Why Does a Humidifier Get Everything Wet? Demystified!

My humidifier gets everything wet! It is a mess; the carpet and the surrounding floor are wet.

This can be quite frustrating, having to mop the floor all the time. But what causes it?

Well, there could be many causes for this. Unless you over-humidify the room, your humidifier should never make everything wet.

But considering that you add water to the humidifier tank, and then it releases it as mist or tiny droplets into your air, the question of dampness is never too far from your mind.

That is why we are going to try to solve this issue here.

Will a humidifier make my room damp?

Will a humidifier make my room damp

This is a very genuine question. Again, consider how a humidifier operates. You are going to ask this, especially if you are buying a humidifier for baby nursery.

Well, to assuage your fears, it will not make everything wet unless it is faulty. However, when you read your Crane humidifier instructions, you are told not to place it on carpets or softwood tables.

Definitely, there will be spills, and if they fall into absorbent material, it will absorb it and eventually become very wet.

But mostly, the only thing that you have to worry about if you have an ultrasonic humidifier is white dust.

And even then, you can use a demineralization cartridge to remove minerals from the water. Or you could use distilled water.

My humidifier gets everything wet – Simple checks

My humidifier gets everything wet

It is always baffling when you have your Honeywell HCM humidifier running things wet. It should not do that. So, if that is happening with your unit, here are a few things to check:

1. Check the moisture setting

If the moisture or humidity setting of your humidifier is too high, it will make the air inside your home too damp for comfort.

This is especially true if the unit does not have a humidistat to turn off automatically when it attains the set humidity level.

Even if the moisture setting seems right, do try to turn it down a couple of notches. Check whether that contains the humidity level in the room.

2. Check for spillage

Many people complain that their Vicks warm mist humidifier makes the floor wet. This is not good from many angles. For instance, it can make the floor quite slippery and increase the risk of falling and injury.

If water spills onto the floor and there is heat in the room, it will evaporate and stay in the air for too long. It will make the room damp and uncomfortable.

If you put the humidifier on the table and after hours of running it there is water around it, there is a spillage somewhere. This is most likely coming from the slot where the mist comes from.

You can try covering the slot with a piece of cloth and leaving a small space for the mist to come out. There is no promise that that will stop it, but it might help for a couple of days.

Try placing the humidifier on a pedestal. Some people complain that their units leak when they leave them on the floor.

Do not overfill the humidifier tank. Most of them leak if they are overfilled. Also, if the spillage is minimal, place a towel under the humidifier so that it can soak up the moisture.

3. Check the humidifier size for the room size

The way that a humidifier works is that if it is too small, it will do an underwhelming job. If it is too big, it is going to overhumidify the room.

Suppose you are running a humidifier that is rated for 1500 square feet in a 250-square-foot space. It is going to make the air too damp.

If you have a small room, get a small humidifier. If you have a big space, get a big humidifier.

4. The humidifier and the filters are dirty

A dirty filter that is long overdue for replacement can cause your humidifier to leak. A dirty humidifier can also leak.

It can also allow mold to develop inside the tank. This is an indoor allergen that you really do not want.

Unplug the unit from power and clean all the parts that are usually in contact with water. Change the filters, too. That ought to help a great deal.

5. Position the humidifier properly

Humidifier positioning is everything. Most people ask whether they should place it on the floor or high up.

Check the humidifier instructions. The manufacturer specifies where you should place the unit. Usually, the minimum height is 2 feet.

If your humidifier leaks, it should be repaired. However, if not, place it on a rack and place a small container before the unit to collect the leaking water.

Also, place the unit a distance from the wall—at least 12 inches. That way, the nozzle is not going to spray the mist on the wall, making it damp.

Also, place a humidifier away from plants because the leaves will collect the mist and drip water onto the floor.

How to stop humidifier from getting everything wet

How to keep humidifier from getting everything wet

During winter, the days get colder and the air gets dryer. Therefore, to avoid experiencing the symptoms of sleeping in a dry room, you must run a humidifier.

But there is the little problem of your humidifier making everything around it wet. This usually happens when you run a big unit in a small space.

Again, if you do not place the unit on a level surface, there might be problems with your humidifier.

It can cause spills, which can make the surrounding floor wet and increase the risk of slipping and falling.

Place your unit on a waterproof spread

To keep the unit from getting everything wet, first, make sure it does not have any leaks. This means checking that everything, including the humidifier pads, is working correctly.

If you are just worried about ordinary spills, find a waterproof spread and lay it on the table where you intend to place the unit.

This should prevent the unit from making the wood wet.

Place the unit at the correct distance from the wall

If you place the humidifier too close to the wall, the mist from the nozzle will hit the wall, and it will make the wall wet.

In fact, this can be the start of a mold colony in your house, which will cause mold exposure symptoms.

Also, the mist will condense and roll to the floor as water. If you run the unit for long hours, the water will accumulate on the floor.

Positioning is everything for humidifiers and dehumidifiers.

Use the humidifier in the room with dry air

Assuming you have a furnace humidifier, if there are still some rooms that need a portable humidifier, use it there.

If you have a humidifier that is simplistic with just a knob for on and off, you can over-humidify the room. It will keep on running and humidifying the air.

This will raise the humidity too much. It can end up making everything feel damp. In the post on Honeywell humidifier instructions, you will notice we said it comes with just a knob.

It does not have a built-in humidistat to signal it to turn on or off when needed.

Get a unit with auto-on and off function

You could order a humidifier that has an automatic shutoff function. With this type of unit, it will switch itself off automatically once it reaches the humidity level that you set.

Such units have a built-in humidistat. It also has a panel on which you can set your desired humidity level.

Let’s say you set the humidity at 50%; once it achieves that, it will switch off automatically. Therefore, there is no risk that it will over-humidify your space.

If you cannot buy a unit with auto on and off and humidity settings, get one that at least switches off once the tank runs out of water. Many of them do this.

If you need a high-quality humidifier, order the Everlasting Comfort Ultrasonic Cool Mist humidifier on Amazon.com.

Conclusion

It is alright to have a little moisture in the area where you have placed the unit. However, if it makes the air in the room feel uncomfortably damp, you need to check it.

Remember, water spills from your unit could cause high humidity inside the house. In turn, this might cause the growth of mold.

Many people ask: Do humidifiers make the room wet? They should not. If they do, you should check out the things that we have mentioned here.

Others ask: Does a humidifier make the carpet wet? It does if you overfill it. It is best to add water to the required level only.