Keep Your Furry Friends (And You) Allergen-Free With These Pet-Friendly Air Purifiers
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Pets can be your best friends, until all the shedding and dander start to trigger your allergies. Not only do you have to worry about all the various odors that go along with pet care (litter boxes, carpet accidents, trailing dirt through the house), air quality is an issue you may not have considered. Don’t suffer for your fur baby — getting an air purifier is an easy solution that will help both you and your pets in the long run.
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If hypoallergenic animals are out of the question, and you don’t want to spend hours tracking every bit of stray hair and grime they bring in from the outdoors, you’re gonna want an appliance that helps filter the air. The best air purifiers for pets can help filter out everything from visible fur, to microscopic dander you don’t even realize is making you sneeze. Fun fact: pets can have their own allergies too, so keeping the air around your home free from mold and dust will help everyone breathe a little easier.
Related: The Best Vacuums for Pet Hair
But there are so many different varieties and models of air purifiers out there, how do you know which one will be most effective as a pet owner? We’ll we’ve found the best purifiers for pet owners, based on 4.0+ star reviews from satisfied pet parents like you, filter capabilities, odor removal and design. Dump the dander and keep your pets (and you) free and clear from irritating airborne allergens.
In This Article
What Are the Best Air Purifiers for Pets?
Can An Air Purifier Help With Pet Hair and Dander?
How We Chose the Best Air Purifiers for Pets
What Are the Best Air Purifiers for Pets?
We’ve rounded up some of the best air purifiers that you can buy online right now.
BEST OVERALL: Rabbit Air A3 Ultra Quiet Air Purifier
BEST FOR PET DANDER: Alen BreatheSmart 75i Large Room HEPA Air Purifier
BEST FOR ODORS: Blueair Blue Pure 311i+ Max Air Purifier
BEST FOR SMALL SPACES: Levoit Core P350 Pet Care Air Purifier
BEST BUDGET PICK: VEVA 9000 Air Purifier
BEST WITH UV LIGHT: Bionaire True HEPA UV Air Purifier
1. Rabbit Air A3 Ultra Quiet Air Purifier
The best air purifier for pets needs to pack all the allergen-targeting power into one comprehensive filtration package — enter Rabbit’s A3 Ultra Quiet Air Purifier. It uses a six-layer purification and deodorization system, including a pre-filter, BioGS HEPA filter, and activated charcoal carbon filter. But what we love (and what your little fur balls will really need) is their Pet Allergy filter, trapping and reducing pet dander allergens better than any purifier we’ve tested.
While a regular HEPA filter might suffer from build-up of the allergens it’s supposed to be clearing out, this unique BioGS HEPA filter reduces common pollutants including pet dander trapped on the filter, so you won’t have to change it as often. We also love the versatility of the other custom filters, too — with choices like Germ Defense, Odor Remover, or Toxin Absorber — all of which will improve you air quality and hopefully help relieve some allergy symptoms for you and your pet.
It’s range is pretty impressive for its size, working in rooms up to 1070 square ft, and you’ll barely notice it’s there, even on the quietest setting. You won’t have to sacrifice style for comfort either, since this filter can be wall-mounted and comes with different skins inspired by works of art from Monet to Van Gogh.
$749.95
Promising Customer Feedback: “Worth the price. This air purifier is more expensive than many others, but is worth it because it has a great feature set including long-life filters with replacement reminder, an ionizer that is safe for pet birds and it is relatively easy to clean. Also, an app is available if you want to monitor or control the A3 via WiFi.” —B. Isted
2. Alen BreatheSmart 75i Large Room HEPA Air Purifier
Designed by NASA airflow engineers (yes, it’s that good) the Alen BreatheSmart 75i not only dominates when it comes to pet dander, but also filters out pet fur surprisingly well.
While other air purifiers only remove particles larger than 0.3 microns, this model has a medical-grade H13 True HEPA layer that filters out 99.99 percent of airborne particles larger than 0.1 micron. You know you’re getting the cleanest air possible, since dander, bacteria, and germs won’t stand a chance.
Not only will this help you breathe better by reducing allergens and asthma triggers, you also won’t have to hold your nose around pet messing, since it also includes a patented molecular conversion powder to eliminate heavy pet odors. For a purifier of this size (it cleans air in bigger rooms up to 1,300 square feet), it’s still easy-to-use. An air quality sensor light displays the quality real-time, and a laser smart sensor detects airborne particles and self-adjusts to better filter air for a truly hands-off system.
$686.80 $808.00 15% off
Promising Customer Feedback: “My wife and I both suffer from allergies — pollen, pet fur/dander, etc. Visits to our daughter’s home were somewhat tortuous affairs, as her family has two cats. They’re both chill creatures, and like nothing better than to introduce themselves by constantly rubbing and sitting in your lap…on our last visit, though, I noticed a BIG difference in the air quality of their home. They showed me the two Alen 75i air purifiers they’d purchased, and went on and on about what a great job they did with odors and pet dander. I was really impressed at how enthusiastic they were about their air purifiers, and even MORE impressed that we were there for an entire day and didn’t have any allergy issues.” —Dean Buzzell
3. Blueair Blue Pure 311i+ Max Air Purifier
While you may still need to keep a Febreeze spray bottle or two on hand for the ol’ wet dog smell, this air purifier from Blueair works twice as hard to filter out odors lingering in the largest spaces — all with less energy usage than you’d think.
The grey fabric in the bottom half isn’t just for show. It’s actually your first line of defense against pet odors, a fabric pre-filter that’s designed to catch all the pet dander, dust, and larger particles in the air around your home. Besides the main filter, a carbon filter then traps household odors from wildfire and cooking smoke, or even from pet messes.
This is all while being Energy Star-rated for low energy consumption, and no louder than a whisper on the lowest speed (23 dB). The filter itself is also pretty solid, with both electrostatic and particle filtration used to remove 99.97% of tiny airborne pollutants like viruses and smoke down to 0.1 microns in spaces up to 1,116 square feet.
$239.99 $299.99 20% off
Promising Customer Feedback: “Really impressed! It keeps smells out of the home. I have two dogs and while I keep them very clean, I am always paranoid that my house will smell like dogs when people come through my doors. (I believe this air purifier works well for pet dander).” —Anonymous
4. Levoit Core P350 Pet Care Air Purifier
When you’ve only got a small space to purify, you want your air purifier to work smarter not harder. What more can we say? Levoit’s Core P350 Pet Care air purifier has “pet” in the name, and you really can’t go wrong with the superior filtration performance in this compact package.
Using a special H13-Grade True HEPA Filter, it reduces up to 99.97% of the harmful air pollutants pet owners are most concerned about, like pet dander, pollen, dust mites, and other allergens in rooms up to 219 square feet. While you won’t sweat the small stuff with this purifier, Levoit also claims their fabric pre-filter is more effective than others at capturing larger things, like floating hair and pet fur.
What we like: Levoit added an extra “AirReComposition” formula to their activated carbon filter, which boosts the odor-busting power for super-strong pet odors, like accidents on left on the floor. It also has a special “Pet Lock” to make sure your furry friend doesn’t accidentally mess with any of the settings by touching the buttons, or bumping into the air purifier.
$129.99
Promising Customer Feedback: “I have two of the Pet 350 units. They work very well, and I notice the difference in air quality within one day of running them, or having them off. They help with cat hair and dust, and I run them 24/7, on setting one or two.” —Team Green
5. VEVA 9000 Air Purifier
Sometimes you need a air filter that can handle larger spaces for pets that constantly jump onto the couch with you, or nap in your home office. But if you don’t want to shell out for “large room” prices, the VEVA 9000 is our favorite bang-for-your-buck air purifier for pets.
The VEVA 9000 is also fairly low maintenance, and actually comes with a washable pre-filter that can save you money on all those costly filter refills (you clean it by vacuuming the dust and dirt out). Even still, it’s no slouch when it comes to filtration, with a HEPA-grade filter that captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns including dust mites, pollen, and most importantly for you, pet dander.
Sleek but versatile, the VEVA 9000 also has a small dust and premium activated carbon filter for pet oders, while the pre-filter takes care of larger particles like pet hair. Set the air purifier vertically below your desk or in the corner, and it’ll clean the air in rooms up to 600 square fee for massive filtration on a minimized budget.
$84.99 $166.99 49% off
Promising Customer Feedback: “I have four dogs and two cats, and my previous air purifier was not able to keep up with the heavy load. After receiving the VEVA 9000 and running it on high for six hours, the air quality has noticeably improved and there is less pet hair floating around. I’ve already ordered another one for the lower level of my home.” —MomOf4
6. Bionaire True HEPA UV Air Purifier
While you can sweep up fuzzy hairs and crack open up a window for that kitty litter box, sometimes it’s harder to clean the air of smaller, sneakier allergens like bacteria — enter Bionaire’s True HEPA UV Air Purifier, which packs in some key features that leaves its competition in the dust.
The air purifier features a whopping six stages of filtration, including two pre-filters (one fabric and one mesh), a true HEPA filter, a carbon filter, a UV light, and an Ionizer. The UV light kills 99.9 percent of virus, bacteria, and mold, while the ionizer releases a static charge to bind small particles together, making it easier to trap pet dander and hair in the filter. The cylindrical shape also allows means no space is wasted, allowing for 360 degrees of air intake and filtration in a room.
There are three different fan speed options, and while the highest makes more noise than we’d like, the other two settings are perfect for everyday use. A programmable timer of up to eight hours means you can have clean air on your schedule (or your furry friend’s schedule!), while the built-in top handle lets you place it around the areas in your home your pets go the most.
$179.99 $209.99 14% off
Promising Customer Feedback: “If you have pets, you need this in your life! I have three Siberian Huskies, two rag doll cats, and several snakes, so yeah…we need a full room air purifier, and this is a great one for our living room area. One of my daughters has allergies to our pets, and there has been a very noticeable change in her allergies since we’ve gotten this. Not as many sneezes have been heard, less watery eyes have been seen. It’s worth it just for that, but it also helps to hide any litter box odors, which is a huge perk.” —Twinpossible
Can An Air Purifier Help With Pet Hair and Dander?
To start, most air purifiers will suck up common airborne contaminants, and help get rid of unpleasant odors too. The fan takes in air in the room and pushes it through the filter, where most of the allergens are either trapped or removed entirely. Investing in an air purifier specifically designed for pets has its benefits, but ultimately isn’t necessary if you know the right features to look for.
If your major issue is smaller pet hairs drifting around, you’ll want to get a fine mesh filter that traps these hairs in without getting stuck. While this won’t get the hair that’s lodged in your carpet or sofa (try a handheld vacuum for that), but it’s a place to start. For reducing pet dander, air purifiers can be very effective devices, especially those with a HEPA filter. This kind of filter clears the air and removes super tiny particles, as small as 0.3 microns, which is smaller than pet dander (5-10 microns) on average.
How We Chose the Best Air Purifiers for Pets
When shopping for the best air purifier for pets online, there are a few things to keep in mind. We chose our list of the best air purifiers for pets based on filtering capabilities, odor removal, and design. Here’s what you need to keep in mind.
Filter: Air purifiers with HEPA filters deliver the best results when trapping smaller particles like dander and dust. Excess shedding and pet hair your main problem? We added air purifier picks with a pre-filter that picks up large particles, since they’re often washable too.
Size: Consider the size of the room you’re parking your air purifier in, and how much time your pets actually spend in that room. We chose purifiers ranging in capacity from 150 square feet to 1,000 square feet or more. If your pet likes to run around in bigger rooms and living spaces, obviously, you’ll need a larger air purifier to work effectively.
Noise: Pay attention to how loud your air purifier is, since noisy models can actually scare some pets and do more harm than good. Many of these air purifiers have a “sleep” or “quiet” mode, or at the very least operate at a decibel level similar to white noise.
Odor Removal: Worried about odor? Plenty of these air purifiers come with a carbon filter (or an odor control setting), which is specifically meant to trap particularly pungent smells. The closer you place your air purifier to high-traffic, smelly areas (think: your cat’s litter box, or the kitchen), the better.
Customer reviews have been edited for length and clarity.
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