Top 4 DIY EMF Shielding Projects With Recommended EMF Shielding Materials
The world of EMF radiation is a vast one. You probably sat down one afternoon intent on buying only the best of the best protective products, scouring all the nooks and crannies of the internet. When you’re just about ready to check out, you make the grand mistake of checking the price of your items. It seems that you might need to sell an arm and a leg. We know it may seem unattainable to protect your home from EMF radiation without breaking the bank. But this isn’t true! With a little bit of craftiness, there are tons of EMF shielding products you can make! Yup, that’s right, this article is going to be all about DIY EMF shielding ideas to save you money! And we’ve gone one step further to give you all of our very best EMF shielding materials too.
EMF Shielding 101
Before you start these DIY EMF shielding projects there are a couple of things that you need to know. The most important being what types of materials help shield against EMF radiation.
Fundamentally, what you need to look out for is whether or not there is some kind of conductive metal in the items you’re looking at. For example, copper, silver, and nickel are some of the staples that many products tend to use. Essentially the electric charge of these metals disrupts the electromagnetic fields which prevent some or even all of the radiation from coming through to you. If you’re planning on using a protective fabric, it is critical to ensure that it has conductive metal, like the ones we’ve mentioned above, woven through.
Additionally, we must warn you that some of the following items may not be conducive to direct contact with your skin since they can contain a variety of metals. If you know you are sensitive to any of the materials we recommend, you should stay hyper-vigilant while working on these crafts. For example, if you’re allergic to nickel then TitanRF Faraday Fabric may be a no go.
For all of our crafts, we also make some recommendations on which materials to use. However, once you’ve gotten the basics down feel free to use whatever effective material you can find! At the end of the day, you can still have good pasta even if you don’t use grandma’s sauce recipe (just don’t tell her that though).
Our Top DIY EMF Shielding Ideas
The list that we’ve compiled below is by no means absolute. In fact, we’d say that with your new knowledge, a bit of craftiness, and luck there is no limit to what type of DIY EMF shielding project you take up. But without further ado, here are our top DIY EMF radiation shields that you can make!
1. Laptop Pads
As you know our laptops produce a significant amount of EMF radiation and since many of us have been stuck at home, they’re inseparable from us. Not to mention, many of us have likely taken up the habit of placing them directly on our laps… as the name suggests. Albeit convenient, this practice can be pretty risky since it’s been linked to fertility issues and other health complications. Our primary recommendation would be to place your laptop on a desk to create a physical separation between the laptop and your body.
EMF Shielding Materials
The next best alternative however is to create a laptop pad so that you can continue using your laptop the way that’s most comfortable to you but in a safe manner. The basic EMF shielding materials of a laptop pad are to have a hard surface to rest your computer on, shielding fabric, and something to fix everything together. For this, we would recommend using the TitanRF Faraday Fabric by Mission Darkness.
As for the hard surface, we’ve actually found that a cutting board works well. Just make sure that it is large enough for your laptop and any other devices that you use alongside it (like your phones, headphones, tablets, etc). Even something like the Thirteen Chef’s Commercial Plastic Cutting Board is great. As we go on you’ll find that none of these crafts have to be fancy, many normal items get the job done too — the beauty of DIY never ceases to amaze us. And finally, to connect everything, the best option is to use a conductive thread. Our recommendation is The Pi Hut’s Stainless Thin Conductive Thread.
Assembly
As for how to put everything together, you need to wrap the cutting board — or whatever your hard surface is — with your protective fabric and sew the sides closed with your conductive thread. Once your cutting board is completely covered you’re ready to use it! Yes, it really is that simple.
But, as always you can always take this a step further and make modifications. For comfort, we would recommend attaching a thin pillow or foam pad to your hard surface first, before wrapping everything in a protective fabric and securing it. This simple addition will make sure that the part of the pad on your lap will be soft and comfortable, taking your work or entertainment experience to a whole new level!
2. Smart Meter Cover
While smart meters are a rather useful piece of technology helping us keep track of gas and water usage, they produce ridiculously high amounts of RF-EMF radiation. If you want to learn more about them you should check out our comprehensive article “What You Should Know About EMF and Smart Meter EMF.”
EMF Shielding Materials
There are tons of smart meter covers on the market but most of them are a bit expensive. So let’s find out how to make our own! To kick off this project you need to acquire a protective metal mesh that’s easy to handle and pliable. If you’re looking at an at-home option you can try to use an aluminum mesh window screen. If not, the Valchoose’s Stainless Steel Woven Wire Mesh is a fantastic option too. While you’re at it you should grab wire clippers, but kitchen shears can also work, and a mental-friendly glue. We recommend using Gorilla Glue (just make sure you don’t put it in your hair)!
Assembly
After you’ve acquired all of your EMF shielding materials you need to cut the mesh. The first piece is a circle to place on top of the meter, a long roll to wrap around the sides, and a base to fix the mesh to your wall. The actual measurements of these pieces will be dependent on the type and model of your smart meter so make sure to measure these components carefully. Once you have the different pieces just use the glue and attach everything to create an encasement. (Pro tip: to make sure everything stays connected you should reinforce the connections with thread but it’s not compulsory).
Some important things to note are that your smart meter cover cannot have gaps between the cover and the wall around the smart meter or else it won’t be effective. Additionally, once this is installed your DIY cover functions as a Faraday cage. It allows the signal that your meter emits to pass but holds back the radiation from exiting.
3. WiFi Router Guard
It’s impossible to have a home without a WiFi router but that doesn’t mean you need to be left to the whims of EMF radiation. By creating a WiFi router guard you can mimic the benefits of a smart meter cover by creating a Faraday Cage which will prevent EMF radiation from seeping out but will still let the router’s signal through.
EMF Shielding Materials
To create it you will need a conductive metal mesh-like an aluminum window screen and something to hold the components together. However, since your router doesn’t face nearly the same challenging natural elements as your smart meter, something like TitanRF Faraday Tape Screen works great!
Assembly
With your mesh, you need to create a box that is big enough for your WiFi router to be inside. And on the back panel make sure to cut out a tiny hole that’s just large enough for your power cords to pass through. Once you have these pieces you can use your tape and put everything together.
If a box isn’t your cup of tea you can make a router bag as an alternative. The process is the same but you would use an EMF radiation shielding fabric like Amradield’s 100% Silver Fabric for Shielding Cages. Once again make sure to leave a small hole in the back for the wires to pass through and you should be good to go!
4. Bed Canopy
It seems that most of our bedrooms have been converted into makeshift offices, schools, and other workspaces. Computers, phones, etc. have made a home in our bedrooms as their charging locations. And even if you don’t charge these devices inside your bedroom, radiation can still make it through.
If there is one location in your house that you should prioritize for EMF radiation protection it must be your bed. While you sleep your body and mind repair the damage that occurs during the day. Everything from minor DNA repairs, flushing out toxins from your brain, and even EMF radiation damage. Sleep is a type of medicine but many of us get very little of it, meaning the few z’s we do get are precious. Making a bed canopy is the best way to have a sleep free of EMF radiation.
EMF Shielding Materials & Assembly
To do so you can essentially use any sort of protective fabric. If you’re looking for something airy that will still let the light through, we recommend using Blocksilver’s EMF Protective Fabric. It’s a great choice since it’s a net. Your bedroom will look stylish while you can sleep safe and sound. It’s like armor in disguise. The fabric comes in a roll of 10 feet by 4.72 feet so you may need to consider sewing/taping a few sheets together depending on the size of your bed and how flowy you want the canopy to be. TitanRF tape will work great to hold the fabric panels together and save you the effort of sewing.
How Do I Know My DIY EMF Shields + Materials Are Working?
EMF Meters
Although this article has been about DIY EMF shields there is one EMF shielding material that you can’t DIY. But it’s worth every penny invested into it: a good quality EMF radiation meter. It would be quite sad if you put your hard-earned money and carefully blocked time to create these projects if you don’t know for certain whether they work or not.
So which EMF meter should you use? Don’t worry, we got you covered! Our top pick is the TriField TF2 is our top pick not only. It’s straightforward to use and can measure electric fields, magnetic fields, and radio-frequency waves — aka all 3 forms of EMF radiation. However, it is a bit pricey. Of course, there are cheaper options available on the market but buying a sturdy EMF meter is a one-time purchase that has a lifetime of benefits.
Testing, Testing… 1,2,3
As for actually testing your EMF shield, you don’t have to do much. You want to have a baseline to make a comparison so you need to measure just the item or area without any shield. For example, you would measure the radiation that your router emits before the cover is installed. Make sure to note down this measurement somewhere! After that, you need to carefully install your EMF shield and once again take a measurement. You will know the shield you have installed is effective when there is a clear decrease in EMF radiation.
But, you don’t actually need your EMF meter to check the effectiveness of all of your DIYs. For example, to examine your bed canopy all you need to do is take your phone inside. Ideally, what should occur is that your phone signal should drop once the canopy has been closed. This proves that the canopy is effective in keeping out harmful radiation. You don’t want to be inside the canopy with your phone for long periods but it’s an effective method nonetheless.
Final Thoughts
EMF radiation protection is critical to have on hand throughout the house to ensure complete safety. However, you don’t need to break the bank to rest easy at night knowing you’re safe. Using protective fabrics, meshes, and other EMF shielding materials are equally effective ways to approach EMF radiation. Happy crafting!