Our top picks will help clear the air in your hair of smoke from wildfires, cooking fumes, cigarettes and other sources.
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There are far fewer people smoking cigarettes these days, but that doesn’t necessarily mean our homes are less smoky. Wildfires are an increasing hazard in many parts of the country, while fumes from cooking are an ever-present concern, especially since newer homes are often so tightly constructed, leaving little opportunity for the exchange of fresh air. Candles and wood-burning fireplaces are yet another source of harmful air pollutants. While you can stamp out a lot of toxins with behavioral changes (banning cigarettes, running kitchen exhaust fans, saving those roaring fires for special occasions), it’s difficult to have a 100% smoke-free home. “The right air purifier can help get you close,” says Dan DiClerico, director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Over the last five years, experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute have tested close to 50 air purifiers, along with other home comfort equipment, like humidifiers, air conditioners (portable and window) and dehumidifiers. For this report, we focused on the air purifiers that do the best job of capturing the toxins and irritants constituently found in smoke. Here are the air purifiers that made it onto our list of winners.
Read on after our reviews to find out more on how we test air purifiers, what to consider when shopping for one and why you can trust our recommendations. Looking for more on air purifiers? Check out our explainer on how air purifiers work and our round-ups of the best air purifiers for people with allergies and the best air purifiers for pet owners.
Blue Pure 311i+ Max tops our winner's list of the best all-purpose air purifiers, so it's no surprise that it's also our favorite for capturing smoke within the home.
Extensive lab testing supported a key point our engineers believe: Multiple filters often correlate to higher efficiency of an air purifier. The 311+ Max starts with a washable fabric pre-filter that encases the device, where it captures fur, dust and other large particles. "This first line of defense also puts less strain on in its interior components," explains DiClerico. The purifier’s smoke-busting prowess comes from its interior True HEPA filter, which reduced concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 particles in less than half the time of the next-best model. PM stands for particulate matter and PM2.5 and PM10 refer to particles smaller than or equal to 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter respectively. These fine particles can enter airways and even the bloodstream and cause adverse health effects.
Blueair purifiers usually score well for usability and that was the case again with the Blue Pure 311i+ Max. The device features simple controls and an on-unit indicator light that changes color in accordance with the air quality. For a more granular understanding of your house's air quality and the purifier's functionality, you can use the accompanying Blueair app to track pollutant levels over time and filter life cycle so you know when it needs to be replaced. The app also allows for setting up an auto shut-off and turn-on feature that activates the purifier when you're home and turns it off when you leave.
Our testers also liked that this machine is backed by a Quiet Mark certification, meaning it effectively cleans the air in your home without being unduly noisy. With a coverage area of 465 square feet, this unit can do an exceptional job of keeping a small apartment or living room's air clean, though larger homes may require a more substantial unit.
Since multiple air purifiers are often needed throughout the home, the cost can quickly add up. At one third of the price of our top pick, this air purifier from GermGuardian will save you money without too much sacrifice on performance. Featuring a True HEPA filter that can filter particles down to the size of 0.1 microns, it can effectively help protect your home from common pollutants like those found in cigarette or wildfire smoke.
What's more, this air purifier features an activated carbon filter, which removes bad odors and some harmful chemicals through the process of adsorption. Just be mindful that if you live in a hot or humid climate, you won't be able to reap the full benefits here as chemical adsorption is less effective when temperature and air moisture content is high, and elevation of either of these throughout the day can cause the carbon to re-release compounds that have been bound to it.
Though we didn't get to run our intensive air quality tests of this model in the Lab, our testers put it through the ringer with at-home road tests when New York's air quality was affected by the Canadian wildfires. One tester remarked that after just one hour of operation, "the room felt normal and livable." Another tester found that it could be relatively noisy at the maximum setting, so those seeking ultra-quiet purification should consider our top pick instead.
The Rabbit Air MinusA2 is one of the best-looking air purifiers to pass through our Lab, with its wall-mounted design and sleek finish. More importantly, it’s engineered to pull a range of pollutants from the air, thanks to its multiple levels of filtration. That includes a customizable filter that can be matched to specific pollutants in the home. In the case of smoke, there’s the “odor removal filter,” which traps bad smells from cigarettes and cigars, as well as cooking, mildew and pets.
The version of the Rabbit Air MinusA2 that we brought into the Lab for testing had the pet allergy customizable filter, designed for dander-based allergens. We were impressed with the performance and expect the air purifier will also be effective against smoke, especially given the other filters that are standard on all units. That includes the all-important True HEPA filter, rated to capture 99% of particulates less than 0.1 microns in size; the pre-filter for large-size dust and particles; and an activated carbon charcoal filter to reduce chemicals and common household odors.
While pricey, the Rabbit Air also lives up to its ultra-quiet claim, especially in silent mode, where its fan is literally whisper-quiet; even on the highest "turbo" setting, the fan only gets up around 49 decibels, or as loud as a soft conversation.
One important caveat: The MinusA2 has an ionization setting, which our experts don't recommend with any air purifier, since ionizers can release small amounts of ozone (an irritant that can exacerbate existing respiratory conditions) and the science on ionizer efficacy and safety is still inconclusive. While we prefer purifiers without any ionization mode, at least with the MinusA2 the process for turning it off is straightforward and an indicator light on the face of the unit clearly indicates if its in active ion mode.
Clorox is probably one of the names you think of first when it comes to cleaning the home, so it's no wonder the brand recently entered the air purifier category. Based on our initial testing experience, Clorox's air purifier do a capable job combating smoke at a decent price. Designed for medium-sized rooms, the Clorox 11010 air purifier is a good example. Thanks to its True HEPA Filter, it's effective at removing airborne particulates, especially on higher fan speeds; the brand says the device will clean the air in a 225-square-foot room up to five times an hour. "In our tests, the air purifier was a bit noisy when running at full tilt, so you might want to consider a quieter model if you’ll be running the air purifier in a bedroom," says DiClerico, though he adds that some testers say they don’t mind the white noise effect of louder devices.
We also evaluated Clorox's Large Air Purifier, designed for spaces up to 1,500 square feet. Pet owners will appreciate the active carbon filter on both units that does a solid job neutralizing bad odors. (We also looked at the new Tabletop Air Purifier, but don't recommend it because it doesn't feature active carbon).
In our usability tests, Clorox earned high marks for the intuitiveness of its LCD display. We also like the fact that the on-board sensor monitors air quality in the room and displays the information clearly. For smart home enthusiasts, Clorox offers an Alexa-enabled version of its air purifier that lets you control the device from anywhere via the smart phone app and operate it via voice control through any Amazon smart speaker.
For those living in a small apartment or only hoping to focus purification on a small space, shelling out for a large, expensive air purifier doesn't make a lot of sense. Though this one features less bells and whistles than some of our more pricey picks, this model from Coway effectively helps keep air clean in spaces up to 214 square feet.
In our Lab tests, we were impressed by the Airmega 160's ability to remove PM2.5 and PM10 particles, reducing them by 99.5% in 30 minutes in our test chamber. We found the set-up simple and the controls intuitive, although we found the air-quality monitor on the unit not as easy to navigate. It also had one of the highest fan speeds of all of the models we tested, meaning it's effective at circulating air in the area it's rated for.
The Airmega 160 has the same rectangular shape that our experts have come to expect from Coway. Though the design maximizes surface area for the filters, it means air can only be drawn in from the side of the machine, which slows down the process of purifying. Coway recently released its first cylindrical model, the Airmega 100, which is able to draw air from 360 degrees, which Coway says will deliver faster air cleaning. Our experts will report back on the results once performance testing is complete.
Blueair purifiers are standouts in our Lab tests due to their fast and efficient purifying, quiet operation, and simple controls. Though we haven't tested this exact model, it comes from the same line as our top performer, and based on testing of several other Blueair air purifiers, we are confident it will deliver similar performance.
The 211i Max features the same proprietary HEPASilent technology that powers our top pick, and claims to be able to clean the air of spaces up to 1,524 square feet in as little as 30 minutes. Despite its impressive filtration ability, it still has received certification from QuietMark, meaning it'll adeptly clean the air of any large space without causing a raucous. While the pre-filter is washable, the True HEPA filters that work with this purifier can get pricey, so we only recommend this model if you need to cover a large area.
Dry, irritated noses and throats are a common complaint for those suffering from prolonged exposure to smoke. Humidifiers can provide some relief for these symptoms, and one that purifies the air simultaneously can be a game changer. Enter the Dyson Purifier Humidify+Cool Formaldehyde. Though considerably larger than the other units on our list (it stands at 3 feet tall), this purifier's multi-functionality justifies its bulk.
In our test chamber, this model removed over 95% of PM2.5 and PM10 particles in 30 minutes and was the top performer in terms of removing formaldehyde (a harmful byproduct found in cigarette and wildfire smoke), reducing its air concentration by 75% in half an hour. For air-quality aficionados, the monitoring on this unit is some of the most robust we've seen: It tracks concentrations of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde both on a display panel under the fan and more granularly in the Dyson app.
The air purifier also features a powerful fan that can help cool your room, with a claimed 87 gallons of airflow at the maximum setting. All of this comes at a substantial price — not only for the unit but also for its $80 filter replacements and $30 cleaning kits that need to be used several times throughout the year — so it's not for those who don't need or want all the extras.
Given increased attention to indoor air quality over the last decade, air purifiers are among the products that are continuously tested by experts in the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. To put together this list of units most suited for tackling smoke from cigarettes, wildfires, cooking and other sources, we spent more than 60 hours of researching and testing and we've examined 50 different models to date.
When testing air purifiers, our experts start with an extensive review of technical data provided by manufacturers on different units' ability to filter air and remove harmful materials like particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other harmful chemicals. We then select models for in-Lab testing, which includes un-boxing the units and reviewing set-up instructions, the purifiers' controls and any accompanying apps for smart purifiers.
Next, we conduct thorough performance evaluations. We measure the maximum fan speed of each purifier with an anemometer and record the sound level of each using a decibel meter to find the quietest ones. We set each air purifier up in our climate chamber where we run a controlled test to see how quickly each can remove specific pollutants like smoke and VOCs in a 30-minute period and compare the results across the board.
We also evaluate air purifiers in homes to see how they perform in real-world conditions, including homes with smoke from cigarettes, fireplaces and wildfires. Additionally, we use feedback from consumer testers on the ease of setting up and maintaining the units to help us choose the best ones.
Not all air purifiers are created equal. Here are the factors you should focus on when choosing a model for your home.
✔️ Coverage area: How much air are you looking to purify? Manufacturers usually list the square footage that an air purifier can cover and for which it can provide effective air cleaning. As a rule of thumb, opt for air purifiers that feature a coverage area equal to or greater than the area of the space you're looking to purify in order to ensure effective operation. When two coverage areas are listed, our experts recommend checking the lower number since you'll likely want a device that delivers quick purification.
✔️ Filter type: Look for air purifiers that have True HEPA filters (as opposed to "HEPA-style" or some other designation). Oftentimes, manufacturers will also list the size of particulate matter that an air purifier can defend against, sometimes listed as a PM value. The lower the size of the particulate matter, the better you'll be protected against smaller, often more harmful pollutants. We also recommend air purifiers with activated carbon filters which can adsorb foul odors and other chemicals that may evade the HEPA filter for applications involving smoke.
✔️ CADR: This acronym stands for clean air delivery rate. It's an industry measure of how much clean air the purifier delivers in a given test environment for various pollutants, and it's typically reported in cubic feet per minute. The rule of thumb is that the CADR should be at least two thirds of the area that the air purifier will be cleaning. So if your room is 300 square feet, look for a CADR of 200 or higher. Not all manufacturers list CADR, but we included it in our product reviews for those that do.
Air purifiers not only help with removing the harmful components of cigarette smoke from the air, they can also aid in eliminating the foul scent from the home. However, they won't be able to get rid of the lingering odors from long-exposed furniture or walls. When used simultaneous while smoking, air purifiers can prevent the odiferous particles that cause this scent from settling into your home and greatly improve both the air quality and smell. Look for air purifiers with True HEPA filters and activated carbon filters to efficiently remove particulate matter and other foul-smelling constituents of cigarette smoke.
Nikolas Greenwald has spearheaded the Good Housekeeping Institute's air purifier testing for the past year, conducting the air quality and quantitative testing for all the units we've reviewed in-Lab. With a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northeastern University, he applies his knowledge of filtration processes and fluid dynamics to our research, developing our latest protocol for evaluating the performance of air purifiers. As a smoker himself, he has vast hands-on experience with using air purifiers to remove cigarette smoke from the home.
For this article, Nikolas worked closely with Dan DiClerico, who has extensively tested and written about air purifiers for nearly 25 years. He has also spearheaded numerous investigative reports on the topic of indoor air quality, working closely with outside experts from government, industry and the home services spaces. As director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, Dan oversaw the latest round of air purifier testing in our Labs and the continuous in-home, survey-based consumer testing that allows us to evaluate these devices in real-world conditions.
As a data engineer in the Good Housekeeping Institute, Nik (he/him) works with all of our Labs to develop testing protocols and manage data collection and analysis. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2022, Nik worked in the labs of MIT and Regeneron, working on projects ranging from chemical inventory and reporting to the development of bioassays. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from Northeastern University.
Having written thousands of product reviews and how-to articles on all aspects of home ownership, from routine maintenance to major renovations, Dan (he/him) brings more than 20 years of industry experience to his role as the director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. A one-time roofer and a serial remodeler, Dan can often be found keeping house at his restored Brooklyn brownstone, where he lives with his wife and kids.
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