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ReviewCatLitter

2026 dust report

We weighed the dust off 16 cat litters

Each bag was poured into an empty box the same way, and the dust that came off the pour was weighed in milligrams. Readings run from Oct 20, 2025 to Mar 7, 2026. The whole file is free to download and free to quote.

16

litters weighed for dust

0.00 mg

lightest pour, Ökocat Paper Pellet

0.58 mg

heaviest pour, Frisco by Chewy

19x

gap between the heaviest and the lightest reading above zero

What the scale showed

  • The gap is huge. Frisco by Chewy threw 19x the dust of Dr. Elsey's Ultra on the same test. Both are ordinary house litters, not lab samples.
  • “Clumping clay” tells you almost nothing. It is the biggest group here, and it holds both Dr. Elsey's Ultra at 0.03 mg and Frisco by Chewy at 0.58 mg. Read the row, not the material.
  • One litter weighed nothing. Ökocat Paper Pellet threw no dust the scale could pick up. That is a measured zero, not a missing reading.
  • The shelf splits in two. The middle reading of the 16 is 0.14 mg. The widest step in the whole ranking is the 0.27 mg between Catalyst Soft Wood and Fresh Step Scented. That step puts 10 litters on the light side and 6 on the heavy side, with almost nothing in between.

The ranking, lightest first

Milligrams of airborne dust per pour. Every name links to the full review with the rest of that litter's readings.

  1. 1.Ökocat Paper PelletPellets
    0.00 mg
  2. 2.Dr. Elsey's UltraClumping clay
    0.03 mg
  3. 3.Dr. Elsey's Cat AttractClumping clay
    0.04 mg
  4. 4.Boxiecat PremiumClumping clay
    0.04 mg
  5. 5.Tuft + PawLoose plant litter
    0.05 mg
  6. 6.Feline PinePellets
    0.08 mg
  7. 7.Sustainably YoursLoose plant litter
    0.11 mg
  8. 8.Naturally Fresh WalnutLoose plant litter
    0.13 mg
  9. 9.World's Best Cat LitterLoose plant litter
    0.15 mg
  10. 10.Catalyst Soft WoodLoose plant litter
    0.15 mg
  11. 11.Fresh Step ScentedClumping clay
    0.42 mg
  12. 12.Arm & Hammer Clump & SealClumping clay
    0.45 mg
  13. 13.Arm & Hammer HardBallClumping clay
    0.48 mg
  14. 14.Purina Tidy CatsClumping clay
    0.50 mg
  15. 15.Arm & Hammer Super ScoopClumping clay
    0.52 mg
  16. 16.Frisco by ChewyClumping clay
    0.58 mg

Bars are drawn against the heaviest reading in the report, 0.58 mg. Lower is better.

Averages by material

Same readings, grouped by what the litter is made of. The spread inside each group matters more than the average, so both are printed.

Pellets

0.04 mg

Average of 2 weighed litters, spread 0.00 mg to 0.08 mg. Pressed pine or paper pellets, too heavy to lift on a pour.

Loose plant litter

0.12 mg

Average of 5 weighed litters, spread 0.05 mg to 0.15 mg. Corn, walnut, wood and soy ground into a loose litter.

Clumping clay

0.34 mg

Average of 9 weighed litters, spread 0.03 mg to 0.58 mg. Bentonite clay, scooped daily and topped up.

Every row, with its test date

When each run ended, how long it ran, and how many cats were living with the litter at the time. Cat counts are per run, so the same cat can appear in more than one row.

Every weighed litter ranked by milligrams of dust per pour, with test dates and sample sizes
RankLitterMaterialDust per pourTested throughRun lengthSample
1Ökocat Paper PelletÖkocatPellets0.00 mgNov 6, 202560 days3 cats, 2 homes
2Dr. Elsey's UltraDr. Elsey'sClumping clay0.03 mgMar 7, 202690 days6 cats, 3 homes
3Dr. Elsey's Cat AttractDr. Elsey'sClumping clay0.04 mgMar 5, 202690 days10 cats, 4 homes
4Boxiecat PremiumBoxiecatClumping clay0.04 mgMar 1, 202690 days6 cats, 3 homes
5Tuft + PawTuft + PawLoose plant litter0.05 mgNov 10, 202560 days2 cats, 1 home
6Feline PineFeline PinePellets0.08 mgOct 20, 202560 days3 cats, 2 homes
7Sustainably YoursSustainably YoursLoose plant litter0.11 mgMar 6, 202660 days4 cats, 2 homes
8Naturally Fresh WalnutNaturally FreshLoose plant litter0.13 mgNov 18, 202560 days4 cats, 2 homes
9World's Best Cat LitterWorld's BestLoose plant litter0.15 mgMar 6, 202660 days4 cats, 2 homes
10Catalyst Soft WoodCatalystLoose plant litter0.15 mgNov 20, 202560 days6 cats, 3 homes
11Fresh Step ScentedFresh StepClumping clay0.42 mgMar 3, 202660 days3 cats, 2 homes
12Arm & Hammer Clump & SealArm & HammerClumping clay0.45 mgMar 7, 202660 days3 cats, 2 homes
13Arm & Hammer HardBallArm & HammerClumping clay0.48 mgNov 28, 202560 days3 cats, 2 homes
14Purina Tidy CatsPurinaClumping clay0.50 mgFeb 28, 202660 days4 cats, 2 homes
15Arm & Hammer Super ScoopArm & HammerClumping clay0.52 mgNov 24, 202560 days4 cats, 2 homes
16Frisco by ChewyFriscoClumping clay0.58 mgOct 28, 202560 days4 cats, 2 homes

Take the numbers

The full file, built straight from the same readings on this page. An empty dust cell means we never weighed that litter. A zero means we weighed it and the scale showed nothing.

Spreadsheet file Structured data file

Licence: quote it, chart it, sell it

This report and its numbers are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You may republish the figures, redraw the charts and build on them, in a commercial piece as well as a free one. One condition: credit ReviewCatLitter.com and link back to this page.

Suggested credit: ReviewCatLitter Editorial Team, “16 Cat Litters Weighed for Dust: 2026 Report”, ReviewCatLitter.com, https://reviewcatlitter.com/cat-litter-dust-report-2026

How the weighing was done

One bag per litter. Each bag was poured into an empty box the same way, and the airborne dust that came off the pour was weighed and written down in milligrams. The figure is the pour itself, not a day of scooping, because the pour is the moment a person has their face over the box.

What we will not do

No reading is estimated from a similar bag, and no gap is filled with a manufacturer's figure. A litter we have not weighed is listed as not measured and stays out of every average on this page.

What is still missing

We did not write down the make and model of the scale, or the shop each bag came from, at the time the runs happened. So we cannot publish either. That is a real hole in this edition and it is on the list to fix before the next one. Treat the readings as comparable with each other rather than with another lab's.

Who did the testing

The runs and the readings are the work of the ReviewCatLitter Editorial Team, which is the name every review on this site is published under. We do not publish individual tester names yet, so this report credits the team rather than inventing a byline. The editorial standards page sets out who signs the reviews, how affiliate links are handled, and when a page gets revised. No brand paid for a place in this report or for a better reading in it.

What is not in here

No weighing yet: PrettyLitter. It is reviewed and scored on the site, but no dust reading exists, so it is not ranked and not averaged.

Not a litter: Purrify Activated Carbon Additive. This is mixed into a litter rather than poured as one, so ranking it against litters would be meaningless.

One bag each. Every figure is one bag poured once. It is a real reading, not an average of repeat pours, and a second bag could land a little either side.

Keep reading

Every other number we recordedClump survival, ammonia, tracking and daily cost, same rules about gaps.Best low dust cat litterThe buying page built on these readings, with picks by budget and box type.Cat litter and asthmaWhat a dust reading does and does not tell you if someone in the house wheezes.How we testThe five things every litter is scored on, and how a score is built.
Read the reviews behind these readings