
Humidifiers are used to help ease chest and nasal congestion due to the common cold or to allergies.
But, be careful, if you don't maintain them properly, they can lead to health complications.
A humidifier is an ideal home for mold because it's also adding moisture into the air in your house.
Water in a closed dish with heat from the motor and a fabric or foam filter makes an ambiance that mold will progress.
There are fewest ways to inhibit mold from growing in your humidifier and expanding through your home when it becomes airborne.
Many of these moves are just basic humidifier maintenance.
HOW TO MAINTAIN HUMIDIFIER PROPERLY?

Cleaning a humidifier is not necessarily hackwork.
Collocate it into daily and weekly tasks, and this should make the job even less daunting.
Every day you should empty, dry and refill with clean water your humidifier so that bacteria don't have an opportunity to collect and grow.
While in use, clean the whole unit on a weekly basis.
Be sure to not clean the device in the presence of someone with a lung issue or a mold allergy.
Clean the tank with hot soapy water and wash away.
Adding a cup of white vinegar to the tank when you fill your humidifier, will help prevent mold from growing.
Vinegar is a natural antibacterial antimicrobial and will not harm the various parts of the humidifier while it kills mold spores.
Also, you can buy humidifier tablets to drop in, and it's the same effect for a higher price.
Some other supplements include tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, and even a chlorine bleach may help.
However, on the downside, using bleach too often can harm humidifier hoses.
Maintaining will keep contaminants from forming in the tank and getting released into the air. But the water themselves also possess substances that make cleaning necessary.
Water contains a lot of minerals, and it may carry the risk of leaving layer in the tank. So, to keep the number of minerals that enter the tank to a minimum use a distilled water.
In other cases, if you're using hard water, you should be careful when cleaning your humidifier.
TIPS FOR PREVENTING MOLD GROWTH

Change the water in your humidifier daily:
Backwater is a convenient environment for bacteria and mold spores. Empty and wipe down your appliance’s water tank every day and refill it with fresh and clean water.
Clean your humidifier thoroughly once every few days:
Use a gentle cleanser end a soft-bristled brush when cleaning out the inside of your device's water tank. Wipe down the outside with a wet, clean cloth. Wait for all components to dry entirely and then fill with fresh water and turn on.
Use distilled water to fill your humidifier:
Distilled water has less mineral content than ordinary faucet water. When you use distilled water, it makes your humidifier rarely to drive out white mineral dust into your indoor air – and also, less likely for that dust to invade your lungs.
Things To Note
You can take a look at this post where I talked about creating your own DIY distilled water!
Use a natural cleaning solution:
This is, in particular, beneficial to asthma and allergy sufferers. Rough chemical cleaners can usually leave rests and smell that may irritate symptoms. And what is a better solution? Use natural white vinegar to disinfect any surfaces and remove mineral buildup.
WHY MAINTAIN YOUR HUMIDIFIER?
All humidifiers carry a risk of a mold and bacteria growth. This may be the result of using tap water or lack of cleaning.
Not cleaning the humidifier’s components and changing the water frequently will encourage mold growth. As mold and bacteria thrive inside the humidifier, they can be integrated into the air you breathe in.
Tap water is mineral rich, and when is used to fill a humidifier it can cause a film that materializes as white dust. The dust mixes with the moisturizing mist and originates a part of your indoor air.
SYMPTOMS OF IMPURE AIR
If you have asthma or allergies, breathing in these impurities frequently can worsen your symptoms or even, trigger a full-on attack.
Not well-known sickness named humidifier lung can cause a more dangerous side effect.
Formally known as “hypersensitivity pneumonitis,” and also known as “humidifier fever,” is a lung condition that evolves when you breathe in strains contaminated with certain strains of bacteria.
Temporal symptoms of humidifier lung cover:
When the cause is corrected, symptoms will usually go down.
Still, if you continue to inhale contaminated air daily, you may develop chronic symptoms such as respiratory infection, lung scarring, weight loss.
HOW TO DESTROY HUMIDIFIER MOLD?
Killing humidifier mold spores minimize the risk of some health problems like respiratory allergies or inflammation of the lungs.
So, there are some things you will need for destroying mold in humidifier:
equipment
Follow this easy steps and be sure that your humidifier will be mold free.
- 1Turn off your humidifier and empty out the tank. Take the appliance outside in a well-ventilated area where you can work.Put on your rubber gloves to protect your hands.
- 2Put a sponge, scrubber or cleaning brush dipped into a 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide and scrub all hard plastic surfaces with it. Then wipe off the treated regions with a damp and clean cloth.
- 3Mix a solution containing same parts water and chlorine bleach. Fill the solution into the tank and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Soak a clean cloth into the solution and wipe down the inside and outside of the tank.
- 4Turn on the device into an outside outlet. Let your humidifier run for about 30 minutes.
- 5Spill out the bleach solution and thoroughly rinse the tank under running water. Pour the tank with clean water and let it run three minutes to flush out any bleach rest.
- 6Allow the device to thoroughly air-dry in the sunshine or wipe all surfaces dry with a soft, clean cloth. Then fill the reservoir to the appropriate level with distilled or filtered water.
- 7To prevent mold from reoccurring keep your humidifier clean. Turn off the humidifier and soak the reservoir in a 10 percent bleach solution for about 20 minutes. Wash away thoroughly and wipe dry with a clean cloth. Do this every third day of use.
Clean ordinarily and thoroughly dry your portable humidifier before storage.
Be sure you store the device in a dry location to inhibit the growth of mold.
Be cautious not to get any water into the device's motor during the cleaning process.
You can also take a look at this video where it shows you how to clean the humidifier thoroughly to prevent any mold!
TYPICAL MISTAKES WHEN USING HUMIDIFIER
If you are using a humidifier to help improve health problems caused by dry air, like as dry skin or eczema, scratchy nasal passages or throat, look out for mistakes you might be making in the use and care of your device.
The device can exacerbate or cause new symptoms for allergy sufferers, so you should follow the manufacturer’s instructions for maintaining and using your humidifier.
Here are some minor mistakes you should be aware of and try to avoid when using your humidifier.
Ignoring humidity levels in your home
Humidity is the level of aerated water in your indoor air.
Humidity in your indoor air can help your allergy symptoms or aggravate them if humidity gets too high.
You should keep humidity below 60 percent in the summer and, around 30 percent relative humidity in the winter.
Many types of humidifiers come with a built-in humidistat for measuring relative humidity. But if yours come without one, you can also buy a hygrometer to measure and check relative humidity in your home.
Check your moisture often and keep your humidity relatively stable if you’re using a humidifier to help specific allergy symptoms.
Not cleaning the humidifier regularly
You must follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to maintain and clean the device most effectively since you are breathing the air affected by your humidifier.
The device can grow and breed mildew, mold, and bacteria and then spew those allergens into your air if you do not clean filters and tanks properly.
Dirty mist may worsen any allergy symptoms, so be sure to clean your appliance according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Letting humidity levels rise too high
Watch out if humidity rises above acceptable levels because excessive levels of humidity can, in fact, make allergy symptoms a lot worse.
Higher relative indoor humidity levels cause allergies to dust mites, molds, and mildew.
Check the humidity level and reduce it right away if the room feels particularly dense and moist.
Some of the signs that the humidity is too high in the room are when your pillows and curtains are slightly wet, or condensation is building up on windows or window sills.
Dust mites expire at humidity levels between 40 and 50 percent. So, if you have an allergy problem with dust mite, mold or mildew, check your humidity levels often and don’t let the humidity rise above that 40 percent.
Using tap water in your humidifier
Many humidifiers work by breaking up water motes and splitting up and disbursing mineral particles.
If you fill the unit with unfiltered tap water it would result in a “white dust” mineral residue in the tank and around the room. These mineral deposits can create bacterial growth in the humidifier, and you will inhale these nasty bacteria since they will be dispensed into the air together with the mist.
Letting the water sit in your humidifier
Never let water sit in the device for days between uses. A film and stagnant surface can form on the top of the water, which can breed bacteria in the enclosed tank.
Always empty water and clean the tank properly when not using or even when skipping use for one day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Now that you’re introduced with maintaining and the most common mistakes when using a humidifier, be sure that you’re using your humidifier for there's purpose, keeping optimal humidity.
Dry air isn’t good for your health and skin, but neither is an environment with too much moisture.
High humidity comes with results like mold growth and worse dust mites, so maintain optimal humidity level.
We also talk about why you should maintain your humidifier properly and also mention some symptoms of impure air like fever, cold, body aches, etc.
Above in the text is a detailed description of how to destroy mold in your humidifier.
Now that you know how easy is to properly maintain your humidifier you don't have excuses to don't do it.
So, do you ever had a problem with mold in your humidifier?
How you fixed it?
Share with us your experience in purpose to find the best solution
Things To Note
You can take a look at this article where I show you how to clean the humidifier step by step!
I am interested in buying a humidifier, would you be suggesting me as to how to buy it in Indian rupees, it’s models and their prices !
Hi JCM Gaekwad, thanks for the comment 🙂 Now, as for how to buy it in Indian Rupees, I really wouldn’t know because I am in US and really not familiar your currency. As for which model and the price, I suggest reading this post https://www.humidifiergeek.com/how-humidifiers-work/ so that you get more familiar with humidifiers and determine which type works best for you and then choose a specific model. I hope this helps and feel free to ask me again if you need help.