Humidifer

Vinegar will disinfect as well as bleach and remove any unwanted smell. The vinegar smell will fade in a short time.

I have had humidifiers for years. At times the stench has been outrageous. I tried cleaning, but even after one use, mine would often smell. I finally discovered the Protec Antimicrobial Cleaner. It's a little blue plastic ball that goes in the water part of the humidifier. As I recall, it costs $5-$10, but is well worth the money. It is supposed to keep the humidifier clean for up to 30 days. I've had one or two that haven't worked for long, but for the most part they have done great. It was an amazing discovery for me, as someone seems to always have a cold in my house.
Good luck!

Remove the filter and wash it out under warm water with a little mild dish soap. Run it for an hour with water mixed with a little baking soda and/or lemon. Wipe out the base, especially if it has a drip pan in the bottom like mine does. That should take care of it. Remember to flush out the water reservoir, and filter at least 1-2x a week to keep the odor from returning.

Baking soda is a good cleaner. Also vinegar. I would clean all the washable parts with a mild dish soap. Mrs. Meyer's brand makes a great dish soap that isn't a lot of harsh chemicals. After that, run it with a vinegar & water solution a couple of times (out of the baby's room). And change or replace any filters that you can. If they can't be replaced, see if you can wash them in mild soapy water. To keep it from getting to the state where it smells & for the overall health of your family, clean it once a week, or every two weeks during the winter months when it's in use a lot. Best wishes for a happy, clean & chemical free home. It's a big challenge at my house too!

I would clean it with a solution of white vinegar and water. It sounds like it may have mildew in it, or perhaps it is gassing out the chemicals of the plastic. Either way, it should be cleaned. Check out this link http://www.doityourself.com/stry/cleanuphumidifier it will walk you through it. If I were you, I'd let it dry outside in the warm sun to allow for the gassing to occur outside of your home.

Hope this helps!
M.

Hi R.,
Use baking soda to clean it. It cleans really well and gets rid of odors also. It is safe to use around babies, we clean their tubs with it also. Good Luck, S.

I used to use a humidier in my home as well (I think I burned out 3 of them one year). However, I stopped using my lase one when it developed a foul oder. I went back to the old school way. I have an open spout tea kettle that I put on my stove and let it run on medium heat for about 15 minutes, then turn it down to low. I turn it on when I get home from work and leave it going until I go to bed. It puts moisture throughout, and I have noticed that not only do my plants look better, no more static electric shocks, my poor dog and cat are not scratching dry spots anymore, and my children and I are breathing much better. Just incase, I hope this helps.

Vinegar is a wonderful natural disinfectant. A 50/50 solution of vinegar and water put in and use a soft scrubbie to make sure any odor producing stuff is scrubbed off the inside would do the trick. The nice thing about vinegar is that once it dries it has no odor. You can follow that up with a rinse of hydrogen peroxide and that kills more bacteria and germs than bleach or other harsh chemicals. Make sure to rinse and dry the humidifier every day after use will help keep the odors from building up.

Hope that helps!

pour all the old water out and wipe it down and replace with new water. The standing water will cause the stale smell your smelling, also to clean out the filter etc, add about 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar to the water and let it run through, this should clean out the system and your filter. Also, putting filtered water instead of tap water increases the longivity of the water and the filter. Make sure to replace the water every couple of days. I know what smell your talking about, and it stinks! I've had that problem, until i started to clean it out regularly and use the vinegar, also wipe down the machine with a damp towel with a little bleach on it too. hope this helps.

Hi R.,
My suggestion would be to run some vinegar through it and then flush it again with clear water. There is nothing harmful about the vinegar and it cleans very well. You can also clean your coffee maker and teapot with it!

Good luck!

Try vinegar it kills odors. I have been amazed at how well it works!!!

If there is mold in the filter, then you should change the filter (insert) with a new one.

Mix of vinegar and water should do the trick.
D.

Humidifier is bliss for small kids who can catch cold, cough, flu or virus infection but still not ready to take those harsh medicines. But if we will not take proper care of it then it could be a big curse for ourself, because it is a best place for mold and bacterias to grow. Exact right temperature, full of moisture wow! could be heaven for molds and bacterias.

All of the ladies have given great ideas for you to clean it, you can use any of them. But after cleaning you have to be very careful to use it again.

Here's what I would do:

If you can clean it then it's great clean it first by trying whatever methods suits best to you, and change the filter if you have any.

If you can't clean then it will be best to get rid of it because there could be a possibility of spreading those bacterias all around your house through it.

Now if you have cleaned it and got the new one then make sure you fill it up only 3/4th way and use it for only 4 to 5 hours at a given time not more than that.

Before refilling it again make sure you clean it with hot water and check all the parts to see if something sticky, or moldy or anything else, the good thing will be take a baby's cleaning wipe and clean out all the parts, whatever is possible and wherever you can reach. Then just wipe with wet cloth or rinse with water if you can.

This way less cleaning later on and totally bacteria and mold free each time you use it. No big big cleaning and using chemicals after a long time.

Each time when you are done using it and sure that you are not going to use it for longer time, let's say that you are not going to use it more than 2 days then, make sure you empty all the water clean the part with wipe and let them dry in some open area. Don't close them until all the parts are fully dry.

If you are going to use it after a long time of not using it then make sure it is dust free by by rinsing it with hot water and baby wipes and then use it.

I myself am a mom of two toddlers 4y/o and 2y/o. My husband have Asthma and he has big problem with mold and dust. I also didn't clean my humidifier for first few months when I bought my first humidifier and my husband always had problem that year. This year I found a research article on our daily newspaper in which I read all these directions and facts about humidifier. Acc. to that article we should clean our humidifier each day so when we buy a humidifier then we should make sure that it's opening should be big which enable us to put bottle cleaner brush to clean it.

Ok. I admit being a mom of two I myself can't follow all those directions but now I make sure to clean my humidifier each time when I change my water.

I hope this will help you in future.

put 1 cup of vinegar into it and plug it in to clear all the mineral deposits out of it - maybe do this twice - this will smell too, so maybe run it outside or in garage.

I have read that white vinegar cleans just about anything. I haven't tried it yet though. Also, peroxide is supposed to work too.

I would think a humidifier shouldn't have a smell.. All it should be doing is taking water and turning it into a mist.. If it smells, I suppose it could be the plastic?? But if it's a cool mist, I don't see how.. It also could be mildew if the humidifier wasn't cleaned after being used, and water sat in it for a long time.. maybe you could put a cap of bleach in there and run in during the day, and not in your babies' room? or Lysol it when it's dry?? If it doesn't work, I would buy another one.. Good luck!

hard to say without knowing what kind of humidifier it is. If it is a cold mist humidifier with a wick, replace the wick or soak it in vinegar then rinse. If it is a warm mist humidifier, replace it as the molds which are caused by the warm moist air can be bad for baby. good luck!

Plain white vinegar will remove the mineral built up and clean the water container. Cheep and easy does not have a bad spell. Be sure and rinse with clear water after it set with the vinegar for at least half a day.

White vinegar, and let it sit for at least an hour.

I usually wash mine with soap and water, then run a cycle of 1oz white vinegar with hot water, then a clean cycle of hot water.
Hope this helps!!
Have a blessed New Year!

I use vinegar and change the filter after 20 uses

This advice is right on until you get to the bleach part - it is very toxic and creates toxins which can create carcinogens and in some studies with sensitive people (which we all ultimately are) leads to depression.

Mom - please stop using bleach. There are alternatives.

Vinegar seemed to work well for us.