Do Air Purifiers Help with Mold?

Yes, an air purifier with a HEPA filter helps with mold. Such a device captures airborne mold spores, preventing them from attaching to moist surfaces and minimizing their presence in the air you breathe.
However, an air purifier can’t eliminate mold from walls or other surfaces. For such cases, calling or consulting a professional mold remover is necessary.

Furthermore, an air purifier with UV-C light can kill mold spores, but usually only the mold spores that are spreading near the UV-C light during the airflow.

It’s important to note that mold spores are invisible, making them challenging to fight. But you can often detect mold by its musty odor, especially when it’s on easily accessible surfaces. In such situations, an air purifier with an activated carbon filter is excellent at neutralizing these unpleasant odors.

So, an air purifier with HEPA filter captures airborne mold spores, UV-C light can kill them, and an activated carbon filter can eliminate mold odors. However, it can’t remove mold that is already attached to surfaces. Let’s dive deeper into the subject with a clearer understanding of what this device can do.

Will Any Air Purifier Help with Mold?

Not every air purifier is capable of handling mold spores efficiently. Some use filtration methods inadequate for capturing small mold spores. Luckily, I’ve compiled a carefully selected list of the top air purifiers for mold that you can purchase.

To ensure an air purifier can effectively capture mold, it should have:

• HEPA Filter: This filter traps 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, which is enough for capturing most mold spores.
• Activated Carbon Filter: This type neutralizes odors, including those from existing mold.
• UV-C Light: While not mandatory, UV-C light is a valuable feature. It eradicates bacteria, viruses, and mold spores, eliminating them rather than merely trapping them. However, some air purifiers have low-power UV-C lights that may not efficiently kill mold spores as advertised.

Tips For Preventing Mold Growth in Your Home

According to the CDC, mold can trigger various symptoms in sensitive individuals, such as a stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing, wheezing, burning eyes, or skin rash.

To combat mold effectively, it’s crucial not only to use an air purifier but also to prevent its growth in your home. Mold usually thrives in basements, damp areas, and high-humidity places. To minimize its presence, consider these simple steps:

• Keep your home well-ventilated and dry. Leaving windows open helps.
• Isolate your room better, and keep the air inside in ideal humidity levels.
• Fix any leaks, and dry the walls if they are wet.
• Clean up any water damage, or get a mold professional to clean it.
• Consider using a dehumidifier in too-humid spaces.
• Add mold inhibitors to the paint before painting.

By following these steps, you can effectively prevent mold growth in your home, but using an air purifier as a protection measure will additionally stop mold from growing further.

Final Thoughts

Using an air purifier to combat mold is a great idea but with some limits. Air purifiers can’t eliminate already-grown mold; they can only capture mold spores from the air, which stops further growth. Air purifiers equipped with activated carbon filters can neutralize and remove bad mold smells, which is good to know and can be very beneficial in places where mold is already grown.

However, for professional mold removal, I recommend consulting with a professional mold specialist. I’ve also written an article and made an infographic on the 12 most common mold types found in homes.

The suggestions and recommendations in this article are from my researches, extensive air purifier tests in mold environments, and personal insights. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section below the article.