Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier - Air Humidifier for Bedroom, Home & Large Room, Baby, Kids and Adults Soothing Steam Vaporizer for Cough, Congestion, Allergies & Dry Air, VapoSteam Compatible

Very very very very very very very good purchase. I have sinus issues during the winter, and this solved them immediately. During the rest of the year, I use this to make the air in my home more hospitable (i.e. less dry), which allows me to grow air-root plants. It also helps me to reduce the static shocks I get in the winter.The rest of this review looks like a lot of work, but it really really is not. The actual cleaning takes maybe 20 minutes of your time. The rest of it is just waiting for the white vinegar to do its work. I made my instructions very specific, so that is why my review is long.WORD OF WARNING:As with ANY warm-air humidifier, you need to own up to the fact that it will require regular cleaning. that come with it. You NEED to read the instructions that come with this product. Think of the humidifier like your phone, and think of cleaning the humidifier like charging your phone. Alternatively, think of the humidifier like your dishes, and think of cleaning the humidifier like cleaning your dishes. Using your humidifier will allow mineral build-up from the water you use to fill the tank (even if you use filtered water, like me, which GREATLY minimizes the mineral build-up). Using your phone will drain the battery, and using your dishes will make them dirty. If you want to use your phone, you need to charge it. If you want to use your dishes, you need to clean them. Don't expect some magical fairy to clean your things for you or charge your phone.The mineral build-up occurs because there are particles in your water, some of which are natural. Because this is a warm-air humidifier, the heating element will heat the water to create steam (i.e. evaporation). Whatever cannot evaporate will remain on the heating element. It's like taking salt water and leaving it in a pot under the sun. Eventually, all that will remain after several hours is the salt because the salt couldn't evaporate. The minerals cannot evaporate and will remain on the heating element. If you leave the mineral build-up on the heating element, the heating element cannot heat the water properly, and it also provides a very good environment for bacteria and mold to grow. You do NOT want bacteria and mold growing on your humidifier, because spores can become airborne, and you absolutely do NOT want to breathe that in.Here are a few tips:1) Use ONLY purified water (get a cheap Brita water pitcher) in the tank. This prevents you from having to clean it LITERALLY every time you fill the tank up. In other words, if you use unfiltered water, you will need to soak the heating element EVERY time your tank runs dry.2) If, like me, you use filtered water and you have let the humidifier run through 3 or 4 tanks-worth of water without cleaning it, you will want white vinegar, which comes in a huge 2-gallon jug at your local grocery store.3) When wiping off the heating element in your humidifier, use a soft cotton wash cloth or a paper towel. DO NOT USE A SCRUBBER or HARSH CLOTH ON THE HEATING ELEMENT. Rough/scrubby cloths, sponges, etc. will scratch and create grooves on the heating element, which provide more surface area for the mineral build-up to occur. (You'll see this reminder again later)How to clean it after you've filled and used up 3 to 4 tanks of filtered water:[note: "chamber" refers to the concave area around the heating element. "Tank" refers to the blue water tank that says "Vicks" on it.]1) For the love of all that is good in the world, UNPLUG the humidifier before you even begin cleaning. Then, let the heating element cool down for an hour.2) Remove the water tank and rinse it out (believe me, the tank can get dirty too, even if you use filtered water). Then remove all the removable parts (sounds stupid when I write it but once you get this humidifier in your house, you'll understand). You'll see this round, gray thing. That's the heating element.3) Fill the area surrounding the heating element with white vinegar, making sure you cover the top of the heating element. Let it sit overnight. The instructions say 20 minutes, but I have found that it's better to let it sit overnight or even over two nights, especially if you can see any white residue on the heating element. If, after a few hours, you see the white vinegar in the chamber turning cloudy, then empty the vinegar into the sink and replenish the chamber with fresh white vinegar.4) Drain the white vinegar into the sink and have tap water running while you do this.4) Rinse the heating element area (and anywhere that had white vinegar) with tap water.5) Use a soft dish cloth or Bounty paper towels (not the kind that you get in public bathrooms) to wipe the sides and top of the heating element.** Rinse with water. Then use a chopstick or a spoon to gently slide the towel or dish cloth down the sides of the chamber so you can wipe and dry the hard-to-reach parts of the humidifier. Rinse with water again.**DO NOT USE A SCRUBBER or HARSH CLOTH ON THE HEATING ELEMENT. Rough/scrubby cloths, sponges, etc. will scratch and create grooves on the heating element, which provide more surface area for the mineral build-up to occur.6) Thoroughly dry the humidifierUse again.

I run this at night. During the day I put a piece of towel paper over the heating element and saturate it with white vinegar. If you let the crust build up at all, you will have no end of problems. Cleaning will get harder and it will start to spread a misted residue on your floor. I have to stress that this is due to the water, not the humidifier. I buy a new unit every year.

Updated review. The humidifier works well. It does need to be cleaned often, due to mineral build-up on the heating element. Be careful when taking apart to clean as the plastic piece that attaches the air cooler to the rest of the machine is small and breaks easily. Reached out to the company about a replacement part and eventually they were helpful in offering a solution, hence the updated review.

Long term update: I first bought this humidifier back in 2012. I have run it almost continuously every winter since. It has held up great. I just recently in 2023 bought another and I was VERY happy to see they have not changed a thing since 2012. If something ain't broke, don't fix it. This is a great and simple warm mist humidifier that will crank out warm mist for many years.-----I think I read every review of every humidifier on Amazon. It seemed like every one of them is destined to leak, burst into flames or turn into a level 3 biohazard. In the end I decided that I agreed with another reviewer and it just made sense to buy one of the cheaper ones and see how it worked out.To start off this review I think I have to let everyone know a little basic biology. Any time there is standing water it is a potential breeding ground for mold, bacteria, etc. This isn't only true in your little Vicks humidifier--it is true everywhere on the planet. If you have ever had a leak behind a wall you know how quickly standing water can turn into a problem and fast. However, there is not an abundant food source in your humidifier so the risk is manageable with some precautions. I'm just going to list them in no real order of importance because they are all important:1) Don't let water sit in your unit when it is off. This includes the water in the little reservoir below the big tank of water. Yes, empty that out too if you won't be using it for a while.2) It is much easier to prevent a mold or bacterial overgrowth than it is to clean up once one starts. In fact if you get any serious overgrowth (which can happen to any humidifier) it probably makes sense to just throw it out and start over.3) Clean the plastic on your unit with a thymol based cleaner. I use Seventh Generation Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner, Lemongrass & Thyme 26 fl oz (786 ml). It's great. It will leave behind just a tiny bit of thymol on the plastic parts and thymol is a natural germ fighter (derived from thyme).4) Wash out the tank with bleach regularly. They say a tablespoon but I just pour in a bit of bleach and shake it.5) Practice getting a good fit of all the pieces. There are, if memory serves, 6 pieces to this that need to all fit together like a Lego set. If you played with Legos as a kid this will be easy. If you didn't, don't panic, take a careful look and make sure you've fit all the parts together right. If you don't it will leak and you will be unhappy. If you feel like taking things apart and putting them back together isn't your thing you must look for a different unit.6) There are only 2 settings--low and high. Low is really low and high is really high. In my roughly 10x15 bedroom the low setting will raise ambient humidity by about 13% with the door open and by about 20% with the door shut. So if I start at 30% humidity I'll get to 43% with the door open and 50% with the door almost completely closed. Note, I said "almost" completely closed. I find that in my size bedroom low will take the humidity routinely up over 50% if I close the door completely. That is too much moisture.7) You need to also buy a humidistat. I like P3 P0270 Mold Alert Electronic Thermo-Hygrometer as it is responsive to small changes in the humidity level. Without a hygrometer you'll really have no way of knowing if you need to use high, low or just turn the unit off. Most people should be shooting for between 30-50% humidity. In fact when I get home most nights I don't even need to turn on the humidifier because the level will already be between 30-50%. Lastly on this topic you can't estimate the inside humidity by getting the % from the weather channel. It just doesn't work that way. The humidity inside your home will depend on a lot of factors beyond just what the outside humidity is. Do yourself a favor and get the hygrometer too.8) Water has stuff in it. Even distilled water has stuff in it. So eventually you are going to have to clean the heating element with vinegar. When you do this it will be helpful to use an old toothbrush to scrub the metal part that heats the water as this will accumulate the most stuff. Also, don't blame Vicks for stuff in your water--talk to your local water department or building owner.9) Don't ever ever ever use an abrasive pad to clean the plastic. Why? Because abrasive pads will leave tiny little scratches in the surface of the plastic. Those scratches make for a perfect home where bacterial colonies can get established. Only use non-scratch cleaning products to clean the plastic surfaces...nothing abrasive.So yes, that is a lot of rules and guidelines. There is just no easy way to have standing water in your living space. If you are going to attempt it you have to be vigilant and attentive to the care of your Vicks.

Absolutely lovely humidifier! It saved me so many times and saved my sleep 🌹❤️The problems that you can have - you have to clean the heating up the part inside - it happened only because I did not use distillated water. And I choosed NOT ultrasonic model.**In the past I got a few ultrasonic models - and I got HORRIBLE MIGRAINES. - later I found out it happened because I got ultrasonic models.