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If you suffer from allergies (or just have a lot of pets), you’ve probably thought about buying an air purifier. Perhaps your doctor even recommended you buy one. Air purifiers take all the dust particles, odors, pet dander, and more out of the air, making it cleaner and easier to breathe. And in order to help you find the best one for you, we’ve scoured Amazon for the best options as praised by the most enthusiastic reviewers. But if you’d prefer a more professional take, we’ve got doctor-recommended options and a writer-tested one for you, too.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and this year’s record-breaking fire season, the demand for air purifiers has increased. Stock is fluctuating daily, so if you see one you like, don’t dillydally.
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More than 6,000 reviewers give this air purifier five stars, and many report better breathing and alleviated allergy symptoms. One user from Napa, California, bought this after a forest fire and writes, “This air purifier has made breathing noticeably easier in our home, and the air smells much cleaner, especially with the ultraviolet light turned on.” Many customers chalk up how well and quickly this purifier works to the True HEPA filter. “I bought this model specifically because it uses ‘True HEPA’ filtration, which filters out the smaller smoke particles that can get into your bloodstream,” one writes. Another reviewer warns, “The replacement True HEPA filters are a bit pricey at around $28 last I checked, but they last about six months, give or take.”
Beyond collecting dust, this purifier gets lots of praise for eliminating odors. “The smell of the litter box was the primary reason I purchased this air purifier,” one reviewer writes. “After using this air cleaner regularly for about two years, I can confidently say that it effectively and completely removes the smell of the litter box, helps control the amount of hair that floats around the room, and generally does a very good job keeping dust from accumulating in the room.”
[Editor’s note: This item is scheduled to restock on October 5, 2020.]
This is the same brand as our best-rated pick, but it’s a much smaller version for kitchens, bathrooms, kids’ rooms, and right above litter boxes. One customer says it cut down the smell of his cats litter box “by 95%.” Another reviewer “basically had to clean the kitchen every single day to deal with lingering smells,” but she has no issues with odor now, thanks to this purifier. Because this pluggable purifier is so small, reviewers like that they can put it in a very targeted area to eliminate smells, but one customer warns that “its light is pretty bright (nightlight bright),” so you might not want to put it in a place that requires total darkness. And one more reviewer reports that it actually covers a larger space than many might think. She explains that the people who live downstairs from his apartment smoke, which makes their kitchen “reek of cigarettes,” but after she got this to clear up the “old, dirty ashtray” smell, she writes, “I honestly didn’t expect much from this tiny thing. I plugged it in right next to the garbage can and the next morning there was no smell! I’m amazed.”
While expensive, nearly 600 reviewers say that this Wi-Fi enabled two-in-one purifier is worth it. One satisfied commenter, who purchased it for a 1,000-square-foot loft, finds it “stylish” and “powerful” and calls it the “best investment I’ve made.” One reviewer points out that, though expensive, you’re “not just buying a fan. You are purchasing better air quality.” The reviewer goes on to note that the model is “jam-packed with all kind of sensors,” so checking air quality, temperature, and even humidity is a breeze. And another reviewer, who happens to be a parent of both dogs and children, found that it did a “fantastic job” at eliminating allergens. “Anyone with kids will understand how much pollution they manage to bring into your home … With this purifier, the family can breathe a lot easier.” Others add that, unlike box fans and shorter air purifiers, it’s harder for dogs and cats to “blast through it,” and the Wi-Fi connectivity makes it easy for those with disabilities to turn it off and on remotely.
Allergy sufferers find this air purifier, complete with a three-stage HEPA filtration system and four fan speeds, to be a “game changer.” “I purchased this air filter because I’ve become more sensitive to dust in my apartment. I would wake up with a stuffy/runny nose every morning,” writes one reviewer. “Since I’ve purchased this filter, I’ve experienced a huge improvement.” Another shares that before buying this filter, their seasonal allergies were often debilitating, “to the point where they get so bad I have to lay down with a wet towel over my eye.” But this purifier has made a noticeable difference. “I have been using this for about a week now in my home office, and I can say without question that my allergies have been much, much better.”
Nearly 90 percent of reviewers gave this unassuming air filter a five-star rating, calling out its sleek, compact design, quiet fan, and ability to minimize pet dander. “It is not an eyesore,” a satisfied reviewer writes. “This doesn’t seem important until a few months in and you have to see it every day, many times a day. Perhaps your wife throws blankets and clothes over it in silent protest. Perhaps she also slides it behind things so as to not have to look at it drastically reducing the airflow. Does my spouse do these things because it offends her sense of aesthetic? No, because this unit is well designed.” Others called out its exceptionally quiet fan: “It has an adjustable fan speed from ‘Darn Near Silent,’ all the way up to what my son calls ‘Comfortable White Noise for Sleeping.’” But perhaps this purifier’s greatest strength, according to reviewers, is its ability to fight pet odors. “I have two dogs and live in Vegas. It’s way too hot and they stink, no matter what I do they stink,” one pet owner says. “This unit is great for getting rid of dog smells.” Another pet owner of four cats installed it in the “cat room” to control cat-litter dust. “After a week of using this unit, the results are amazing! The dust level is almost non-existent,” the pet owner writes. “The air quality overall is drastically improved, and the room is now no problem for our allergies.”
Reviewers laud this air purifier for its sleek, portable design and complimentary smartphone app for monitoring filter usage. “We live in a two-bedroom apartment, and when we cook, it tends to smell up the entire place for a while,” one purchaser writes. “I’ve noticed right away that the air smells cleaner and it has not smelt after cooking since using this product! We also have a golden retriever, and the pet odor is not as noticeable.” Another reviewer found it to be “great for families,” adding that setup was “easy” and that it’s “small enough to take with you when traveling (without flying) to ensure you have clean air in your hotel rooms.” Another parent shares the Molekule Mini with a son, as both suffer from seasonal allergies. “I love that this is portable, I can move it from my room to his depending on who needs it. I barely hear it, it’s so quiet, and the sleek design fits with nearly every room.” A fourth adds that the handle makes it “easy to carry around the home” and finds the app, which monitors filter usage, to be a huge plus.
Over 4,000 reviewers were impressed with this small-but-mighty tabletop air purifier, praising its ability to filter out dust, cigarette smoke, and pet odors. “It’s really, really good at filtering pet smells,” one pet owner shares. “I have two stinky male rats in the middle of rat puberty … and when they were due for a cleaning, you used to be able to smell it across the room. You can’t anymore unless you’re right next to the cage.” Another found it to be exceptionally good at filtering dust out of the air: “You know how you can see dust/dander particles floating in your house when the sunlight is just right? … I didn’t see that in the air anymore.” A third satisfied reviewer, who purchased it to filter cigarette smoke out of a Las Vegas hotel room, found that it “saved” an entire vacation: “I quickly plugged this in and it worked like a charm. I was able to sleep without smelling the smoke and my room smelled fresh.” Another added bonus: a built-in fragrance sponge for essential oils for extra air freshening.
[Editor’s note: This item is scheduled to restock on September 25, 2020]
Several reviewers use the word “economical” to describe this air purifier from Hamilton Beach, including one who has six cats and struggled with both odors and dust. “I put this right next to my cat box and it has almost taken all the litter dust out of my utility room,” the reviewer writes. And lots of reviewers specifically bought this air purifier because of the permanent filter, which means that they don’t have to order replacement filters and allows for even more cost savings. “It has a permanent filter that you just vacuum once a month,” a reviewer writes. “It’s amazing.”
[Editor’s note: This item does not ship to California.]
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