Must-Have Household Items that Block Radiation
Plenty of household items reduce radiofrequency and low-frequency fields, and the amount they reduce them by is measurable in decibels. That measurability is the useful part. This guide covers what each category of item does physically, roughly how much attenuation to expect, and — just as importantly — which popular products do very little.
Throughout, we have stuck to what can be tested. We are not going to tell you what these products will do for your health, because that is not a claim anyone selling them is permitted to make, and because the honest answer is that you should decide for yourself whether reducing exposure matters to you.
How is shielding performance actually measured?
Shielding effectiveness is expressed in decibels (dB), at a stated frequency. The scale is logarithmic, which trips people up:
| Attenuation | Proportion of signal blocked | What it means practically |
|---|---|---|
| 10 dB | 90% | Noticeable on a meter |
| 20 dB | 99% | Typical of lightweight shielding fabric |
| 30 dB | 99.9% | Good quality fabric or paint, properly applied |
| 40 dB | 99.99% | High-specification material, well installed |
| 60 dB+ | 99.9999% | Laboratory or specialist enclosure territory |
Two things follow. First, a figure quoted without a frequency is close to meaningless — a material that gives 40dB at 1GHz may give considerably less at 5GHz. Second, the difference between 99% and 99.9% sounds small and is actually a factor of ten. When you compare products, compare dB at a stated frequency, not percentages in marketing copy.
Item 1: An EMF meter
The first thing to buy is not shielding. It is the instrument that tells you whether you need any.
Without a meter you are guessing which room is worth treating, and you have no way to check whether anything you bought made a difference. With one, every subsequent decision becomes evidence-based — and quite often it shows that moving a router does more than a purchase would have.
Our EMF detectors range covers radiofrequency and low-frequency instruments, supplied with calibration certificates. If you buy one item from this list, make it this one.
Item 2: Wired headphones or air tube headsets
A wired headset moves the phone away from your head, which reduces exposure through distance alone — the simplest and most reliable mechanism available. Air tube headsets go a step further by replacing the final section of wire with a hollow acoustic tube, so sound travels the last stretch as air pressure rather than along a conductor.
The trade-off is honest to state: air tubes generally have slightly less bass response than a conventional wired earphone, because you are sending sound down a tube. Most people find the difference unimportant for calls and podcasts, more noticeable for music.
See the air tube headphone range for the options we carry.
Item 3: Ethernet cable
The least glamorous item on the list and among the most effective. A desk running on ethernet with Wi-Fi disabled on both the laptop and the router removes a continuously transmitting source from the place you sit for eight hours a day. It costs a few pounds, and the change is clearly visible on a meter.
If you only take one action from this article that does not involve buying anything from us, make it this one.
Item 4: Shielding fabric and bed canopies
Shielding fabrics are woven with fine metal threads — typically silver, copper or stainless steel — which reflect and absorb radiofrequency. Attenuation depends on the weave density and the metal content, and good manufacturers publish tested dB figures across a frequency range.
The bedroom is where most people apply this, for the straightforward reason that it is where you spend the longest continuous period in one spot. A bed canopy encloses the sleeping area; shielding fabric by the metre lets you treat a window or a single wall.
Two practical cautions. A canopy with a gap does not perform to its rated figure — the rating assumes an enclosure. And shielding fabrics need specific washing (no fabric softener, no bleach, low temperature) or the conductive fibres degrade and performance drops.
Item 5: Shielding paint
Carbon-based shielding paint applied to a wall or ceiling gives substantial attenuation across a wide frequency range, and it is the appropriate answer when the source is on the other side of a specific surface — a neighbour's flat, a mast on a known bearing, a router in an adjoining room.
It must be earthed to work as intended, and earthing it correctly is electrical work. We would recommend a qualified electrician for the connection. Shielding paint is the most involved item on this list and the one where a survey beforehand pays for itself, because painting the wrong wall is expensive.
Item 6: Phone pouches and cases
Here we want to be precise, because this category is widely oversold.
A fully enclosing pouch is a Faraday enclosure. Sealed properly, it prevents the device inside from transmitting or receiving — which you can verify in thirty seconds by sealing your phone inside and calling it from another phone.
A phone case is a different proposition. A front-flap case shields in one direction while the flap is closed. It cannot shield the device on all sides, because the phone needs to function. Anyone claiming otherwise is describing a pouch.
Both are useful for what they are. Our phone cases and Faraday pouches serve genuinely different purposes — one for everyday carry, one for when you want the device fully offline.
Item 7: A router timer
A mechanical plug-in timer that switches the router off overnight costs under ten pounds. It removes the household's most consistent transmitter during the hours you are least likely to need it. Like ethernet, it is the kind of change that makes an obvious difference on a meter for almost no money.
What doesn't do much?
A list of what to buy is only useful alongside a list of what not to.
- Stick-on "harmonising" chips and diodes. These do not attenuate anything measurable. A meter shows no difference with and without. The ASA has ruled against sellers in this category.
- Crystals and minerals, including shungite. We stock shungite because customers ask for it and it is a genuinely interesting mineral, but we are not going to tell you it shields your home. It does not produce a measurable attenuation figure.
- Single-sided phone stickers. A small patch on the back of a phone does not meaningfully change what a whole transmitting device emits.
- Any product sold without a dB figure at a stated frequency. If the manufacturer cannot tell you how much it attenuates and at what frequency, they have not tested it, and you cannot verify it.
That last point is the one to carry with you. Every item worth buying in this category has a number attached to it.
A sensible order to work through
- Buy a meter and survey the house, sleeping areas first
- Move and switch off what you can — free, and often the biggest single change
- Go wired where it is practical
- Measure again and see what is left
- Shield only what the readings actually justify, starting with the bedroom
- Measure once more to confirm the shielding did what it claimed
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most effective thing I can do?
Increase distance from sources, particularly in bedrooms. Radiofrequency intensity drops sharply with distance, so moving a router or a cordless phone base out of a sleeping area usually changes readings more than any individual purchase.
Does aluminium foil work as shielding?
It does attenuate radiofrequency, and you can demonstrate that with a phone and a meter. It is impractical as a permanent solution — it tears, cannot be earthed safely in most domestic settings, and gaps destroy its performance. Purpose-made materials exist because the engineering problem is in the installation, not the physics.
Do I need to shield the whole house?
Almost nobody does. Most people treat a single room, usually a bedroom, because that is where they spend the most continuous time. Whole-house treatment is expensive, disruptive, and rarely supported by the readings.
How do I know a shielding product is working?
Measure the same position before and after, with the same conditions and the same meter. If you cannot see a difference on the display, it is not doing what it claimed, and that is grounds for a return.
Does shielding affect my phone or Wi-Fi signal?
Yes, necessarily. Anything that blocks radiofrequency blocks the signal you want as well as the signal you don't. A shielded bedroom may have poorer mobile reception. That trade-off is inherent, and any seller who tells you otherwise is describing something that cannot exist.
This article describes the measurable shielding performance of the products discussed. It does not make claims about health outcomes. Reducing exposure is a personal choice; UK and international health bodies do not consider harm to be established at typical domestic exposure levels.