How to Clean & Disinfect a Humidifier {And Get it Ready for Storage}
Hello? Anybody still there? I know, it’s been a while since I posted, but I’m back to tell you I’ve finally put my humidifier away until next winter and replaced it with a fan. Humidifiers are great for sore throats and coughs as well as helping to prevent them, however, you’ll need to clean your humidifier every season to make sure it doesn’t make you sick. I generally clean the humidifier at the end of the season so it’s ready to go next for the next season.
Here are my easy tips to clean and disinfect a humidifier.
- First empty out any remaining water in the tank. Let it dry completely before reattaching lid.
- Remove the filter and water try. Wipe down the inside of your humidifier with vinegar and a terry cloth. The vinegar will help get rid of anything that might be living in there.
- See the nastiness in the filter? That is why you want to throw it away and get a new filter every season. You can see the water tray has some mildew build up in it. Fill it with straight vinegar or a bleach solution to disinfect.
- Let the water tray soak for at least five minutes then dump and wipe it down. The vinegar will disinfect as well as remove any hard water build up, which is why I used white vinegar.
- Once all of the parts are dry, put the humidifier back together.
I bought this humidifier brand new before Thanksgiving and I was amazed disgusted at all of the build up in the filter and the water tray. I have the confidence now that my humidifier is ready for next time I need it.
Happy Cleaning!
We use our humidifiers year round although we are slowly replacing all of them with diffusers. I like to clean mine like this at least once a month. Mine doesn’t have a replaceable filter. With all the allergies and asthma issues we have ideally I would like to do it weekly, but with four children and three dogs some times it just doesn’t happen weekly.
Great guide to cleaning your humidifier. It really helped with my allergies at home, so I’ve been wanting to make sure it’s clean and ready to go!
Thanks! I’m really glad this helped with your allergies.
I am interested in purchasing a humidifier but I am concerned that it would create mould. Are my fears founded?
I am so happy to find your post about cleaning home humidifier. Otherwise I had no idea how to deal with it. This cleaning way sounds very efficient. Thanks for sharing
thanks for sharing these ideas to me this article is help me a lot.
This was very interesting, but I was hoping you could help me with something. I was wondering, Is there a good way to get burns out of vinyl countertops? I’m really sick of usins toxin chemicals for cleaning. Their terrible for my skin. Eagerly awaiting your reply.