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Care of a Cool Mist Vaporizer

If you have a cold or flu--or chronic sinus problems or allergies--you know all about nasal congestion. Using a cool mist vaporizer (also known as a humidifier) can help make you more comfortable when dry air adds to your discomfort.

The care of your cool mist vaporizer is important and somewhat more involved than caring for a steam vaporizer. Cleaning a cool mist vaporizer properly can prevent health problems.

  1. How the Cool Mist Vaporizer Works

    • Instead of heating up water to make steam, as a hot water vaporizer does, a cool mist vaporizer has a spinning disk that turns water into vapor and forces it out into the room. A cool mist vaporizer is cheaper to use than the steam type because it uses less electricity.

      The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using a cool mist vaporizer instead of a hot steam vaporizer in a house with young children. Kids can get burned by touching a hot steam vaporizer, spilling the water or even getting too close to the steam.

    Distilled Water

    • Use only distilled water with your cool mist vaporizer. Tap water contains minerals. The spinning disk expels the minerals and residual chemicals from tap water into the air. Tap water, depending on the municipality, can contain cadmium, lead, mercury and industrial chemical pollutants. These substances can cause health problems when inhaled.

      Minerals and contaminants are removed from water through distillation. Using distilled water, which has no minerals in it, in your vaporizer will help keep the air healthy.

    Clean after Each Use

    • The heat of a steam vaporizer kills germs and bacteria. Cool mist vaporizers have no such self-cleaning method. Clean yours with soap and water after every use. Liquid dish detergent will do fine; wash the water basin as you would a frying pan. Rinse it thoroughly.

      Not cleaning the water basin properly can result in the growth of bacteria and mold, which the vaporizer puts out into the air. Breathing the contaminated air can lead to hypersensitivity pneumonitis (also known as extrinsic allergic alveolitis, or farmer's lung).

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