Many delivery drivers use the same car for delivery as they do for personal driving – not many of us have one “delivery only” vehicle!
One common question I’m always asked by friends or family is: how do you keep food smells out of your car? It’s a great question, because even some of the mildest food can be smelly!
In the past, my answer was always “thorough cleaning, an air freshener, and windows down as often as possible” but now I have an even better solution: The AiroDoctor Mini, a small portable air purifier that can eliminate smells in minutes.
What is the AiroDoctor Mini?
The AiroDoctor Mini is a small but powerful air purifier that ensures “clear and healthy air”. According to AiroDoctor, the AiroDoctor mini is capable of removing bacteria, allergens and dust, and odors from the air.
Check out AiroDoctor’s video below to see what it looks like and learn more:
I received this product for free to try out for The Rideshare Guy, but you can learn more about the AiroDoctor Mini here.
Why Use the AiroDoctor Mini?
There are several reasons why I was excited to try out the AiroDoctor Mini, and after trying it out for several weeks, I think many delivery drivers will agree with me that this is an excellent product to add to your delivery driving accessories.
COVID Concerns
I live in Florida, and COVID is still a concern here. One way I choose to protect myself and my family is reducing chances to breathe infected air from passengers. For that reason, I still am not rideshare driving – but I am delivery driving.
While delivery passengers don’t get in and out of my car, I’m in and out of the car all day with delivery orders, drive thrus, etc. Having the AiroDoctor Mini helps me feel safer due to the HEPA filter and air purifier.
For rideshare drivers, this is even better, as you will have passengers in your vehicle. While passengers and drivers should be wearing masks per Uber and Lyft’s rules, we all know that some passengers like to bend the rules.
Having the AiroDoctor Mini in the car with you is another line of defense, whether it’s trying to avoid general winter sickness or anything else.
Bad Smell Concerns
One of the biggest concerns delivery drivers have about driving? Smells in their car! There’s nothing worse than having mixed smells of various food deliveries in your car for days – and having your windows open to “get out the smell” isn’t always effective or practical.
With the AiroDoctor Mini, I worry much less about diligently cleaning out my car and driving with the windows down because the Mini does such a great job of removing smells while I’m driving, the minute I get in my car.
What I Love About the AiroDoctor Mini
Fast and Quiet
This little machine works fast.
It’s a bit heavier than it looks, but not unreasonably so, and when this thing is on, it starts working fast. The blue light, or green light if it needs to really clean the air, comes on right away, and you start noticing a difference pretty quickly.
Before you even turn it on, you’ll notice it seems perfectly designed to sit in a cup holder. Its bottom can come off and has a perfect circle to fit, about the size of a can of soda. This means you don’t need any special equipment or anything to have it in the car.
It’s also quiet, seriously most of the time I forgot the thing was even on, it was so quiet. I even had it running on my desk while I worked for a few hours to make it wasn’t just the engine or music drowning it out, but it is very very quiet. My wife asked me several times “are you sure it’s on” quiet.
The auto feature is amazing. I tried the Low, Mid, and Turbo each to see how they are, and with the Turbo it finally gets a bit louder but still very quiet. After using it and trying all the options, I really don’t see a need to do anything other than “auto” with it, and just let it do its thing.
No More Odors
One of the best things the AiroDoctor Mini does? Handle odors! Honestly, when I got it, saw how small it was, listened to how quiet it was, I did not think this thing would handle smells like pizza, Indian food, garlic knots, Vietnamese, etc.
I love all of those foods, but having them in the car one right after another leaves some crazy combinations of smells that are hard to get rid of.
But this little AiroDoctor Mini really did get rid of smells and did it fast. Within a minute, it’s somehow able to get rid of any smell. For some of the stronger smelling foods, you do have to turn it on Turbo for a minute if you want it to be gone right away, but we found that if you leave it on “auto” the smell will be gone in a few minutes anyway, and you didn’t have to spend the time messing with it.
What I didn’t love
As much as I love the AiroDoctor Mini, there are a few things that I would change if I could.
First, it doesn’t really have many directions that come with it, and those that did come were in German. Which, you would think since it only has one button, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.
When we reached out to the company, they did tell us the English version of the instructions are emailed out and all English instructions will be included with new models going forward.
Although it only has one button, it also has one TINY switch on the bottom, and if you don’t find it, you can’t turn this thing on. Clearer instructions would help with this!
The larger issue with the AiroDoctor Mini though is its short battery life. If you are driving part-time, a few hours a night after work, you probably wouldn’t notice, but if this is a full-time gig for you, or you do long weekends, it could become a problem quickly.
For me, leaving it on auto and letting it sit meant it would last 3 to 5 hours. Obviously the more it works, the faster the battery dies. Keeping it on Turbo for a whole shift killed it in about 2 hours.
To get around this, I do two things. First, I bring the charger with me. Second, I keep it on auto so that it lasts longer. I have to deal with a smell a few minutes longer, but it makes it so the next time I get in the car, it smells fresh and clean.
Right now, the Airodoctor is only available for purchase by businesses, but you can check it out here and if you’re interested in purchasing, use code TRSG.
-Tyler @ RSG
