Cleaning a Cool Steam Humidifier

If you are anything like me, you fill up these cute little guys and notice some gunk in the base, but think, "I'll clean that tomorrow." or "It's almost the end of the season...I'll do it before I put it up."

 

I have cleaned mine a couple of times now this year. It really isn't that bad! The key is knowing what you need, and getting it all out and ready before you start.

 

Items Needed:

White Vinegar
Q-Tips
Old Toothbrush
Paper Towel
Magic Eraser (optional)
Empty Kitchen Sink (yes, this is a rarity in our house)


 First step will be to empty any remaining water out of the reservoir and base into your sink. Once it is empty, pour a good amount of vinegar into the tank and slosh it around for a couple of minutes. This breaks down any slimies that are growing inside the tank. Dump the vinegar out and rinse it once or twice with some warm water.

 

 

Now take a small bowl and pour about a half of a cup into it. You will dip your toothbrush into this for cleaning all of the nooks and crannies. Speaking of nooks and crannies...look at this gross stuff that had found it's way into the cap grooves!

 Look all over the inside and out of your humidifier and scrub anything that looks whitish (like calcium deposits), slimy or mildew.

 

 

 

Pretty sad that this things says RIGHT ON IT....disinfect weekly. I suppose that depends on how much you use them. But, I'm willing to bet that if I had been doing this weekly, that I wouldn't have any slime in there anyways! Hmmm...

Now after you get all that you can with the toothbrush, use the q-tip to get into the super small places.

 

Take the remaining vinegar that you haven't used out of the bowl and dump it into the base. Slosh it around a couple of times and then rinse with warm water. I dried mine out to show you how clean it got....SPARLKING!

If you have resistant white spots, use a magic eraser. That should help clean them right up!

 

There you have it! A clean little froggie, or penguin or elephant...or that cow (he is amazingly cute isn't he?!?)!