7 Best Air Purifier For Dust And Pet Hair (With Fog Box Testing)

Pets and dust. Dog or cat hair lying on the floor, invisible dust particulates in the air. Both are needless nuisances that make our homes look messy and we have to breathe in all those questionable air particulates. Not to mention pet hair allergies, like sneezing, eye irritation, skin irritation, and so on.

Here’s the #1 culprit for all that flying cat hair (her name is Goldie, likes to leave hair EVERYWHERE, just look at all that fluff):

Luckily, both can be dealt with by a good air purifier. Specifically, we are looking for an air purifier that can take on:

• Pet hair (dogs, cats): We need an air purifier for cat hair with superb pre-filters here.
• Pet smell (cat litter smell, wet dog smell, you can smell it right away): We need a superb active carbon filter for odor adsorption.
• Dust particles: We need the top-of-the-line Medical-Grade HEPA H13 filters (removes 99.97% 0.03 µm sized particles) used in hospitals and clinics. The best HEPA air purifier for cat allergies should include an air filter for cat fur and dog hair (medical-grade H13 or H14 HEPA).

We would also like for our new dust and pets air purifier to have the best H13 or H14 HEPA filters, 300+ CFM airflow, low noise levels, and wouldn’t cost $1,000 (we also don’t want $100 fakes known to break down all the time, reliability should be essential as well)… so, no pressure here.

The ultimate test for the effectiveness of any air purifier is a fog box test. We fill a box of known dimensions with fog (using a fog machine), and time how long it takes for the air purifier to remove all dust. Here is what our fog testing looks like:

Based on criteria of how well air purifiers can remove BOTH pet hair (and poo-poo smell) and dust particles, we have created this list of the best air purifiers for dust and pet hair:

 

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1. Overall Absolute Best Air Purifier For Dust Removal: Medify MA-112

Medify Air MA-112 air purifier is a big (yet super quiet) air purifier that can handle a lot of dust, and a lot of pet hair. 2-3 cats? And a dog? Other units might have a problem. The Medify MA-112, however, has a combination of 2 elements that make it superior to other air purifiers (especially as a cat fur air purifier), namely:

• Superb filtration system. Robust pre-filter (needed for pet hair capturing, and to protect to all-important HEPA filter), True HEPA H13 filter (a must for dust removal), and thick active carbon filter (for that cat smell, wet dog odor removal).
• Powerful fan. We need to ensure that we remove all the dust and all the pet hair. To achieve this, the MA-112 fan produces up to 600 CFM airflow.

In our fog box testing, it cleared an entire box in 11.6 seconds (from 100% saturation to below 0.1% saturation, measured by particulate beam). For reference, the average clearance time is 83.4 seconds (more than 1 minute).

Here is why Medify Air MA-112 excels at air purification:

First of all, MA-112 has a 563 CFM dust CADR rating. That is way above the average of about 180 CFM most standard units have. In fact, the Medify MA-112 has an overall particle CADR rating of 559 CFM. That means that the dust CADR rating is above the overall particle CADR rating which tells you one thing: This unit is specifically designed to remove dust. Here are all 3 particle ratings:

• Fog CADR: 546 CFM.
• Pollen CADR: 459 CFM.
• Dust CADR: 563 CFM.

If you have read the section where we discussed the specs, you know exactly why Medify MA-112 is so good at capturing dust particulates:

It’s the H14 HEPA filter. In fact, you can choose H13 or H14 HEPA filters, but we all know that H14 HEPA filters are the best dust filters. They can capture all the bigger dust particles, standard dust particles, and up to 99.99% of the smallest 0.1-micron in diameter particles. This is an unparallel level of small dust particle removal.

On top of that, these H14 filters can last for 3,000 running hours. That means you can use it non-stop 24/7 for more than 4 months. If you use the air purifier for 8 hours per day, the HEPA H14 filter will last for more than 1 year.

The Medify MA-112 fan can generate a maximum airflow of 563 CFM (Speed 4), running at 95W max. wattage. There is no other H14 HEPA filter that could operate 100% output, producing 500+ CFM airflow, and consume less than 0.1 kWh of electricity per hour. With such airflow, it has a coverage area of 5 ACH (changes the air in the room every 12 minutes) of 838 sq ft.

Even Medify MA-112 has a few back draws. It has 4 fan speed settings (Speed 1 producing 212 CFM CADR, Speed 2 producing 281 CFM CADR, Speed 3 producing 391 CFM CADR, and Speed 4 producing 559 CFM CADR). Many other good air purifiers for dust have 5 or 6 fan speed settings; it’s not all that important but it is noteworthy. The price is also substantial; however, if you consider price performance and the incredible CADR Medify can achieve, it’s actually very fairly priced

All in all, Medify MA-112 is the perfect air purifier for dust and pet dander. It has the new-age ultra-fine H14 HEPA filters, absurdly high 563 dust CADR rating, long-lasting filters, it’s energy-efficient and is specifically designed to remove dust particulates in your are extra fast:

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2. Superb Specs: PuroAir 400 Hepa 14 Air Purifier

We haven’t physically tested PuroAir 400 air purifier but this unit is named “PuroAir 400 HEPA 14” for a good reason. It’s incredible to see H14 HEPA filters with a 400 CADR rating; only #1 Medify MA-112 can beat these specs.

With a 400 CADR rating, you will leave all the pet hair in the dust! Oh, and that dust will be taken care of quickly as well, obviously.

Now, the materials PuroAir 400 is made out of, however, aren’t exactly durably. Yes, it has a powerful fan motor and a capable filtration system, but the reliability can be a problem. We really need to get one to test it out for a year or two to see if it breaks down unexpectedly (as many cheap fakes do).

That also explains a very attractive $300 price tag for a 400 CADR unit. Putting a powerful fan motor in cheaper non-sound insulation plastic does produce quite a lot of noise, sadly. If it would be made out of durable materials like Alen and Medify use, it would definitely be a contented for the top 3 places (would also balloon the price over $500 probably):

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3. Best Price-Performance Air Purifier For Pets And Dust: Medify Air MA-50

Medify Air MA-50 is the standard-sized popular pick for fighting dust and cat/dog hair. It’s meant for 1-2 rooms (not whole-house like the big #1 Medify MA-112 unit), and, since it has about half as much as the top-tier high unit, it’s an obvious best-seller.

The good thing is that all Medify units follow the pre-filter, H13 HEPA filter, activated carbon filter filtration system, and the MA-50 model is no exception. This is the tried-and-tested filtration system for removing dust and small pet dander.

The key for pet hair – as with all units – is the fine enough pre-filter that captures every hair, thereby protecting the all-important H13 HEPA filter (essential for dust removal). On top of that, the activated carbon filter will take care of pet odor (adsorbing smells like wet dog odor or cat doing it’s thing).

Specs-wise, we see that Medify MA-50 can achieve a 379 CFM dust CADR rating. For a $250-$300 unit, that’s incredible price-performance. That’s literally higher effectiveness as #2 Alen BreatheSmart 75i (which costs $800+; 75i does have that super-quiet fans, however).

Due to this high effectiveness, it has a 528 sq ft coverage at 5 ACH (circulate all the air 5 times in a 528 sq ft, 8 ft ceiling area).

It does have two drawbacks, however. The max. wattage is 75 watts, a bit high. If you leave it on max. 24/7 for a week, it will consume 12.6 kWh of electricity (about $1.50/week in most states). That highest speed also produces 56 dB of noise. That means you will likely want to run it at lower speeds in the bedroom.

All in all, Medify MA-50 is an air purifier most people get when they want to deal with dust and pet hair. It’s relatively cheap, it has very high effectiveness (superb price-performance), and it’s made by Medify – a brand known for making reliable and capable air purifiers:

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4. Turonic PH950 Air Purifier And Humidifier Combo

Turonic PH950 is not an air purifier only; rather it is an air purifier and humidifier all-in-one device. The filtration system with H13 is well-capable in removing dust, the pre-filters capture pet hair, and the extra humidification function is an extra bonus (especially if you have dry air).

You can see that it has 8 fan speed settings – more than almost any other air purifier on the market – allowing you to finely tune it’s effectiveness as needed. Namely, when you see dust particles or your cat has just done it’s deed, you notch it up to speed 8, and you get 330 CFM CADR rating working on purifying air very quickly.

After that, you can just notch it down to speed 3 or 4, gathering dust and pet hair at a slower rate (no overkill).

Due to the extra humidification function and durable materials used, Turonic PH950 can cost about $400. That’s not the cheapest air purifier on the market, but the effectiveness (300+ CADR rating) makes the price seem a bit more reasonable. The higher speed settings (6, 7, 8) can also produce more than 50 dB of noise; you will need to run it on lower speeds when you go to sleep.

All in all, Turonic PH950 is the best air purifier and humidifier combo unit. Even if we just look at the purification side, it can deal with all types of pet hair and can filter out more than 99.7% of dust particles:

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5. Dust And Pets Air Purifier For Bedroom: Alen BreatheSmart 75i

Now, a lot of people sleep with pets—a dog sleeping on their legs or a cat just walking all over them when they wake up. Since we sleep 7-8 hours, the bedroom is where we spend most of our time, and breathing in dust or pet dander is a no-no.

The key for all bedroom air purifiers is silence (especially if you have problems falling asleep). That means low decibels ratings.

Alen BreatheSmart 75i is one of a few air purifiers capable of operating at below 50 dB noise levels even at 100% running speed. On top of that, it has an exceptionally high CADR rating and the highest noise performance of all air purifiers on the market.

Alen BreatheSmart series is quite legendary as the first air purifier series tested (by SleepScore Labs) on how well air purifiers improve sleeping. The combination of breathing very clean air (thanks to H13 HEPA filters) and the must-have requisite of low noise levels showed that ‘participants reported falling asleep faster and felt more rested the next day’.

At the lowest fan speed setting, Alen BreatheSmart 75i produces only 25 dB of noise (running on 1.5W input). As we have explained, the highest noise level specs are more important: When running at full speed, this air purifier will produce only 49 dB of noise output (running on 45W input). That makes it one of the quietest air purifiers.

The best thing about Alen BreatheSmart 75i, besides the whisper-quiet operation, is the very high 347 CFM CADR rating. That means it can produce 7.08 CFM of clean air delivery rate (CADR) per every decibel point. This means that the Alen BreatheSmart 75i has the best compromise between performance and noise levels.

Due to its high CADR rating, Alen BreatheSmart 75i has a very high 542 sq ft coverage area at 4.8 ACH. Needless to say (you’ve seen the wattage), it has a very low running cost. With 45W producing 347 CFM CADR rating it even has the Energy Star label.

All these quiet air purifiers tend to be more expensive; this is the case with Alen as well. The filters also have an above-average price because they are H13 HEPA filters that are much more effective than standard HEPA filters (those are, of course, cheaper).

In short, your ears will be soothed by the incredibly low noise levels Alen BreatheSmart 75i produces. With such a high CADR rating (and best in industry noise performance), you can run it on low or medium setting, thereby reducing the noise levels even further:

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6. Budget Pick: PURO²XYGEN P500i

PURO²XYGEN P500i is the budget version. The key point – despite costing less than $200 – it is reliable. However, it does have a low 110 sq ft coverage (for a small room). Not exactly meant for big dogs or fluffy cats or dusty homes.

If you check the specs, they are quite average. 180 CFM CADR rating, only True HEPA filters (not H13 or H14), and a small coverage area.

Nonetheless, if you are on a budget and would like a reliable unit, the PURO²XYGEN P500i is still a reasonable choice:

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7. Cheapest Unit: Morento HY4866

Now, a lot of people ask us about these $100 air purifiers. Usually, the problem here is reliability (as well as, obviously, bad specs). Most of these units break down within a year and the only thing they are good for after that is gathering dust (the opposite of what air purifiers should be used for).

Out of these $100 units, Morento HY4866 at least seems to have some reliability. It doesn’t have H13 HEPA filters, low noise levels, or even a 200 CADR rating, but some reliability is better than nothing.

We would recommend this pick only to students buying on a tight budget, for example, with just a normal cat or a small dog (a Siberian cat would fill up the pre-filter very quickly):

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All in all, we hope that you now have a good overview of the best air purifiers for dust and pets. It’s quite important to look at the dust CADR specs and filtration systems, and get a reliable unit.