Kitchen leftovers, tobacco smoke, and other foul smells are annoying, but do air purifiers remove smells? In general, air purifiers are made to clean the air from harmful pollutants, such as dust and harsh chemicals. Health experts will tell you that those features make an air purifier good for health.
Although air purifiers are marketed mostly to remove dust from the air, this doesn’t mean they can’t remove smells! Many units today have a special filter known as the activated carbon/charcoal, which eliminates bad odor from the air you breathe, which is especially useful for kitchens and humid places.
Therefore, if you have a musty bedroom, condo unit, or living area, an air purifier will help in keeping the indoor atmosphere fresh and clean. This will benefit not only your guests but also those who live in your home.
What are the best air purifiers for musty smells?
If you are interested in removing the musty smell from your indoor area, here are some of the best air purifiers for that purpose:
1. Bissell air220 2609A Smart Purifier
The Bissell air220 2609A Smart Purifier is a unit with both carbon and HEPA filters for targeting both bad smells and a dusty indoor setting. With its 3-stage filtration, it will clean up your bedroom, living room, or any other area in the house with a CADR of 172, making it suitable for areas up to 266 square feet.
With a whisper-quiet fan, it won’t disturb your sleep plus it has an automatic sensor that adjusts the fan speed according to the air quality levels. That means you can just sleep soundly and let the air purifier do its job! We like that the company also supports homeless pets for each purchase of their product.
2. Winix 5500-2 Air Purifier
Yet another ideal unit for bad kitchen odors is the Winix 5500-2 Air Purifier thanks to its filter made of activated carbon. It operates at a low noise of only 27.8 dB, making it suitable for homes with babies and/or pets.
Aside from the activated carbon filter and true HEPA, it also has a PlasmaWave to safely break down odor without ozone. Furthermore, it also has smart sensors (like our last pick) so you can enjoy a hands-free air purifier experience. This air purifier is suitable for rooms around 360 square feet, making it ideal for the kitchen and the master bedroom.
3. MSA3 Air Purifier
Are you looking for an ozone-free unit? The MSA3 Air Purifier is a great choice for you, especially for big rooms because it’s suitable for up to 840 square feet. Also with a 3-stage filter, it includes an activated carbon filter for VOCs and bad odor other than the true HEPA and the pre-filter.
With 3 different fan speeds to choose from and a light switch to keep your eyes less distracted at night, it also has a child lock feature and an 8-hour timer for convenience. It operates as low as 25 dB to help you sleep comfortably.
4. Oransi OV200 Air Purifier
Ideal for homes and spaces with up to 400 square feet, the Oransi OV200 Air Purifier is not too noisy as the unit’s maximum noise level is 54 dB on the fastest fan speed. It comes with a medical-grade HEPA filter other than an activated carbon filter for harmful gases and VOCs.
Much like with our previous pick, it has a child lock feature and a timer. What’s more, it is also ozone-safe and certified by CARB so it’s friendly to the environment (and to humans). If you need a small footprint air purifier, this unit is only 7 inches deep so it’s easy to place in your living space.
Do air purifiers remove cooking smells?
Yes, air purifiers can remove cooking odors and kitchen leftover smells. If you forgot to take out the trash or left a pan of pizza on the kitchen counter for an entire 24-hour period (and it starts to smell very bad), air purifiers will help eliminate the funky odors after you clean up your mess.
That’s because air purifiers have an activated carbon filter, which is a type of filter media that goes behind a HEPA filter. Keep in mind that not all air purifiers in the market have activated carbon, so make sure you grab a unit with that specific filter!
Do air purifiers remove smoke?
Certainly! Air purifiers have activated carbon filters that help in eliminating smoke from the air. That’s because the smoke smell contains VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which are harmful to your health. Additionally, smoke particles can also be absorbed by a higher-grade HEPA filter – especially an H13 HEPA – for further cleaning.
So, when choosing an air purifier, make sure you have both a HEPA filter and an activated carbon filter in your unit so that it will be effective against smoke! It also helps if your air purifier has a high CADR (clean air delivery rate) specifically for smoke (around 200 CADR is recommended for large rooms).
How an air purifier can remove odor from the air
If you ever ask “does an air purifier help with smell?” then the answer is yes. However, how can air purifiers remove such smells? To help you understand how these units work, here’s the technology behind the smell-removing process:
- Activated carbon: this type of filter is present in many air purifiers nowadays and goes along with an existing true HEPA filter. Its job is to eliminate bad odors from the air, including VOCs, pet smells, kitchen leftovers, tobacco smoke, and the like.
- PlasmaWave (or other similar technology): some air purifiers have a special ozone-free way of breaking down VOCs and other bad smells so that your air purifier will neutralize the bad odors quickly.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, air purifiers can remove smells, but you have to make sure it has the right filter media. Look for air purifiers with both a HEPA filter and an activated carbon filter and, combined with proper household cleaning, the bad smell will go away. We hope you found our article useful!
