Winix - WAC9500 Ultimate Pet

I second the Winix brand. I've had the 9500 for SEVEN YEARS and it's never let me down, still going strong.

The PlasmaWave I looked at used an ionizer which is a huge no for me.

PlasmaWave is just a glorified ionizer. I personally cannot stand the scent of ionizers, it gives me headaches.

I’ve been using my Winix with Plasmawave since 2019 without issue, and that includes moving about once per year. These units have held up to that. I can tell you they really work. I have a mold allergy, and mold is literally everywhere in outdoor or indoor air with spores just waiting to land in a suitable environment for growth, but I have no symptoms at home with my two small Winix. I also have pets. These reduce any odors from that, and they are at what one might consider end of life for a typical air filter system. 5 years is typical. 10 is incredible. I am not washing the pre-filter nearly as often as I should and am slow to replace the carbon and HEPA filters sometimes, so 5+ is just astounding in my case.

Winix Plasma Wave is an affordable effective unit. I used three when I lived in a polluted area. I now use it sporadically to clean up the plastic dust and other crap that accumulates in a home

You want a HEPA filter and actual activated carbon granules-sometimes the activated carbon is just a paper thin layer-not doing much. For cost, consider replacement filter costs not just up front ones. I also like ones that have a sensor so you can leave it on “auto” and it will kick on when you cook or air gets worse without you having to keep track of it. Also don’t splurge on plasma ion or ozone or whatever else-mixed studies show it can react with chemicals to form more dangerous ones at worst and generally not much better at best. Right now you may want to sacrifice optimality for actually having something going to clean your air since it’s a time of high uncertainty. What’s in stock at home depot may be superior to the “best” air purifier that arrives in 2 weeks. Those caveats-no one can give better advice based on “feel” than what’s tests show-and wirecutter actually tested performance https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-air-purifier/ . If you prefer anecdotes, here are some of my experiences: Winnix has been in stock at home depot. I evacuated with my air purifier and I needed something to leave during cleaning to try and detox my pasadena apartment. It was in stock and had hepa+carbon-it seems to be working. Oransi is the one I evacuated with, love the looks, it really seems to work well, lots of aftermarket filters available-downside is that sleep mode sets fan speed to auto, I want it to just turn lights off and leave the fan mode. But It has lasted at least 6+ years. Levoit is what was at the apartment I evacuated to. It seems a little less powerful per dollar spent than my oransi, but it’s night mode turns off the lights while still letting you set the fan speed. My roommate left a Coway going in his room and that thing worked very well to prevent any smoke smell from settling, and it’s highly recommended by wirecutter. If I had to buy right now and I could get one in a reasonable timeline, it’s how I would go.

Any filter with a charcoal filter layer will help some (Winix is one brand commonly available at Costco…I also have a more elaborate Rowenta)…my Winix came with multiple charcoal layer replacements. Dealing with total incontinence here, and not to criticize your MILs efforts, but you might want to look into the actual sources of the odors. Chairs, clothes that sit around waiting for wash, previously soaked furniture or carpet? If bedding or fabric furniture smells and you can replace it, do so. I use a combo of Depends on my father, and all his sleeping or seating surfaces have a first layer of puppy pee pads (Costco has large ones that work well and are cheap), and then a fabric layer on top (whether sheets or a chair cover or towel, tucked into the sides of the chair). Once he’s wet, after I changes his pants all clothes and chair covers and bedding goes in the wash (3-5 loads a day).  For the mattress you can find on Amazon washable mattress covers (the whole bed ones don’t work that well but that’s my base layer and then a thicker more absorbent one that I fit across the middle section of his bed, and on top of that layered dog pee pads).  So again, not sure if any of this advice helps but this method works for me.

Both of my Winix air purifiers started smelling like smoke, they are different models, cleaned weekly and filters changed regularly, I don’t recommend them.

you can't beat the physics. what you want is the big size as prioirty thing to look for first. then you can look into other things but the size of purifier(filter) has biggest impact. winix is solid imo for basiaclly 99% of the use case.

Winix seems to be the play here. I have two and they seem to work and are common enough for filters to be inexpensive. The prefilter is easy to clean. I did recently have a DOA unit but the replacement was easy through Amazon.

Definitely recommend Winix. Australian and comes out top of various tests. (If you haven’t been warned- don’t buy Dyson) Super sensitive to more than just particulates and has a ‘pet filter’ that is changed monthly that goes around the main filter and prevents it getting clogged with dust. Helps to prolong its life if you have pets