Long periods spent in stuffy aluminum tubes breathing recycled air with a few hundred strangers; the stifling, ever-present smog in places like China and Cairo; exposure to unknown and sometimes too well-known airborne toxins in developing countries …
Vagabondish is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read our disclosure.
Travel is often very dirty business.
This is all bad enough even for healthy travelers. But allergy sufferers (like Kelsey) have it way worse. So, coming home to a crisp apartment with clean, breathable air has become surprisingly important to us. When we recently noticed that even our cat was sneezing like she’d just inhaled a pepper shaker, we knew it was time to do something about the stale air in our apartment. Particularly for those times when we were coming home after a long stint in an area with questionable air.
Stadler Form ROBERT Air Purifier Review
Enter Stadler Form — a Swiss company whose entire product line is designed with a singular goal in mind: “to improve your air.” When they offered to send us a review sample of the Stadler Form ROBERT Air Washer (that the name is listed in all caps means their air purifiers are serious business), we jumped at the chance. We wanted to see if it was possible to convert our living space into a “clean room” of sorts.
The Skinny
In the company’s own words, the Stadler Form ROBERT Air Washer:
… humidifies and purifies the air and ensures a clean and pleasant room climate all year round. The powerful air washer evaporates up to 13.2 liters of water per day and is also suitable for large rooms. Robert efficiently filters particles from the air and is the ideal roommate for those suffering from allergies. The touch display allows elegant and easy operation.
The Traveler’s Take
Most of the gear I cover for Modern Vagabond is the sort that travelers actually, well, travel with. Makes sense, no? But, I’ve realized that sometimes the best travel gear isn’t what you take with on you the road, but rather what helps you get back into the swing of things once you’re home.
Stadler Form’s catalog is sleek Swiss design at its finest. Every product is all clean lines and stark colors, as though each piece were plucked from the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Robert Air Washer is no different. The silver-on-white design of our test unit reveals a simple touchscreen interface that’s dead simple to read and just as intuitive to use. There are four speed levels and three automated modes so there isn’t much to think about:
- Auto is exactly what it sounds like: enter the desired humidity level for your room and the ROBERT does the rest
- Night mode dims the display and ensures the ROBERT cleans your air as quietly as possible
- Clean mode is used when the machine needs to be cleaned or decalcified
The ROBERT Air Washer is designed to efficiently humidify up to 860 square feet by way of a digital hygrostat. Once the desired humidity is reached or the water tank has been emptied, the air purifier/humidifier shuts off automatically.
A few miscellaneous things to like about it include the fact that the Stadler Form ROBERT will continue to run for up to 30 minutes even when the water reservoir is removed for refilling. All of the pertinent interior parts that actually handle the air cleaning can be removed and either hand-washed or placed into the top rack of your dishwasher. So, there are no pricey, proprietary filters to buy. There’s even a dedicated fragrance dispenser that accepts a few drops of pure essential oil that will be slowly dispersed into the air while the ROBERT is running.
This all sounds pretty, but the big question is: does it actually work? To be honest, I had my doubts that a product like this would make any noticeable difference in the air in our apartment. Clearly, we don’t have access to an air quality laboratory, so all we have to go on is anecdotal evidence.
But, so far, we’re very happy with the results. Kelsey used to go to bed every night sneezing — almost unable to breathe — to the point where a Benadryl was the only way she could sleep. In the two weeks since we’ve had the Stadler Form ROBERT (during which time we’ve had it running almost constantly), I’m thrilled to find that she hasn’t felt any of that same congestion and pain in her sinuses. What’s more … even our cat is actually sneezing far less as well. Sure, this all may be anecdotal evidence, but … we’ll take it!
Pricing + Availability
The Stadler Form ROBERT Air Washer (all-in-one humidifier and air purifier) is available now in Black or Silver from Amazon for around $450 (USD).