How to clean the Levoit air purifiers? It’s a question from you if you own a Levoit air purifier with clogged inlet and outlet ducts and filthy filters that only deliver the annoying sounds and nothing else. The Levoit air purifiers use a multiple-stage filter mechanism to capture airborne larger particles like hair, smoke, dust, allergens, mould spores, pathogens, and viruses. You can also check our guide of cleaning honeywell air purifiers if you own one.
It also effectively sucks in the unpleasant odours, chemical substances, toxic fumes, gases, VOCs and other toxic airborne components. In short, they can suck the particles with a size of 0.3 microns and greater with an efficiency of up to 99% leaving the clean air behind.
Levoit air purifiers are among the best home air purifiers and have earned a good name in the market as they are durable enough to stay with you for many years. To increase the overall lifespan of air purifiers they need proper maintenance and periodic cleaning. A well-maintained air purifier will work efficiently for years.
Understand the Types of Filters
Before jumping into details of the cleaning process, there is a brief summary of the types of filters being used and the whole filtration mechanism in the Levoit air purifiers. It will help you understand the nature and maintenance requirements of different filters
Pre Filters
Preliminary Filters are basically installed to capture the coarse particles and restrict their flow toward HEPA filters. It also extends their life span. Pre-filters are generally washable and can also be vacuumed for cleaning purposes. Pre-filters could be of nylon fibers or nano-fibers.
Granulated Activated Charcoal Filters
These are specific for the absorption of gases, VOCs, fumes odors, and toxic airborne chemicals. In highly polluted spaces they need to be replaced every three months while in less polluted areas they may work for upto 6 months
True HEPA Filters
HEPA filters are the heart of air purification technology. they exclusively filter out the particles of 0.3 microns and greater. The HEPA filters are made of borosilicate glass fiber or plastic fiber, bonded together with an acrylic binder. The annual replacement of these filters is generally recommended.
Clean Levoit Air Purifiers
- When it becomes noisy due to clogging
- When filter indicator lights will give you the alerts
- When the overall efficiency is reduced
Clean The Exterior Part of Levoit Air Purifier
Wipe the outskirts of Levoit air purifier with a damp cloth and instantly dry it with the help of another dry piece of cloth. Never use any liquid to wash the air-purifiers. For the tough stains add a little amount of gentle soap to the damp cloth.
Clean Preliminary Filters
Preliminary or pre-filters are permanent filters and need periodic cleaning for a long-lasting experience. First of all, never forget to unplug the device before cleaning or replacement of filters to avoid electrical hazards.
Then comes the opening or removal of the pre-filter. Carefully read the instruction in the user manual of that specific model. Otherwise, you may damage the panel with an unbalanced force.
Once detached, you can clean the upper layer of dust and coarse material by gently brushing through it with a hand-held brush. For more thorough cleaning using a small vacuum cleaner at a slower pace is also recommended. Never try too hard on filters as it can damage the filter making you replace the one.
The next step is washing for more stuck particle and yellowish layers due to the oxidation process. It is recommended to wash the filters with moderately warm water with a gentle concentration of soap. The usage of bleach, detergents, and washing machines in this process is not encouraged. Make sure that the filter and frame are completely dried when you put it back to the Levoit air purifier.
If your air-purifier features a humidifying pre-filter, it needs to be soaked in warm soapy water for some time. This will help to patch out the accumulated contaminants. One done with this, follow the same gentle washing process as described earlier.
Clean HEPA and Carbon Filters
Well, it’s a sort of debate whether to wash or not HEPA filters. In most cases, the answer is “no”. The reason behind this is that HEPA filters are specialized to capture extremely small-sized particles like bacteria, spore, and viroids. The washing process could disturb the filtration mechanism leaving it as a useless membrane.
Vacuum cleaning is also not encouraged. According to a study in China, vacuum cleaning may or may not increase the efficiency of HEPA filters. It may also result in a decrease in overall efficiency. So most of the HEPA filters demand annual replacement. If your air purifier has a HyperHEPA filter it would work as long as four years.
Carbon filters also need to be replaced every three months or six months if operated in a cleaner environment. For the replacement of filters, you must check out the replacement method provided in the user manual of that specific level air purifier model. It is better to wash and clean the filters every month. If the filters are damaged, replace them. A cheap pre-filter protects your expensive pure HEPA filter.
Clean Inlet And Outlet Air Flow Ducts
Most of the advanced air purifier models by Levoit comes with a 360-degree air intake and the top outflow duct with slight design variations. The airflow ducts can be clogged resulting in compromised ventilation. It affects directly on the efficiency and electrical performance of the air purifier.
A gentle brush or cloth dusting regularly does not allow the situation to get worse. Moreover, you can go for a moderate vacuum cleaning to suck out the dust particles. Usage of moist cloth or direct water is discouraged as the moisture within the ducts may create more problems.
Role of Ion Generator
Those Levoit models that include negative Ion Generators, feature an advanced cleaning method. Ion Generator makes all the particulate matter to settle down at the bottom from where you can collect it easily with a vacuum.
In the end here are some soft recommendations
- Always consult to the user mannual of the specific model you’re dealing with
- Unplug the air purifier before the cleaning process
- The indicator light may not depict the real picture of your filter condition-regular monitoring is recommended
- Never operate with a damaged filer- it will reduce the overall efficiency and life-span of the machine