Will an Air Purifier Get Rid of Pet Smells?
Share
Owning a pet can be both a joy and a great responsibility especially when it comes to keeping both the pet and the house clean and free of foul smells. This brings us to a pertinent question concerning air purifiers; do they work to mask pet odours? However, for a large portion of pet owners, the incentive to buy an air purifier is not only to improve the quality of air but also to combat pet smells that are often persistent. Pets scream love and joy in any home, but they also come with love and joy in the form of unpleasant smells.
It’s common knowledge that air filters serve to cleanse the air of dust, pollen, and other assorted small debris. But many are hesitant about gone pet smells. For pet owners, it is critical to anticipate the sort of smells their pets leave behind and whether or not air purifiers can aid in eliminating them in the first place. There are different types of air purifiers available today that claim to remove pests but this article aims to address the issue of pet odor and gives pet owners peace of mind.
Understanding Pet Odors and Their Sources
There are multiple areas in a house from which pet odors can be noted. The most frequent ones are skin dander, wastes like urine and feces, and oil found on the coats of animals. Such foul smells tend to cling to materials, couches, and walls, as well making them very hard to eradicate. Furthermore, the smell of the animal is complex due to the presence of various bacteria and other microorganisms, and thus addressing these issues requires a comprehensive strategy.
As animals lose fur, animal hair and other fur components might be found on surfaces and within the breathing air attributing to the pet's smell. This is especially evident for dogs and cats, who tend to shed fur more than other common household pets. Perspiration, urine, and fecal matter excreted by pets, even when attended to in time, often infest the carpets, wooden floorboards, and upholstery: porous materials that could, otherwise, absorb them. These stains have an unpleasant scent to them and when they are present, these odors do not go away easily and many custom solutions might be necessary to remove them.
How Air Purifiers Address Pet Smells
Air quality can be improved by the use of air purifiers that work as filters and remove certain contaminants and unpleasant smells. Their efficiency is determined by filter type and the technology installed in the appliance. The most commonly used air purifier devices use HEPA filters, activated carbon filters, and more advanced technologies, including ionizers or UV lights.
HEPA filters are very effective in the removal of airborne particles, including pet dander. But these types of filters don’t eliminate odors. Absorbing odors and gaseous contaminants is what activated carbon filters are manufactured for. Such filters work by having a few holes or cavities that will trap and hold smelly particles. With regards to pet smells like urine or all-around animal smell, activated carbon filters are able to suck in these ages-old smells. However, for the best outcome, both HEPA and activated carbon filters should be used in conjunction for the complete management of both pet dander and pet smells.
As per improvements in technology, some air purifiers even follow other techniques apart from the classical filtration, for example, active air scrubber plus, which cuts down on the nasty smells and removes the contaminants using ActivePure Technology. There are also some units such as the asbestos air scrubber or a 2000 cfm air scrubber which would be best for industrial usage, but similar technology found in residential air scrubbers should also work well in the home environment for controlling pet smells.
Understanding Different Air Purifiers
Air scrubbers typically fall under the commercial or industrial categories and can be described as the ‘commercial air scrubbers’ or the air scrubber industrial setups, that are suitable for tougher environments. Air scrubbers are equipped with powerful fans that can draw large quantities of air through the air scrubber filter fabrics with rids effectively larger dirt and odors. There is of course one major qualification that makes all the scrubbers unique, and that is their capability to perform advanced-stage air cleaning which can be very useful for households with multiple pets or having general IAQ issues in general.
The ability of air purifiers to eliminate pet odors would also depend on their coverage area, changes in air per hour, and some other factors like the filtration technology in use. For example, a 2000 cfm air scrubber would be much better in wider areas than single-room smaller-sized purifying appliances. Care should therefore be taken with these technical features to ensure that they actually suit the requirements of the domestic environment for which an air purifier has been chosen.
Factors Impacting Air Purifier Efficacy
An air purifier can minimize the impact of pet odor, but there are a lot of different factors that impact its effectiveness in the long run. The severity of the pet odor and its source matters a lot; for instance, the odor from litter boxes or a pet’s cognizant accidents may need to be concentrated on while employing air cleansers. It's also important to care for the purifier since regularly replacing air scrubber filters will aid in managing odors consistently over time.
More so, some parameters such as the size of the room, the amount of air that circulates in the room, and temperature can also determine how effective an air-purifying device can be. For instance, homes with sufficient airflow might benefit from an ActivTek air scrubber plus that operates efficiently in a constant cycle to purify the room. Placing the air purifiers in areas where pet smells are most dense will also improve the devices’ efficacy.
Realistic Expectations and Further Considerations
As a pet owner, you need to say goodbye to the illusion that the air purifiers would help eliminate the pet odors entirely. Air purifiers are able to significantly decrease airborne particles and some odors however, it is best to combine them with other cleaning techniques. Vacuuming the pet regions, hygienically disposing of the pet wastes, and keeping the area tidy are all important things that help the effectiveness of air purifiers.
Another additional measure that can be looked at would be employing air fresheners or natural deodorizers that deal with sudden extreme animal odors that an air purifier cannot deal with instantly. It should however be noted that air purifiers are not substitutes for hygienic and cleaning habits in households with pets. For persistent problems, visiting pet care providers and air quality specialists can provide advice based on the conditions of the environment and its specific requirements.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, do air purifiers help with removing pet smells? The answer is a bit complicated. They may however assist in managing and minimizing smells to a large degree, especially from gasses or finer particulates, however, they are most efficient when used together with other cleaning methods. Active carbon filter models can help to specifically target odor molecules, thereby aiding in reducing the amount of pet smells people have to deal with.
It is vital to select the proper type of air purifier for the type of pet odors that need to be dealt with. Users should focus primarily on filters that use both HEPA and activated carbon as this combination works efficiently on pet dander as well as on smells. In case of more severe issues related to smell, high-end solutions like a commercial air scrubber or an air scrubber industrial device would work much better, especially in larger spaces or spaces that have more than one pet.