Can you Put Essential Oils in a Humidifier?

Humidifiers are a neat way to improve the humidity in your home during the colder temperatures of fall and winter months.

Typically, a humidity of around 30-50% is recommended in order to avoid the risks of low humidity – dry skin, throat irritation, or itchy eyes. These devices operate by generating water vapor that is typically odorless – but that can also be used to aromatize your place with the use of essential oils.

Can you put essential oils in a humidifier? You sure can, and below we will go over some commonly asked questions regarding this subject.

Can You Put Essential Oils in a Cool Mist Humidifier

Cool mist humidifiers are can be commonly found at most home goods stores, and they are among the most popular models.

If you have researched this question, you might have seen that some manufacturers do not recommend the use of fluids other than tap water and distilled water. However, using essential oils in a cool-mist humidifier is not out of the question – you can do it without worrying about causing damage to the hardware. You need to keep in mind that these humidifiers may alter the properties of the essential oil, potentially affecting its aroma.

Also, because essential oils tend to be denser than water, you might need to regularly clean residue off of your humidifier water basin. We advise you not to skip this step after using essential oils in your cool mist humidifier.

Can You Put Essential Oils in a Vicks Humidifier

According to the official website of the Vicks humidifiers, it is not recommended to use essential oils in these devices.

Allegedly, this could cause damage or void the warranty. The manufacturer recommends using Vicks-made products such as VapoPads for aromatherapy. While it is possible to use essential oils in Vicks humidifiers, you would be doing so at your own risk.

 It’s always a wise idea to keep a copy of the receipt of your purchase and the UPC handy just in case your vaporizer stops working. 

Can You Put Essential Oils in a Regular Humidifier

If you have a plain, regular humidifier, you might be curious about how your favorite essential oils will work with it. While it is generally not recommended to do this, it is highly unlikely to damage your device.

However, you should know that putting essential oils in a regular humidifier might void your warranty. Last but not least, when doing this, you should make sure to clean the water basin properly in order to avoid the precipitation of oils.

Can You Put Essential Oils in a CPAP Humidifier

CPAP humidifiers and machines are not meant to be used in combination with essential oils. Even if it sounds like a great way to perform aromatherapy, you should not do it. These machines operate by supplying a steady flow of air to the user’s airway – typically, this happens under increased pressure. If you use essential oils in a CPAP humidifier, you risk having droplets of the oil reaching your airway, which is guaranteed to have negative results.

Is it Good to Sleep with Humidifier?

Sleeping with a humidifier is not only very safe, but it is also the recommended thing to do if you are experiencing any sort of throat and nose irritations during the night.

In addition to ensuring that air has excellent humidity levels, the humidifier can reduce dry skin, itchy eyes and eliminate nose or throat irritation caused by low humidity levels. For best results, we advise you to keep your humidifier at least 2-3 feet away from your bed.

What Can I Put in My Humidifier to Breathe?

Typically, manufacturers recommend using either distilled or demineralized water in your humidifier. While it is possible to use tap water, it is not recommended due to several reasons – it could spread minerals in the air, and it could also reduce the lifespan of your humidifier device. However, using tap water occasionally is unlikely to have negative long-term consequences. Some makers and models are also able to operate with special accessories that can be used for aromatherapy.

Is it Bad to Use Tap Water in a Humidifier?

It is perfectly safe to use tap water in your humidifier, but you might want to switch to distilled, purified, or demineralized water for the best possible results. Using tap water could lead to mineral dust and buildup in the humidifier, which could have an adverse impact on its efficiency and lifespan.

If you want to be extra safe when it comes to using tap water in a humidifier, research how the tap water in your area is – if it is too hard or rich in chlorine, then we recommend not using it in your humidifier.

Is it Good to Use a Humidifier When You Have COVID?

Ever since the COVID pandemic started, medical professionals have been recommending the use of humidifiers to alleviate the symptoms of the disease. By ensuring that the air in your room has decent humidity, you can greatly reduce the risk of experiencing a sore throat, airway irritation, and other common symptoms of COVID-19. For the best results, we recommend using a humidifier with purified, distilled, or demineralized water.

Where Should a Humidifier be Placed in a Room?

One of the questions that many humidifier owners do not know the answer to is how to position their humidifier. This might be an especially tough task if you are trying to cover a relatively large area of space.

For starters, make sure that your humidifier is slightly elevated in order to get the best results. It should be at least two feet above the ground – typically, setting it on a small table, chair, or another piece of furniture is enough. Also, make sure to place a towel underneath the humidifier in order to protect your furniture from unexpected leaks.

If you are using a humidifier in the room you sleep in, you might want to keep it at least 2-3 feet away from your bed. It being closer is not a major concern, but 2-3 feet usually ensures that the air will not get too humid while you are asleep.

How Often Do I Need to Clean My Humidifier?

While there are some humidifiers that require cleaning every few days, most of them are designed to be rinsed and dried daily. The majority of humidifiers are built to last between 5-10 years, there cleaning the humidifier daily will help prolong the lifespan of the appliance.