Mold in the home is a scary proposition. Not only can mold cause damage to your house and furniture, require expensive repairs, and leave a lingering odor, but exposure to mold spores can also cause potential health consequences as well. Mold typically finds its way into your home through a combination of moisture, lack of ventilation, and high humidity. Although the first step to ridding your home of mold is solving your moisture issue—be it an older roof, leaky pipes, or more serious flood damage—an air purifier can also help negate the negative effects of mold spore exposure.

An air purifier can filter airborne mold spores out of your home air as well as remove some of the stench left behind from the mildew. Most air purifiers do not exclusively call themselves a mold air purifier and, instead, tout their usage for a variety of allergens, but there are some commonalities between purifiers that work best for mold.

Firstly, a true HEPA air purifier uses a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter and can trap 99.7% of airborne particles down to 0.3 microns in size. Since most mold spores are a great deal larger than this, they are easily trapped in HEPA filters. Along with removing mold spores, HEPA filters help remove viruses, bacteria, smoke, pollen, pet dander for homes with pets, and other asthma-causing particulates from the air so they are common in many air purifiers. Be wary of HEPA-type or HEPA-like filters though because these do not meet the standards of true HEPA filters.

Activated Carbon Filters can help remove the stench left behind from mold through a process called adsorption which is a chemical reaction that causes odors, pollutants, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the air to be trapped inside the pore structure of the carbon substrate. Lastly, it is worth picking a purifier that has the right smart features, energy-saving certifications, and clean air delivery rate for your room size. Because not everyone has the same needs from their purifiers, it is worth determining what features are right for you.

Here are some of the top air purifiers we recommend for mold here at Curated!

The Best Air Purifiers for Mold

Best Budget: Levoit Core 300 Air Purifier

The Levoit Core 300 is a tabletop-style air purifier that is best for rooms about 219ft2 but works for rooms up to 219 square feet. It is less than $100 and has replacement filters for a little over $30. Similar to top-of-the-line air purifiers, the Levoit Core 300 uses a true HEPA filter to remove mold spores by using a fan to blow the air over a HEPA filter. Along with a HEPA filter, it also has an activated carbon filter to help remove odors left behind from mildew. To top it off, this budget air purifier is also as quiet as 24db and is Energy Star certified.

Best Looking: Molekule Air Mini+

Molekule air purifiers maximize the aesthetics of your purification system and make your air purifier something that you no longer want to hide but also something you are proud to show off! But behind the charming aesthetics is a purifier with outstanding smart technology, easy filter replacements, low noise output, and class-leading filtration.

The Air Mini+ rates air particle levels from “good” to “very bad” and lets you see your indoor air quality at a glance. It also auto-adjusts fan speed based on the sensor’s reading, so you automatically get protection from airborne contaminants like mold spores. In addition, because air purifiers require occasional filter replacements to effectively filter mold spores or other contaminants out of the air, Molekule automatically ships your replacement filters right to your door. Not only does this keep your purifier running well and cleaning your air properly, but it also reduces the chance of mold growing on your filter. The replacement filter for the Molekule Air Mini+ is $89.99 and lasts six months with average use but is only $99 a year if you use their subscription refill service.

The Molekule Air Mini+ uses Photo Electro Chemical Oxidation (PECO) filters coated with a nanocatalyst. The nanocatalyst creates free radicals when exposed to UV-A light, breaking down the filter's collected air molecules. This means black mold is captured, oxidized, and destroyed all on the filter! The result is a stronger filter with no ozone creation in the process.

Best for Sleeping: Rabbit BioGS 2.0 Ultra Quiet

Rabbit air purifiers are known for their quiet operation, and the BioGS 2.0 is no exception. At only 20dB when set to silent speed mode, the BioGS 2.0 is significantly quieter than other purifiers in its class. The purifier uses four stages of filtration and deodorization, including a pre-filter, activated carbon charcoal filter, proprietary BioGS HEPA filter (a true-HEPA rated filter), and an ionizer to create negative ions and weigh down unwanted air molecules.

Ionic purifiers use built-in ionizers that create electrically-charged molecules to attach to airborne contaminants and remove them from the air in the room. To take advantage of this ionizing process, the Rabbit BioGS 2.0 creates negative ions, which not only help remove mold spores from the air but also have other known positive health effects. Rabbit Air has said that the BioGS 2.0 creates minimal ozone and the ionizer can be turned off if users don’t want to take advantage of the ionizer.

The BioGS 2.0 is also low maintenance and requires a filter replacement only every 18 months when operating the purifier 24 hours a day. Also, this purifier is Energy Star certified so you can filter your air 24 hours a day worry-free!

Best for Large or Multiple Rooms: Aura Air

The Aura Air Purifier is the go-to choice for larger spaces like businesses or homes with more purification needs. Designed to work with monitoring multiple purifiers easily, the Aura Air has a useful mobile app and a dashboard for multiple purifier management. With a four-step filtration system, the Aura has a pre-filter, patented HEPA Ray Filter consisting of three unique antibacterial layers, UV-C LED purification step, and Sterionizer. The UV-C light, combined with the multi-filters, hopes to capture mold spores and kill them. The Aura Air is best for rooms around 600ft2.

Best Smart Technology: Alen BreathSmart 75i

Purifiers with smart technology are a great idea because they offer more convenience and better usage of your time. The Alen BreatheSmart 75i has a smart sensor that displays the quality status and automatically adjusts purifying power when harmful air particles are detected. It also has a visible Air Quality Indicator (AQI) on the purifier or the smartphone app. The smart sensor is great for mold detection and determining the hazard level of your mold problem over time. It is Energy Star certified and comes with customizable faceplates to best fit the look of your room.

The Pure Air Inside Platform allows you to monitor your purifier in one app to determine where your air quality is best or worse throughout your home and whether the filter needs to be replaced. The Alen Air app is highly intuitive and allows for greater control and enhanced analytics. The Alen BreathSmart 75i can also clean up 1300ft2 every 30 minutes when at the highest setting.

Best Overall Air Purifier for Mold: Austin Air HealthMate

The Austin Air HealthMate has been a top-selling air purifier for years and for good reason. With medical-grade HEPA filtration capable of filtering mold spores and other particulates down to 0.1 microns, this filter removes viruses, bacteria, dust, and allergens. On top of that, the carbon filter removes chemicals, gasses, and odors. The filter has 15 lbs of carbon and zeolite, so it is sure to filter everything out of the air. The filters also last five years and are covered under a pro-rated filter warranty. The purifier itself is also backed with a five-year warranty. That said, this purifier does consume more energy than the other alternatives, is a bit louder, and the filters are more expensive. The extra filtration comes with an added cost!

Honorable Mention: Winix C535

The Winix C535 deserves an honorable mention on this list because it boasts tons of features for a very reasonable price. It is AHAM Verified at 360ft2 and has a washable pre-filter, a true HEPA filter, and an activated carbon filter. It uses three-stage filtration to clean and purify your air and has an AQI on the face of the purifier. It also has dual smart sensors and an auto mode to adjust the fan running speed to match the indoor contaminant level. It has a sleep mode that automatically turns on when the room is darkened and turns off with light. It comes with a remote control and a filter replacement indicator on the device. It is Energy Star certified, so you can put your mind at ease when running it 24 hours per day. It also comes with a two-year warranty, and replacement filters are affordable.

The Best Air Purifier for You

If you are suffering from allergy symptoms related to mold exposure, then an air purifier is the right choice for you. Air purifiers come in many shapes and sizes, and it is worth considering the many features and options when choosing an air purifier for mold. These are some of our favorites here at Curated for mold, but because everyone's situation is different, I highly suggest talking to an Air Purification Expert here on Curated to find the best air purifier for you.