Are you tired of having “seasonal allergies” every season? Do you keep seeing dust bunnies everywhere even though you clean your house regularly? Well then, chances are you need a good air purifier to up the indoor air quality you breathe. Honeywell offers some of the best air purifiers that require minimal maintenance on your part.
Honeywell Air Purifier
If you do a little research, you will come to find that Honeywell air purifiers are among the best out there. Honeywell air purifiers come in various sizes and models designed for your every need. They are rated so high for two simple reasons: they are highly effective and affordable. The high performance of Honeywell air purifiers is primarily due to the filter they use: charcoal pre-filter, HEPA, HEPA-like, or washable filters. However, to keep your Honeywell’s filters effective and efficient and use the air purifier for years, you need to do a little maintenance, i.e., cleaning, now and then. This is an article on cleaning your Honeywell air purifier properly, so let’s begin!
Can You Clean a True HEPA Filter?
Generally speaking, a True HEPA filter is designed to be replaced, not cleaned. However, sometimes you can get away with cleaning your HEPA filter if you do it correctly. How you clean a True HEPA filter depends on what kind of HEPA filter you own. Typically a True HEPA filter comes in one of these types: washable or permanent.
You clean a washable True HEPA filter using cold water to rinse it. That’s pretty much it. You should be careful not to handle the filter as you might ruin it, and let it dry completely before using it again.
If your HEPA filter is what they call “permanent,” you should clean it with a vacuum cleaner and avoid using water.
How Do You Know if Your Honeywell Air Purifier Needs Cleaning?
Before we tell you how to clean the Honeywell air purifier, you first need to know when to clean it. Honeywell air purifiers have three separate filters:
- A pre-filter (washable) that you should clean monthly;
- An activated carbon filter that lasts three to six months;
- A permanent HEPA filter that typically lasts two to three years
Keep in mind that the frequency with which you clean the filters on your Honeywell air purifier also depends on how much you use the device and the quality of the air they filter. The poorer the air quality, the more you use it, and the more often you need to clean the filters.
How to Clean Honeywell Air Purifiers?
Though a relatively simple and easy job for you to do, we have prepared a step-by-step guide on cleaning the Honeywell purifier properly and avoiding damaging it. Keep reading to find out.
Turn the air purifier off
First things first — always unplug your electronic devices before handling them for any kind of maintenance or cleaning. Because they run on electricity, you run the risk of electrocuting yourself or sustaining another type of injury if the device is plugged in when you open it up.
Clean your Honeywell purifier from the outer side
Secondly, you clean the exterior of the Honeywell air purifier before you move on to the interior. You do this by using a vacuum cleaner all over the outer side of the appliance. Vacuum the dust carefully around the vents where the air comes to prevent it from being blown into the air from the air purifier. If you feel the vacuum cleaner isn’t enough, you can always use a damp cloth and wipe the outside of the air purifier.
Remove the filter
After you have cleaned the exterior of the Honeywell air purifier, remove the lid to get to the filters inside. If your air purifier has a pre-filter, you take it out of the cover and shake the dust and dirt off.
Remove dust from the interior and the filter using a vacuum cleaner
Now it’s time for you to clean the inside of your Honeywell air purifier and the filters. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean the appliance’s dust and filters.
Rinse
If you have used the pre-filter for more than its intended time of use, you need to replace it. However, if you can still use it, you should clean it by using warm water from the tap. Submerge the filter in water to help release the dirt before washing it.
Wash
Avoid using harsh detergents and chemicals to clean the filter. If you need to scrub the filter, you can use a simple sponge or a microfiber rag. After the filter has soaked up some water, you can then go ahead and use dish soap or a cleaning agent that the manufacturer recommends for washing your filter.
Dry
Lastly, leave the filter to dry completely before you reinstall it into the Honeywell air purifier.
Put it back in place
Once the filter has dried up entirely and you are finished cleaning the interior of the Honeywell air purifier, it is time to reassemble everything. Put the filters back in their grill cases and close the lid of the air purifier.
Caution:
As you will see, once you open up the Honeywell air purifier and handle the filters, they are made out of delicate materials. This is why you need to be careful when cleaning them, as you might risk damaging them permanently. Avoid using harsh chemicals and abrasive cleaning supplies to clean your filters.
Air Purifier Filter Replacement
As we have mentioned before, sometimes you can’t get away with just cleaning the filters of your Honeywell air purifier as they do have an intended time of use. Read the manufacturer’s recommendations on how often you should replace the filters. Replacing the filters is a simple process as well:
- Open up the air purifier
- Take the old filters out of the grills and dispose of them
- Place the replacement filters
- Close the unit up
The Bottom Line
Using a Honeywell air purifier is a great way to clean the air in your home as they are highly efficient due to their high-quality filters. However, air purifier filters do need maintenance, i.e., cleaning or replacing them every once in a while. As you may have deduced from the article, both cleaning and replacing the filters are easy tasks that only take minutes (minus leaving the filter out to dry).
