Recently, I wrote about us working on improving our immunity fighting skills by taking special care to do certain kinds of cleaning, etc. One of the items was adding more humidity to the air in our home, especially because ours is so dry and dusty.
These are the ways we’re doing that.
Hot Showers Become Steam Baths
This is one my husband and I have been employing for quite some time. Specifically, we discovered this was great for me when I was having asthma attacks on the regular, due to seasonal allergies.
There are two ways to take advantage of this. The first is leave the bathroom door open and part of the shower curtain or door, if you can do so without spraying the room while you shower. This immediately releases steam into the air that then spreads out into the outer room and evaporates.
The second is more for extreme relief. Crank up the shower as hot as it will go and let it run, with the door open, for 10-15 minutes. It’s a bit wasteful, but if you’re desperate, it adds loads of moisture very quickly.
Water Bowls with Marbles
Find some pretty bowls, pots, or wide-mouthed jars and set them out around the house. Specifically, placing them on windowsills and around heating vents and near fans will be the best spots to place these. If possible, add some rocks, marbles, or similar, and then fill with water.
The water will evaporate into the air and add some moisture without waste or energy use. Plus, our cat always has some extra places to drink from.
Teapot Steam
This one doesn’t add tons of moisture to the air unless you drink loads of tea or pour-over brew coffee. But letting the kettle steam and whistle for a minute or two will add a little bit of moisture to the air. We both happen to drink a ton of tea, so it winds up being a little productive for us.
Lightly Damp Curtains
This one is a last resort in my opinion because of the possibility of mold, but if you’re really desperate, you can very lightly mist water over the curtains around the time they’ll receive direct sunshine.
I would avoid doing this on cloudy days, as they may not dry out quickly enough to avoid molding. Which, of course, is worse than dry air.
Re-Purposing Candle Warmers
This handy little trick is something I hadn’t even thought of until I spotted it on SimpleMost. But the second I saw it, I knew it was a great option for us. We have one or two of these candle warmers lying around, and though we use them sometimes to add some lovely scents to our home, we are definitely going to start doing this with them now, too.
A Sponge Humidifier
A simple way to add some moisture to the air is by using a sponge and a zipper seal bag. You’ll want one of those large sponges like you’d use for washing your car, and a zipper seal bag large enough to hold the sponge.
Pierce the zipper bag with several holes, then fill the sponge with water but squeeze out the majority of it to avoid leaking. Then, put the sponge in the bag and hang it somewhere in the room, away from the wall. Moisture should increase in the room within a few short hours.
To repeat the humidification, microwave the sponge every other day to kill germs. Clean out the bag with soap and water. Then, refill and squeeze out the sponge, return to the bag and repeat for up to 2 weeks with the same materials before replacing.
We’re recycling a set of three bags to allow the bag to dry completely between each use.
Rita Mock-Pike 