How to Humidify Air at Home

The air in our homes can get overly dry in the winter. In addition, dry air aggravates many respiratory conditions and affects the skin and hair.

5-Minute Crafts wants to clue you in on how to humidify the air in your home using improvised means or special devices. It would be also good to get a hygrometer to keep track of the temperature in the home. It will show the percentage of relative humidity in the room — 30-50% is considered optimal.

Option #1: Get plants

Plants need water. They absorb it with their roots through the soil, but not all of it — a part of the water goes back to the air by evaporating through the leaves and enriches the air with humidity. The more plants you have at home and the more frequently they require watering, the higher the overall humidity of the air in the room is.

Option #2: Place bowls with water all around your home

Take several decorative bowls, pour water into them, and place them in different parts of your apartment. You can put a few flower petals on the surface as a decoration. Over time, the water will slowly evaporate and humidify the air.

Placing bowls in a sunny spot or near a hot radiator can help speed up the evaporation process. You can also pour freshly boiled water into the bowls. This will instantly increase the humidity in the apartment due to the hot steam. Make sure to not burn yourself.

Option # 3: Open the door to the bathroom

Keep the door to the bathroom open, especially when you are taking a hot bath or shower. In this case, steam from bathing will seep into neighboring rooms and increase the humidity of the air.

Option # 4: Dry clothes inside

Refuse to use your dryer or hang your clothes outside on the balcony. Instead, hang your clothes on a laundry rack and place them inside. As the clothes dry, they will evaporate the excess humidity and enrich the air with it.

Option # 5: Sprinkle your curtains with water

In between clothes drying you can try sprinkling your curtains with water. They will also evaporate excess moisture as they dry. However, make sure to not wet the curtains too much — the excess moisture can damage some types of fabrics or ruin the wall coverings. Also, keep in mind that you should sprinkle curtains only from the outer side — not from the side that faces the window.

Option #6: Install a fountain or an aquarium at home

Decorative fountains and aquariums evaporate water naturally. This method also has 2 bonuses: fountains and aquariums decorate the room, and also relax and normalize the work of the human nervous system.

Option #7: Use air humidifier

Using an automatic device is the easiest way to humidify the air in your home. The regular use of this device sustains humidity in the room at the optimal level.

Use fresh filtered water for a humidifier. It will prevent the appearance of scale build-up and bacterial growth in the appliance reservoir. Most of the models are easy to use and only require a regular filling of the tank with water.