Top 4 Tips to Clean & Maintain Air Innovations Ultrasonic Humidifiers Do you own one of our Air Innovations Ultrasonic Humidifier models? That’s fantastic - we’d like to thank you for being a valued customer! Read through this guide if you are having any problems with your unit, or just want to make sure your humidifier continues to work in good operating order. Here are our top tips for thoroughly cleaning and maintaining any of our Air Innovation’s ultrasonic humidifier models. Tip #1: Regular Cleaning Keeps the Bad Smells Away If you maintain your tank on a regular basis, rinsing with clean water and allowing to air dry, then you shouldn’t have any issues with mold formation. However; standing water is a major problem in humidifiers. Although our units are Anti-Microbial, this doesn’t mean that mold will never grow inside the humidifier. Old, stagnant water in an unused unit will eventually form mold and start to smell bad. If you aren’t going to use the unit for more than a day or two, it’s best to drain out all the water, do a thorough cleaning, the let the unit dry out completely. Tip #2: Use Vinegar and Water If you’ve let water sit in your humidifier for too long, or you notice a bad smell or mold growing in the unit, then follow these helpful cleaning tips. First and foremost, a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water is extremely beneficial to your humidifier unit. This helpful tip is included in your owner’s manual on how to clean the base if you see signs of mineral buildup and/or hard water deposits (which look like white dust). But what are you supposed to do when and if your tank starts to smell. No worries – Air Innovations is here to help! Each of our ultrasonic humidifier models include an Anti-Microbial Lining on the inside of the tank plus a Ceramic Anti-Microbial Filter Cap, which never needs to be replaced. Both of these items help in the battle against fungi, viral, and bacterial growth. But without regular cleaning and maintenance on your part, these nasty microbes will grow even if the unit stays constantly wet. Tip #3: Cleaning a Bottom Fill Ultrasonic Humidifier Unit You should clean your bottom fill unit on a weekly basis, or when you see signs of hard water buildup or mold formation. Don’t wait until you have a serious problem – such as noticeable mineral deposits or a bad odor. Regular cleaning will keep your unit in good repair and in perfect operating order! FYI: The ceramic anti-microbial filter and cap is actually one solid piece (not 2 separate items) so, that’s why we call it a filter cap. You can’t actually remove the cap from the filter so please don’t try! Refer to your humidifier instruction manual when following these steps 10 Steps on How to Clean Your Humidifier Water Tank Remove the water tank from the humidifier base Pour half of a cup of white vinegar inside of the water tank Shake the water tank vigorously for about 30 seconds Unscrew the ceramic filter cap Fill the water tank with lukewarm water (not hot – not cold) Screw the filter cap back on Let the water tank sit for about 30 minutes Unscrew the filter cap and empty the tank Rinse the tank and the filter cap thoroughly Set the water tank and filter cap aside to let them dry While you’re waiting for the vinegar/water mixture to work its magic (see step #7 above) you can move on to cleaning the base. Refer to your humidifier instruction manual when following these steps 7 Steps on How to Clean the Base of Your Humidifier Empty any water out of the base of your unit Use a measuring cup to make a 50/50 mixture of water and white vinegar (about ½ cup of each) Pour the vinegar/water mixture into the base (making sure to avoid the air outlet) Let this mixture sit in the base for about 30 minutes Use the brush that comes with the unit & gently clean away any minerals that have collected around the black ring of the Ultrasonic Nebulizer Pour the vinegar/water mixture down the sink Use a soft microfiber cloth to wipe down any remaining moisture from the base Tip #4: Let Your Humidifier Breathe! Did you know that humidifiers need to breathe!?! So, the best way to maintain an Air Innovations humidifier is to clean and thoroughly dry it once a week. Following the cleaning steps outlined above in Tip #2, especially if minerals or mold are present, will make sure you’ll never have an issue with the water sensors getting stuck, the nebulizer hardening and no longer moving, microbial growth or bad smells. If you do these regular maintenance tasks then you should have no issues. So, in summary: Rinse your unit Wipe down the base Make sure there are no mineral issues Let the unit “breathe” on a weekly basis Bonus Tip: Clean Water = Happy Humidifier Proper water changing is key for optimal humidifier performance. There are different circumstances for each unit, but we just covered the basic tips to follow to clean a dirty unit or maintain one that smells bad. If mineral deposits continue to be a problem, it could be due to the type of water you’re using. So, just say no to hard water deposit and put the tap water down! Air Innovations only recommends the use of filtered, distilled, cold boiled or bottled water in all of our ultrasonic humidifier unites. Reach out to our Customer Service Department if you have any issues with your unit or would like to learn more about basic operating procedures.
