using an air purifier for dog hair next to spaniel dog

An air purifier can be useful for any pet owner—especially for cats and dogs. While we all love our pets and there’s no denying that your dog really is a person’s best friend, but it’s no secret they can leave quite a bit of hair, dander and odors around the house. That’s exactly where an air purifier for dog hair, dander and odor can come in handy.

With that in mind, we’re digging deep into the best air purifier for dog owners.

How to Use a Pet Air Purifier

Buying an air purifier is a great first step to reducing pet dander, pet hair and odors, as well as getting relief for your cat and dog allergies. To make sure you get the most value out of your purchase, there are a few simple tips you can follow after unboxing your new air purifier for pets.

Consider the Placement

Most air purifiers require at least 18-24 inches of clearance on all sides so they can maximize their air cleaning power. When you’re using an air purifier to get rid of pet hair, dander, and odors, it’s best to place it closer to the center of the room or at the very least where your cats or dogs like to hang out.

That way the machine can filter the most number of particles from the air before they have a chance to scatter to other areas of the room or your home. This positioning will also help reduce dust and other contaminants from the air in addition to animal particles to improve your total indoor air quality.

Don’t Obstruct the Outward Air Flow

Similar to our last point, you never want to block or obstruct the outward path of clean air flow. Doing so can cause the fresh air to constantly recycle on itself and never have a chance to dissipate out into the room where you need it.

To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, never put your air purifier under a table if the clean air flow comes out of the top of the unit. If the air comes out of the front or sides of the air purifier, then don’t block those pathways respectably.

Don’t Turn the Air Purifier Off

For a machine like to this operate at peak performance it needs to run 24 hours, seven days per week.

When you turn the device on for the first time, it will work hard to remove all of the airborne contaminants that have built up inside the room, such as dust, allergens from dust mites and animals, pet hair, odors, mold spores, and other airborne contaminants. Once those particles have been filtered out of the air, it can go into a maintenance mode to keep the air always fresh.

If you turn the machine off for any length of time, you’re essentially allowing pollutants to build back up again — which defeats the purpose of having an air purifier to begin with. Most products are also very energy-efficient and don’t cost more than a house fan to operate, too.

Keep Windows and Doors Closed as Much as You Can

Another tip for getting the most out of air purifiers for pets is to enclose the machine inside a tightly closed room if you can. By closing doors and keeping windows shut, you’re able to give the air purifier a chance to exchange the air inside the room over and over again until it becomes contaminant-free.

The Best Air Purifiers for Pets

Now that we know how exactly to use one, let’s dive into our top recommendations for the best air purifiers for pets.

ImageAir Purifier DetailsPrice
VEVA Air Purifier Large Room
  • Best Overall Purifier
  • Filter: H13 True HEPA
  • Coverage: 600 sq. ft.
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RabbitAir MinusA2 Ultra Quiet
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: HEPA Air filter
  • Coverage: 815 sq. ft.
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IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: HyperHEPA
  • Coverage: 1125 sq. ft.
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Coway Airmega 400S App-Enabled
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: Pre-Filter + True HEPA
  • Coverage: 1560 sq. ft.
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Medify MA-40 Air Purifier
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: HEPA H13 Filters
  • Coverage: 840 sq. ft.
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HATHASPACE Smart Air Purifier
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: H11 HEPA Filter
  • Coverage: 700 sq. ft.
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LEVOIT Air Purifiers
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: Medical HEPA Filter
  • Coverage: 900 cubic inch
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LEVOIT Air Purifiers for Home Allergies
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: Nylon Pre-Filter+H13 HEPA Filter
  • Coverage: 172 sq. ft.
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Hamilton Beach TrueAir Air Purifier
  • Runner Up
  • Filter: Permanent HEPA grade filter
  • Coverage: 140 sq. ft.
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This is an incredibly affordable option for larger rooms since it’s recommended for spaces up to 600 square feet. It’s also equipped with three filters to capture unseen air invaders and larger ones alike. Here’s how it works:

  • The washable pre-filter uses micro mesh technology to grab larger particles, like hair, pet dander, and lint.
  • Next, the air meets a microparticle and activated carbon filter which helps to extend the HEPA filter’s life and remove odors, smoke, and other vaporized pollutants.
  • Lastly, the medical-grade H13 premium HEPA filter effectively traps pollen, dust, mold, and other nasties to bring you the best air possible in your home. 

Unlike other air purifiers on the market, this VEVA air purifier doesn’t use UV lights or ions. Those are known to create trace amounts of ozone that can pollute the very air you’re trying to clean. For families with babies, cats or dogs, you can breathe easy knowing this little machine is safe. Its small, sleek, and modern design is also a huge perk. That said, if you’re looking for a slightly smaller air purifier you should consider the VEVA 8000 Elite Pro Series.

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If you’d like to fully customize your air purifier — including the color, front panel design, wall mounting and internal air filters — you’ll love this home air purifier for pets from Rabbit Air.It i ncludes the most advanced 6-stage air filtration system available to remove all types of cat dander, dog hair and pet odors in rooms up to 815 square feet.

Inside this powerful unit you’ll find:

  • Pre-filter for trapping pet hair.
  • Medium Filter for trapping medium-size pet dander particles.
  • BioGS HEPA Filter, a longer-lasting True HEPA filter with a 99.97% efficiency rating that lasts up to two years
  • Customized flter
  • Activated Carbon Filter for removing dog smell and cat odors.
  • Ionizer to boost the air cleaning power by making pet dander particles easier to trap.

You can also fine-tune it to work specifically for cats, dogs and other pets as well as enhance the air filtration to work well against other pollutants in the home by customizing the filter. You can choose between:

  • Pet Allergy Filter: Enhances the reduction of pet dander, pet allergens, and pet hair.
  • Germ Defense Filter: Enhances the reduction of airborne bacteria, mold spores, and particles that carry viruses.
  • Toxin Absorber Filter: Enhances the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals.
  • Odor Remover Filter: Enhances the reduction of odors from pets, cigarettes and cigars, cooking, and mildew.

Additionally, a Wi-Fi enabled version is available for you to control every aspect of this home air purifier from your iOS or Android device.

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If you have severe cat or dog allergies, or just messy pets, then this pet dander air purifier can be the answer to your prayers. It’s also a great fit if you have an open floor plan, basement, or other large area in your home that your pets frequent.

What makes it the best air purifier for pet allergies is the HyperHEPA air filter. The HyperHEPA air filter traps airborne particles down to 0.003 microns, which is 100X smaller than a standard True HEPA filter. It also lasts up to four years making it the best air filter for home with pets.

What’s more, a special V5-Cell Odor & Gas filter helps to eliminate odors caused by pets — it can last up to two years. It’s also is designed for large rooms and covers up to 1,125 square feet.

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This works well for rooms up to 1,560 square feet, which is more than enough coverage for the average pet owner.

What we like in particular about this air purifier is that it features a dual filtration system to draw in more air at a faster rate through a set of True HEPA filters and Activated Carbon filters. Thanks to these features, it creates cleaner, fresher air that’s less polluted with pet dander, hair and odors.

The best part, though, is that the device is equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities. You can control every aspect of this air purifier from the AIRMEGA mobile app that’s tied to your smartphone or tablet. This feature gives you real-time air quality notifications, filter life monitoring, and the ability to set daily air cleaning schedules. It can also be linked to and controlled by Amazon Alexa.

And although it has a powerful fan for cleaning the air in large rooms, there’s also a Sleep Mode for quiet operation at night.

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This is another good pick for a pet dander air purifier for large rooms — it covers up to 840 square feet. That size makes it a good choice for most areas of the home like a living room, finished basement or large bedroom.

One advantage in particular here is that it includes a medical-grade H13 True HEPA filter. This advanced HEPA filter captures 99.99% of ultrafine particles down to 0.1 microns in size (much smaller than the standard 0.3 microns). In our opinion, it’s the best air filter for home with pets. The Activated Carbon filter can really come in handy here, too.

The air purifier also boasts an optional ionizer function. It sends out charged particles into the air to neutralize pet allergens and odor molecules, which can further boost the air cleaning power. This feature can extend the life of the internal air filters all while reducing the annual costs of filter replacements.

The Medify MA-40 air purifier also includes a child look which disables the control panel. With this, children and pets cannot accidentally change the fan speed settings or other controls on the unit.

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With this home air purifier, you can eliminate all sorts of indoor pollutants in addition to dog dander, cat hair and odors. This includes dust, dust mites, allergens, mold spores, smoke and bacteria.

The 5-stage air filtration system includes the two filters necessary for reducing pet-related particles (True HEPA filter and Activated Carbon filter) as well as two additional air cleaning filters (Nano Cold Catalyst and Antibacterial) and an Ionizer.

The Nano Cold Catalyst filter removes larger airborne particles like dust and allergens, and toxic household chemicals like formaldehyde, ammonia, and benzene. The Antibacterial filter contains nano-materials that eliminate and destroy bacteria, viruses, and fungi that pass through the system. This special filter helps remove invisible particles that can threaten you and your pet’s health. The Ionizer releases negative ions into the air to neutralize dog and cat dander as well as pet odors so they’re easier to capture by the other internal filters.

For the money, this air purifier has a ton of air cleaning features that make it go above and beyond a standard pet air purifier machine. If you want total air purification coverage for a medium-sized room up to 350 square feet, then this may be the best home air purifier for you.

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Levoit makes some of the most reliable air purifiers on the market, and the LV-PUR131 model is no exception. It’s perfect for anyone who needs a device for a small living area, bedroom, or other medium-sized room of the home.

The air purifier covers up to 360 square feet and has filters that will create clean, fresh air indoors. In fact, the 3-stage air filtration system includes:

  • Pre-filter
  • True HEPA filter
  • Activated Carbon filter

It is worth noting, though, that it doesn’t have the other advanced air filters that other models listed here do, such as an ionizer, nano cold catalyst filter, or antibacterial filter. But for anyone who wants a simple device without all the bells and whistles that gets the job done, you can’t go wrong here.

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If you live in an apartment or just want a small pet air purifier for your home, then the Levoit Vista 200 is a great model to try.

It features all of the same high-quality filters as its sister product, the LV-PUR131, and also removes bacteria, dust, allergens from dust mites, mold spores, smoke and chemical gases, too. Because of this, it’s not only a good air purifier for pets but for your personal use, too.

It also has a small footprint and can easily be put on a desk or table. It measures 8 inches around and 13 inches tall — about the same size as a sheet of paper. It purifies a room up to 161 square feet.

Overall, it’s an affordable option that doesn’t compromise on quality.

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If pet dander is not your main concern, but pet hair is, then the Hamilton Beach TrueAir Pet Air Purifier is perfect for you. It’s very budget-friendly and continues to outshine a lot of competing products due to its ability to collect dog hair, cat hair and other pet fur easily and efficiently.

This pet hair air purifier features a permanent HEPA air filter for pet hair that can easily be cleaned with a vacuum. In fact, it’s the lowest-priced air purifier with reusable filter. This means you never have to pay for a replacement. Just clean up the cat hair or dog hair and pop it back in.

Another nice perk is that it includes a set of Activated Carbon filters that focus on eliminating pet odors. For a fresher smelling home, these filters are an essential component.

Another advantage of this air cleaner is that it’s very compact. This design allows it to stand horizontal or vertical, and be placed anywhere like the top of a table, on the floor, next to a bed or couch, etc. The small size also makes it easy for you to transport it to other rooms for maximum effect.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do air purifiers help with pet dander?

Air purifiers do work for pet allergies as long as it has a “True HEPA filter”. The reason you want an air purifier with a True HEPA filter is that it’s the only one certified to remove 99.97% of allergens as small as 0.3 microns.

A HEPA air purifier of this type can reduce the microscopic particles that trigger pet allergies and asthma. It also works for dust, dust mites, and other allergens.

Do air purifiers help with pet hair?

Air purifiers can help get rid of pet hair when it is floating in the air. Running an air purifier can greatly reduce the amount of cat hair, dog hair and pet dander in a room. A True HEPA filter will be required to reduce pet hair accumulation.

Do air purifiers help with pet odors?

Air purifiers do work for pet odors as long as you keep one thing in mind: you must make sure that it comes with an “Activated Carbon filter”. Activated Carbon air filters are the only type of air filters that can absorb smells produced by pets.

Is Dyson air purifier good for pets?

A Dyson air purifier can be good for pets because it contains a True HEPA filter and Activated Carbon filter. These two filters remove pet dander, hair, and odors. However, the cost of a Dyson air purifier ($400-600) and the square footage coverage (300-400 sq. ft.) outweigh these benefits.

Bottom Line

An air purifier is one of the top investments you can make as a pet owner. Not only does it help reduce pet allergies, dander, hair, and odors, but it also creates an overall better home environment with fewer dust mites, allergens, mold spores, bacteria and more.