How Often Should You Clean Air Purifier?
For making your air purifier work perfectly you should clean the filter after a certain time lapse following some specific steps. In this guide, you will get to know about the process and time-frequency of cleaning an air purifier.
Air purifiers trap the contaminants and offer you clean and fresh air to breathe in your home. But, the air purifier itself should be clean too as it won’t be able to filter the air if there is clogged dirt.
The fan of the air purifiers pulls the air in and filters the air by trapping large particles like allergens, irritants and dust which will allow you to inhale healthier air.
After a certain period, the purifier fills up with dirt and dust which reduces the efficiency of trapping the particles. However, the good thing is you can restore your air purifier to get it back to its best performance very easily and quickly.
The Parts That Require Cleaning
There are 3 major parts that you should clean to make your air purifier work perfectly. The air inlet, outlet as well as filter.
You can easily clean the fuzzy air inlet and outlet with a soft brush. But in case of replacing or cleaning the filter of your air purifier, you have to open the air purifier.
Most of the air purifiers come with HEPA filter which contains fine fiber sheets that trap tiny contaminants from the passed-through air.
Removing the filter can be dusty so it is better to remove the filter in an open and well-ventilated space. Another thing you should remember, always unplug and switch off your air purifier before opening it up.
The Frequency Of Cleaning the Air Purifier
The frequency of the cleaning process will mostly depend on its use it. If you are using your air purifier every day then you need to clean it more frequently.
However, the manufacturers recommend cleaning or changing the air filter usually in three to six months to make your air purifier work perfectly.
Should You Clean The Filter Rather Than Replacing It?
Whether it’s better to clean or replace the air purifier filter will depend on the type of your air purifier. Some filter requires replacement rather than cleaning.
Again, some need few minutes to clean but you have to replace it after a specific time and you can clean some filters and put them back in the purifiers which last as long as the air purifier.
You should be aware of the filter of your air purifier is washable or not as washing the non-washable filter may damage it. The manual may contain special washing instructions as well so always keep the manual.
Else, you can search for the instructions online too. The HEPA filter is very sensitive so you need to be very careful while cleaning it.
The Process Of Cleaning The Washable HEPA Air Filter
Firstly, remove the HEPA filter from the air purifier and check the manual to get the instructions or you can also search online to find out if there is any special instruction.
If you find your filter is fully washable rinse the filer under cold water.
You should not use any cleaning products or liquids.
Leave the filter until it dries fully otherwise the dam purifiers can cause growing mold in the air. Put the completely dry filter back in the air purifier.
The Process Of Cleaning The Non-Washable HEPA Air Filter
If your find your air filter is non-washable the cleaning process will be different from the aforementioned one. You can check the manual to find the instructions for cleaning the filter.
You can use a soft brush to clean the non-washable air purifier filters. Otherwise, you can use the brush attachment of the vacuum cleaner for cleaning the filter. Make sure your vacuum cleaner has its HEPA filter.
If it doesn’t, let us inform you that the contaminants particles will be in the air again after coming out from the air purifier filter.
The process and time-frequency of cleaning the air purifier filter will depend on the type, frequency of use and quality. Before heading towards the replacing or cleaning process you should be well aware of these factors.