfect for young families with sensitive/developing immune systems
• Best suited for bedrooms and nurseries
• This H13 HEPA filter is optimized for tackling airborne germs and funky odors emanating from your precious little ones . It includes an anti-bacterial coating that kills virus and bacteria on contact and 500g of granular activated carbon optimized for household odors

The Homewrecker 🚧

• Built for renovators and those who want maximum VOC and odor filtration
• Best suited for standard-size living rooms and bedrooms
• This H12 HEPA filter comes with a dual-layer of 720g of granular activated carbon specially modified to target VOCs, formaldehyde, and odors from out-gassing flooring, furniture, carpets and paints

The Mama-to-Be 👩

• Designed for expecting moms and those looking for the ultimate protection
• Best suited for bedroom use
• This H14 HEPA provides hospital-grade protection against ultrafine particulate (PM2.5), pollution and airborne germ transmission. Maternal exposure to air pollution has now been conclusively linked to increased risks of negative birth outcomes (It’s scary, please read up on the latest research if you live in a big city). This filter comes with an anti-bacterial coating for an extra layer of defense. Studies also show pregnancy leads to increased odor sensitivity so we added 267g of granular activated carbon in a honeycomb filter to reduce household odors. Yup, we thought of that too :)

Filter Performance

For those of you who geek out over filter efficiency and finding that optimal balance between material choice and airflow (like us), we’re excited to share the results from our filter tests.

Over the last few months, we have been running each Mila filter in test chambers filled with all sorts of nasties to evaluate performance and optimize the design.

Our VOC tests are done over 60-minute intervals in a 1,059-cubic-feet (30 m3) test chamber (using the GBT 18883-2002 standard).  The "TVOC Removal Rate" (Total VOC Removal Rate) includes all 9 chemicals in the test chamber at the same time but we have tested each individually.

Our CADR tests are done in 20-minute intervals to determine the particulate volume each filter can effectively process in a standard 1,008-cubic-foot (28.5 m3) test chamber.

Filter Specs

Curious about what goes into each filter? This handy chart is for you.

Filter Life

We’re continuing to see strong performance from filter life, and expect them to last 6 months, depending on your use.  Additional filters can be added when you receive your Backerkit survey, and our team is building out an auto-filter replacement experience for US-based backers (to start).

Prefilters

We gave Mila washable “socks”! These flexible pre-filters can be added to any Mila filter and allows for easy cleaning — simply pull these off and wash in the sink. While they can be effective in capturing larger particles, our data shows that adding a pre-filter will reduce your overall airflow (CADR) by roughly 10%.

As a thank you to you for being Mila’s first backers, each pledge will automatically come with one Mila Sock for every unit.  Additional Mila Socks can be purchased in your Backerkit survey.

FAQs for Geeks/Geekettes

What’s up with all the different choices?

Filters are one of the most important components of any air purifier design, and one we’ve spent a considerable amount of time optimizing for.  Our approach at Mila is to give you the right performance for your needs.

When choosing a filter, it’s important to take into consideration the size of the space you’re working with, the filter’s overall efficiency, and ultimately, the goals you hope to achieve.

How can a filter with higher efficiency have a lower CADR?

Every filter has a tradeoff between the level of first-pass efficiency (how much it filters) and the associated pressure drop (how restricted the airflow becomes). Both are crucial to an air purifier’s overall performance but are inversely correlated; as filters become more efficient, the filter media becomes more restrictive, which forces air to work harder to flow through.  This reduces the volume of air that can be filtered over a given amount of time, which affects the size of the room they can effectively filter. For example, a brick wall is a 100% efficient filter that will give you a CADR of 0.

What is an anti-bacterial coating?

Both our "Mama-to-Be" and "Rookie Parent" filters come with an anti-bacterial coating that kills viruses and bacteria when they impact the filter.

Some people mistakenly say that HEPA can not filter viruses because a virus is smaller than 0.3 microns (the size a HEPA is certified to capture). While it’s true that a virus can range from 20-400 nanometers in size (0.3 microns = 300 nanometers), viruses tend to "agglomerate" (i.e., travel in clumps). Studies as long as 30 years ago proved that HEPA filters were extremely effective in filtering viruses, showing only a 0.0003% penetration rate.

Once germs impact the filter they will typically desiccate within a few hours (i.e., dry out and die). What the coating does is add an extra layer of defense to kill them on contact via a Lysozyme-based coating, which is a natural antibacterial enzyme. Our filter supplier has done long-term durability studies on this coating and there is no risk of becoming airborne or outgassing, even after immersing it in liquid for 7 days.

What is an anti-allergen coating?

Both our “Big Sneeze” and “Critter Cuddler” filters come with an anti-allergen coating.  This coating is a polyphenol that denatures the allergen protein.

Allergens are proteins and the most common in a home are from dust mites, pets, pollens, and fungi (also cockroaches and rat pee🤮). For some more gross facts, there are roughly 30 different types of mites in homes. One type bites you but doesn't cause an allergic reaction. The other type, the American House Dust Mite (Der f1, Der f2) and the European House Dust Mite (Der p1, Der p2), are the ones that cause allergies. These are in mattresses, carpets, furniture, and stuffed animals. They are more common in homes with elevated humidity and found less in arid climates. There are then 50 types of pollen allergens (cedar (Cry j1, Cry j2), ragweed (Amb a1), birch (Bet v1), etc.) that fly around in the spring and summer.

Once these are inhaled they create a histamine response in the body. Medical drugs work by suppressing that reaction. Allergen denaturing agents work differently by breaking down the structure of the allergen protein. It doesn't physically decompose it, it binds to it changing the protein's 3-dimensional structure and thereby reducing its allergenic nature.

There is a variety of different allergen denaturing agents (e.g., organic tannic acid and inorganic rare earth salts). You can buy them in spray form too and use on carpets, furniture and sheets. However, it needs to be targeted for the use case because something like tannic acid would turn any fabric brown when exposed to sunlight.

The allergen inactivation rate of our coating was measured at greater than 99% for both dust mite (Der f2) and cedar pollen (Cry j1) allergens.

What the heck is a VOC?

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are compounds that easily become vapors or gases. They are released from burning fossil fuels as well as outgassing from consumer products, plastics, paints, furniture, carpets, etc. However, studies have shown that up to 60% of indoor VOCs are emitted by humans (from your breath, sweat and personal care products). A simple rule is if you can smell it ... it’s a VOC. :)

HEPA filters are designed to filter ultrafine particulates - not gasses. The best media for filtering VOCs and odors, aka “gas-phase filtration”, has consistently proven to be granular activated carbon. It “adsorbs” the VOCs onto the surface of the media.

Consumer-grade VOC sensors are unfortunately still not precise enough to detect what the exact VOC chemical is, they only can detect “something” is there.

Here is a description of the various VOCs we have tested our carbon filters against:

• Formaldehyde - one of the most common VOCs, Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with an acrid smell. It is common in many building materials such as plywood, particleboard, and glues. Formaldehyde can also be found in some drapes and fabrics and in certain types of foam insulation. It’s a known carcinogen so it's not something you want to mess with.
• Ammonia - If you have a smelly cat, it's primarily from the ammonia generated from decomposing urine in the litter box. 🙀
• Benzene - Paints, auto care products, gas & stove fuel, lighter fluid, adhesives and sealants.
• Toluene - paints, synthetic fragrances, nail polish, some cleaning agents, cigarette smoke, etc.
• Butyl acetate - nail care products such as nail polish, home repair products such as tile caulk, and old fruit.
• N-undecane - cooking odors like cheese, fried bacon, fried chicken, raw beef, flavored foods such as breakfast cereals, as well as dry cleaning solvents that remain on clothing and paints containing spirits.
• Ethylbenzene - spray paints, coatings, wood stains and varnishes, paint removers and thinners, as well as home insecticide sprays, dyes, rubber adhesives, rust preventatives, and household and automotive cleaners.
• P-Xylene/M-Xylene/o-Xylene - paints, lacquers, adhesives, rust preventers, thinners, gasoline, permanent magic markers, and synthetic enamels.
• Styrene - 3D printers that use filaments containing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), photocopiers and laser printers that use toners containing styrene copolymers, cigarette smoke，polystyrene-based food-contact items, such as drinking cups, plates, and other containers，paints and building materials, such as certain types of insulation, insulated panels, and rubber flooring.

Still not sure which filter is best for you?

To help you choose which filter is best for you, we’ve included suggested choices for some of our most commonly asked questions.

• Pollution, Dust  — Basic Breather
• Household VOCs (e.g., paint, furniture) — Homewrecker
• Sensitivity to dust/seasonal allergies — The Big Sneeze
• Mold/mildew smells — Rookie Parent (adds a layer of anti-bacterial protection from mold bacteria)
• Germs + pets — Rookie Parent or Mama-to-be with a Mila Sock (our version of a pre-filter -- simply pull off and wash in the sink!)
• Pets — Critter Cuddler 

And there you go folks — your filter primer for your Mila, and how exactly Mila’s unique filter designs help you eliminate all the nasty things in your air you want to avoid so you’re breathing in as much of what’s good for you as possible. 

Once you have a chance to review the above, we'll also be sending out your Backerkit surveys shortly.  If you have any lingering questions still, please don't hesitate to message us as we want you to go into your surveys and choosing your filters fully informed.

Until next time — 

The Mila Team

p.s. for those of you who have been following along our production timeline which has been impacted by covid-19, we are still targeting a March 24 ship-out date from our factories.  We have also posted the latest news we have from our manufacturing partners in the comments section of our Kickstarter page and our production-specific update.