Last Updated: February 26, 2024
Evaporative humidifier is one of the most commonly used humidifier types, and this is because of its simple design and effective action. Maintaining your humidifier is the most effective way of ensuring a long life for your humidifier. Regular cleaning is one of the most crucial parts of humidifier maintenance.
An evaporative humidifier consists of three components. One of these components is the water tank, which holds the water for evaporation. Then there’s the wick, which absorbs the water from the water tank and provides a larger surface for it to evaporate. Finally, the water on the wicking material leaves the humidifier as steam with the help of the fan’s rotating motion and humidifies the room.
For thorough cleaning, it is important to clean every part individually and thoroughly. Cleaning an evaporative humidifier is going to make sure your device performs at its best at all times.
In this article, we’ll go through the steps involved in the thorough cleanup of your evaporative humidifier. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
Steps to Clean your Evaporative humidifier
Here are the steps you need to follow-
1. Unplug the Device
Before you do anything, make sure to turn the humidifier off and unplug it from the power source. Cleaning the humidifier while its plugged in is not only troublesome, but it is dangerous as well. So, be safe and unplug the humidifier before you begin.
2. Quick Dusting
After unplugging the machine, you should begin with a quick dusting of the exterior. If there’s anything sticky stuck to the surface, you can use a mildly wet cloth and try to clean it. Don’t pour water directly to the machine as it might damage the device. Instead, you can do light dusting, or scrubbing, with a dry, or mildly wet cloth.
Even after you give it a thorough cleaning, sometimes some dust particles can stay unclean. To get every particle off of your humidifier, you can also use a vacuum.
3. Filter Cleanup
Next, you can begin cleaning the individual components of the humidifier. Firstly you can start by cleaning the filter.
After disassembling the device, take out the filter, and follow these steps.
- Check to see if you need to replace the filter. Different models use different types of filters, and the manufacturers specify the ideal duration till which it is fit for use. If yours is old and beyond cleaning, you should replace it and get a new one.
- Don’t use any cleaning solution to clean the filter. The filter is sensitive to the chemicals in cleaning solutions and can be damaged and rendered unusable if exposed to those chemicals.
- After you’ve taken out the filter, and ensured that it needs cleaning, put it under tap water, and clean it properly. Afterward, you can put it on a dry towel for drying.
4. Cleaning the Water Reservoir
Next, you can clean the water tank. Here’s what you need to do. Firstly, empty the water that’s in there. Then, you can try any one of these methods.
- Take some vinegar (about three to four cups) and pour it in the water tank. Vinegar helps loosen up any buildup in the tank. After pouring the vinegar, move it around, and make sure that you get the sides properly. Then let the vinegar stay in the tank for about an hour. After an hour, you can empty the tank and rinse it with cold water. If the buildup doesn’t come up properly with the vinegar, you can use a brush to scrape it off. Using any harsh chemical is not ideal, as it might damage the tank, and in case it stays in the tank, it can come out mixed with the mist, and harm anyone breathing in that mist.
- You can also use a mix of bleach and water, with the ratio of one gallon of water to one spoon of bleach. After mixing the solution, let it stay in the tank for about an hour. Try not to exceed one hour, as the solution can damage the water tank. After emptying the solution, rinse the water tank properly with cold water. Then, let it dry properly before putting it back.
- You can also use peroxide instead of vinegar and peroxide. Just make sure that you don’t mix peroxide with the vinegar, or with bleach. These need to be used either alone, or with water. When mixed, these can produce harmful byproducts that can damage the tank. Pour a few cups (around three or four) of peroxide in the tank. Move the peroxide around to reach the sides of the reservoir properly. Let the peroxide stand in the water tank for about an hour. After the hour has passed, pour out the peroxide and rinse the water tank properly with cold water from your tap.
You can clean your water tank properly using any one of these methods.
5. Cleaning the Fan
The fan is a crucial part of any evaporative humidifier, and over time, it can accumulate a lot of dust and lint. To clean the fan, here’s what you need to do.
- Take a damp paper towel and clean the fan fins properly. Make sure to get all the lint and dust off of the fan. Removing all this from the fins will help in improving the overall performance of your humidifier.
- Finally, you need to give the entire body of your humidifier a proper cleanup. Check to see if some part has been left unclean.
Bonus Maintenance Tips
Here are a few additional maintenance tips that you should keep in mind for the improved durability of your humidifier and its performance.
- Place the humidifier properly and away from the reach of kids.
- Do regular cleaning of the humidifier, once every week.
- Change filters when they’ve reached their use limit.
- When you’re not using the humidifier, clean it properly and store it in a dry place.
- Before using the humidifier again, clean it before resuming operation.
- Using distilled water can help with white ash residues that accumulate with hard water.
Conclusion
Regular cleaning is the best way to ensure the durability of your humidifier and the quality of the moisture output. Humidifiers can be host to mold, and bacterial growth, if left uncleaned for an extended period. You can get very sick with the moisture released by a machine that has fungus and bacteria growing inside.
That’s why cleaning your humidifier is necessary. With a clean humidifier, the air in your home is safe and fit for breathing for you and your family.
While cleaning, make sure to follow all the right ingredients. Do not use any hard chemicals. Rinse the components properly with cold water, and dry them off before resuming operation.