Sniffle Season

14 Humidifiers That Are Easy To Clean, Because Yes, They Do Exist

Cold season is coming, but we’ve got you covered.

by Caroline Hogeveen and Grace Gallagher
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
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Humidifiers can be hugely beneficial for babies, children, and parents alike, and they're especially invaluable in nurseries and kids' rooms, thanks to their ability to prevent the dryness that can cause things like sore throats and stuffy noses. As any parent knows, a sick, uncomfortable child is not a happy child (or a child that'll let you sleep). But humidifiers can also require a bit of maintenance, which is why these humidifiers that are easy to clean are the best of the best, because no one wants to spend hours regularly scrubbing down a humidifier with nearly impossible-to-reach corners.

If you've never purchased or used a humidifier before, you may not take ease of cleaning into consideration when choosing one. However, some of them can be quite a pain to maintain, and cleaning them regularly (at least once a week) is not a chore you can skip. If you don’t clean it properly and frequently, mold and bacteria can build up within, and when you turn the appliance on, all that yuck can release into the air that is being inhaled by the members of your family. Not a comforting thought. Thankfully, the humidifiers below are easy-to-clean while adding that all-important moisture into the air.

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1The best, easy-to-clean nursery humidifier

This low-profile, smartly-designed humdifier is a dream for parents with a sick baby or kid. It’s sleek, small and sturdy, designed to humidify a single room (up to 500 square feet) with a 2.5 liter tank that couldn’t be easier to fill and is — most importantly — dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. A filter you’ll need to change about every 6-8 weeks, as well as auto-settings designed to prevent mold growth ensure that your baby’s room is full of clean mist, and another sensor tracks and maintains ideal humidity in your baby or child’s room.

Reviews: “We switched to Canopy after receiving a baby humidifier that was hard to clean and had a blue light that was so bright on the knob. This one is completely dark and provides a white noise that isn’t annoying.”

2A sleek & ‘smart’ humidifier

Offering either cool mist or warm, this compact humidifier is ideal for a child’s room — it humidifies up to 450 square feet. Plus, you can change settings and make adjustments via your phone, which may be particularly handy if you find yourself needing to crank it up in the middle-of-the-night. A top-fill design makes for super easy tank-refills, too. Display lights can be easily turned off, and this humidifier was designed to run quietly with bedroom use in mind.

Reviews: “This is the best humidifier I’ve ever owned, and I’ve had many. It puts out a lot of humidity fairly quickly. As someone who has a son with asthma, this unit keeps the humidity right where I set it. The larger tank is also nice. I only have to refill it every 4-5 days or so.”

3Cool mist humidifier

One of the biggest deterrents in getting a humidifier is finding one that is easy to clean. After all, slime and sludge on the bottom of a humidifier that is pumping out air that your child is breathing in isn’t exactly conducive for sweet dreams. But the raydrop Cool Mist Humidifier is easy to clean due to a large opening on the top of the unit. It is quiet and can provide comfort for up to 30 hours on the lowest setting. Selected as an Amazon’s Choice, this humidifier has over 4,500 ratings attesting to the power of this unit.

Review: “The product works well…It has a big opening for easy cleaning, which is wonderful.”

4Filter-free, cool-mist humidifier

With the wide tank opening and no hiding spots for mold, the Vicks Filter-Free Humidifier is particularly easy to clean (plus all the edges are round so there’s no hard to reach corners). The only thing easier than cleaning it is using it, with a simple dial to adjust output. It also features a slot in the back to insert special Vicks VapoPads, which create soothing vapors throughout the room. The tank is even larger than a gallon, and it will last up to 30 hours. It’s filter-free and quiet, so it works well in a nursery, though it’s not totally silent and offers a bit of white noise.

Review: “I was pleasantly surprised by this humidifier...the water tank is very large, it is easy to disassemble and clean, and it can run non-stop on max for probably about 20 hours.”

5Portable humidifier

This petite humidifier has a one-button control and an auto shut-off safety feature. From Baby’s room to an office (or even your car), you can change the humidity in any space in mere minutes. It has over 33,000 ratings on Amazon, (72% of reviewers rank it as 5-stars). The humidifier has a slim design, so you can take it into any room. It’s also very quiet, so you won’t have to worry about additional white noise in the room, ensuring a quiet environment for sleeping.

Review: “I love this little humidifier. It lasts all day while I work and I feel so much better at the end of the day.”

6Humidifier with diffuser

Sure, you can have a humidifier running while your child sleeps. But what about infusing the air with essential oils, too? You can do all that, thanks to the Friday Baby 3-in-1 Humidifier, which can transform water into a cool hydrating mist for up to 12 hours. Using some aromatherapy-grade essential oils can not only make the room smell great, but help your child breathe better, too. The humidifier has a whole host of nightlight colors to make your kid’s room ready for sleep. And you won’t have to worry about what happens if the tank runs out of water, since it has a safety switch that will turn the unit off.

Review: “Our grandson has one of these in his room and our daughter asked for one for our new granddaughter, our grandson has used his since he was born and he is almost 2 and they love how easy it is to take care of and clean.”

7Kid-friendly cloud humidifier

If you’re going to have a machine in your child’s nursery, it should be cute, right? Well, you won’t have to worry about this cloud-shaped humidifier clashing with the rest of your décor. Not only does it have the option of selecting your favorite color to function as a night light as well, but it has a variable mist control knob so you can adjust the output of the mist to match your child’s needs. It has over 4,300 reviews on Amazon and is a 2019 Parent Tested Parent Approved (PTPA) winner. And thanks to a large tank opening, cleaning the unit is easy breezy.

Review: “I am obsessed with how cute this cloud is! The light function works great. The cool mist is adjustable and totally silent. I love that you can direct the mist in whatever direction you want. It is super functional but very aesthetic as well. 10 out of 10!”

8Filter-free humidifier

Cleaning filters is no fun. That’s why you might love this honey of a humidifier from Honeywell. The warm mist humidifier doesn’t require replacement filters and can run up to 24 hours on just one tank of water. It has a section for your essential oils, so you can fill it up to make the room smell like lavender, vanilla, mint, or whatever your heart desires. It has almost 7,000 Amazon reviews, and with its ability to run almost silently and large opening for easy cleaning, that might explain why.

Review: “Love the amount of water it holds, does not run out as quick and is very quiet.”

9Fast-acting humidifier

When your baby needs some respiratory relief fast, you don’t want to wait hours on end for your humidifier to finally add moisture to the air. You won’t have to wait long when you use the Levoit humidifier. There’s lots to love about this unit (27,000+ Amazon reviewers would agree), starting with the 3-liter tank that can offer 25 hours of moisture. It has a section for essential oils, but what’s really cool about this humidifier is that it can increase the humidity in the room by 10% in just 20 minutes. And that means sweet dreams for both Baby and you…faster.

Review: “This kicks out moist vapor at an incredible rate and even on the lowest setting sends out a thick visible blast of cool vapor into the air. It's also perfectly silent. It takes up little space.”

10Top-fill humidifier

Humidifiers can get messy. There’s water to be poured and lids to be unscrewed. More often than not, you have to juggle getting the humidifier open while trying to fill the contents. With the Livatro Top Fill Humidifier, getting the unit filled and the mist flowing is easy, thanks to the top-fill design. It can make the mist spread as fast as 217 square feet and lasts up to 40 hours without refilling. Plus, the patented anti-leak design lets you fill the tank without having to fuss with the top cover. When the water level gets low, the unit will shut off on its own.

Review: “The last cool mist humidifier I got for my toddler had a small, impossible to clean tank. This one has a huge tank that fits a whole gallon of water and almost every piece is super easy to disassemble and clean. I love it and it does a great job humidifying a room.”

11Low-maintenance humidifier

If you’re looking for one of the highest-ranked humidifiers on Amazon, the AquaOasis Cool Mist Humidifier is it. With 72,471 ratings on Amazon to date, it works like a champ. When on, the unit functions almost noiselessly, dispensing cool mist that will allow you to sleep so much better. It has a 360-degree rotating nozzle that allows you to not only adjust the output from the humidifier but also the mist flow direction as well. With the extra-large water tank, it’s a fill-it-and-forget-it humidifier that can keep your room properly misted for over 24 hours.

Review: “At last I can actually BREATHE (literally!!) a HUGE sigh of relief! We simply couldn’t be more delighted with this Humidifier!”

12Quiet humidifier

The whole point of having a humidifier in your room is to sleep better. Thing is, you can’t have sweet dreams if your humidifier is rattling all through the night. Enter Everlasting Comfort Cool Mist Humidifier, a highly ranked (50,000+ Amazon reviews) unit that works well in large rooms. It has a 6-liter tank that can handle rooms up to 500 square feet — and lasts for up to 50 hours, too. The nearly silent machine has an auto-off switch that works automatically when you forget to refill the unit. It’s also a filter less unit, so it’s one less thing to worry about, other than making sure everyone gets a good night’s sleep.

Review: “This humidifier is so perfect for me! It’s the quietest machine I’ve ever used. I sleep with it throughout the night and am able to breathe so much better than I have for the past 3 months.”

13Water-purifying humidifier

Not all water is created equal. That’s why you want to make sure that the water you use in your child’s humidifier is of the highest quality. Thankfully, MegaWise healthy Top-Refill Cool Mist Humidifier does the work for you — the filter functions by softening and purifying the water to reduce any potential health problems for your child. The easy-to-clean humidifier (which has 2,390 reviews on Amazon) has a patented silencer as well as a fragrance essential oil diffuser and soothing colorful lights, all of which are designed for your child to rest easy.

Review: “After searching through all the diffusers on Amazon, I chose this Megawise diffuser and I absolutely do not regret it! I needed the diffuser not only to create a pleasantly scented environment but also for health reasons.”

14A humidifier with two mist outlets

If you have two children sharing a room, chances are if one is coughing, the other one will be sneezing soon, too. But blasting your humidifier to pump out some moisture into the shareair in their bedroom might not be enough. Be prepared to fall in love with the Safety 1st 360 Degree Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier. Yes, it has a filter-free tank and a wide opening that makes for easy cleaning, but what will really win you over is the two rotating mist outlets that allow you to blow the mist in the direction of each sick sibling, so that they’ll both be able to rest better at night.

Review: “This has lasted us years and still works like a charm. It isn't noisy in the least, very easy to clean, easy to operate.”

Having an easy-to-clean humidifier in your home is a smart investment. Not only is it essential when the weather gets colder (and heating your home can cause the air in it to become dryer), but it’s a lifesaver when your child gets sick. That’s why choosing any one of these humidifiers will help you both breathe — and sleep — a little easier at night.

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