Is It Safe To Use Essential Oils in Humidifiers? With Plenty of Caution

With time, aromatherapy has grown more popular. It can help to soothe your anxiety and stress. Essential oils can also alleviate colds, congestion, blockages, and other respiratory issues.

But first, you need the right appliance to disperse the essential oils. Therefore, most people ask whether you can use essential oils like eucalyptus oil in a humidifier.

So, can I put essential oils in my humidifier? It is not recommended to use a humidifier with anything but water. However, on rare occasions, you can use a cool mist humidifier with essential oils, but add a few drops to 100 ml of water. This humidifier has no heating element. It does not destroy the properties of the oil.

You can use peppermint oil in the humidifier. However, for better effect, you should use an essential oil diffuser. You see, humidifiers and diffusers perform different functions.

How does a humidifier work?

Humidifiers perform by releasing moisture in the form of mist into your air. Therefore, it has a reservoir, or tank, in its design.

This holds the water, and it continues to release cool mist until the water runs out or until the desired humidity is attained.

Humidifiers are either cool mist or warm mist. The former releases cool mist into the room, while the latter releases warm mist into the room.

For the best performance, do not get an ultrasonic humidifier because it can cause humidifier white dust.

So, can you use a humidifier as a diffuser? Well, when we look at how a diffuser works, you will find that this appliance is designed to perform differently.

How does a diffuser work?

Unlike a humidifier, a diffuser breaks down essential oils into tiny particles, and then it disperses them into the air. There are different types of diffusers.

Ultrasonic diffusers: These have a disk that vibrates with electrical impulses and spreads the essential oil into your air. The vibrations break the essential oils into tiny particles, and then they are dispersed as mist.

Nebulizer diffusers: This diffuser uses a cold air pump to pump out the essential oil as vapor. The vapor contains small particles of essential oil.

When you want to use essential oils, you should use a diffuser since it is specifically made for this. However, sometimes, you can just get a humidifier that uses essential oils.

As we have mentioned, we have an ultrasonic type of diffuser, so it is reasonable to assume that you can use an ultrasonic humidifier for essential oils.

Can you put essential oils in a cool mist humidifier all the time?

This depends on a few things. You can add eucalyptus oil in a cool mist humidifier. While a humidifier has a plastic tank, the eucalyptus oil is not going to damage it.

However, you have to know how to add essential oils to a humidifier. First, you will add this oil to the tank.

Start with the water, and then add a few drops of the essential oil. The cool mist humidifier will spray out the essential oil in the mist.

So, how many drops of oil are safe for the humidifier? We recommend that for every 100 ml of water, you add 5 drops of essential oil.

Please note that the humidifier with essential oils is not going to break down the essential oils into small particles. So, you might not enjoy the full benefit of your essential oil.

Also, some types of essential oils can cause the plastic to crack. Most of the essential oils have a corrosive quality. Therefore, they can damage the plastic tank of the humidifier.

Can you put anything in a cool mist humidifier?

You should not add anything to the humidifier apart from distilled water. However, if you do not have distilled water, you can use tap water in the humidifier.

But the tap water will cause the humidifier white dust, and you don’t want that. To prevent this, add humidifier tablets to the water.

You can also use a demineralization cartridge for humidifiers to prevent the minerals in the water from being dispersed with the mist.

Do not add fabric softener to the humidifier, don’t add lemon juice or essential oils. All of these things can cause gradual, but consistent, harm to the unit and shorten its lifespan.

If you must enjoy your aromatherapy, get an essential oil diffuser. It is specifically designed for that purpose.

Conclusion

To use or not to use essential oils in a humidifier?

That is the question. In other sources, people ask: Can you put essential oils in a Vicks humidifier?

The answer is yes or no. It is really up to you. For instance, if you need essential oil therapy, and do not have a nebulizer or ultrasonic diffuser, you can add a few drops to the water in your humidifier.

However, we think that even the recommended five drops in 100 ml of water is too much. In addition, just add the essential oils a couple of times and buy a diffuser.

Be careful about how to use a humidifier with essential oils. Use essential oils in the Crane humidifier very sparingly.

So can you use a cool mist humidifier with essential oils? We recommend that you don’t, but if you must, do it sparingly to safeguard the life of your unit.