Why Does My Air Purifier Smell Bad?

Why Air Purifier Smell Bad?


Air purifiers are becoming a must-have item in several homes, particularly those concerned with sustaining a healthy indoor environment. It is due to the systems’ potential to eradicate odors, pollutants, and other hazardous airborne components in confined areas.

Despite becoming such functional systems, air purifiers do have a few drawbacks. The smell of a cleaner is among the disadvantages that many property owners constantly whine about. Sometimes the machine causes the same issue it was designed to fix – foul odors.

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Why Is Your Air Purifier Smelling?


If you wonder ‘why does my air purifier smell,’ you are at the right place. There could be numerous factors why your purifier smells, and the smells may not all be the same.

The truth is that some individuals could whine about a nasty smell, a damp or unkempt smell, and the others might make a fuss about a lovely, pleasant aroma. All of these odors are the consequence of a completely different reason.

However, regardless of the form of odor, the following are the most common reasons:

The Smell of a New Device

Why does my purifier have a plastic odor? It is a concern that many property owners face, and many folks would then disclose a sweet or slightly plastic smell arising from their air purifier.
If that’s the scenario, this is most likely because your purifier is still novel, or you have recently switched air purifiers. A carbon filter mainly precipitates the slightly sweet odor and indicates that the filtration system is functioning right.

Bad odor

Is your air purifier smelling bad after you use it? If yes, then Inspect its filter first. They can break or wear out if you purchased the item secondhand or utilized it for a long time. If this is the circumstance, now is a decent moment to substitute them or, if feasible, have it replaced by a manufacturing company.

The cleaner could also occasionally release a plastic odor. The high temperature while in use could induce the plastic to transmit a rancid smell that will usually fade with a period. Nevertheless, if it transmits a persistently powerful burning odor, there could be a severe deficiency, and you must consult the vendor.

It has a damp odor.

Your air purifier may occasionally transmit the odor of humid air or fluoride.  The primary cause behind this is that a few cleaners employ ionizers to aid in the cleaning of the atmosphere. Ionization, on the other hand, produces pollutants as a side effect

Consumers have also complained about “wet dog” fumes in many other scenarios. Certain microbes live on dogs’ bodies, and when they get slightly damp, they transmit a different odor.

How to Get Rid of Air Purifier Smell

Air Purifier Smell Bad

Replace or wipe down the filters

Many air purifier smells can be eliminated by simply cleaning or substituting the filters. Simply mopping it would suffice if your cleaner had a cleanable filtration system. Ensure that filtration seems spotless and is not the source of the odor, and only non-corrosive cleaners should be used.

Several other air purifiers, on either hand, will not have easy cleaning filtration. If you get one of such, you need to substitute the filtration to remove the putrid smell. If you cannot replace the filtration system yourself, you could take the cleaner to a neighborhood technician for assistance.

Use Sodium Chlorite or Chlorine Dioxide to clean the air purifier.

Sodium chlorite or chlorine dioxide options are ideal for removing the unpleasant wet dog odor from the cleaner. Use such options to wipe down the skin and filters of your purification system.

Smells heading from your cleaner can be a frequent phenomenon, a symbol that your filters need to be changed, or an indication that something is wrong. The form of aroma is essential because it would then tell you whether or not you must do something regarding it.

Frequent cleanings of your purifiers ensure that such odors are not present in your home. And, because your cleaner enables odor control, the atmosphere in your home is spotless and safe.

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Author
Sreeram

The author is an Air purifier expert with overall knowledge of air and ionizers.