Boiling Water as a DIY Humidifier (a few other cool ones too)

Did you know that you can use boiling water as a humidifier? As a kid growing up in the country of the plains of Texas, and although I didn’t know it then, I was privy to a lot of homegrown methods of getting things done ,that even in my lifetime have gone to the wayside.

One of those methods that has kind of got forgotten but I remember quite well is the art of using boiling water as a DIY humidifier.

The old house that my grandparents owned had the furnace style that was kept beneath the floor and worked by sending heat into the house through metal vents that looked like a 2 x 3 grill.

I remember if you stood on it too long, it would melt your shoes.

I also remember my grandmother putting a pot of water on that furnace grill.

I didn’t know what that pot of water was nor did I have any interest in that as a kid.

But now I know she was using that pot of water as a humidifier. The furnace underneath the house was so hot that it was not only melting shoes, it was drying out the air and causing all kinds of havoc with dried out noses, throats, and lips. Putting a pot of water on the furnace was a way of offsetting the dryness in the air and relieving those symptoms.

Boiling water as a DIY humidifier

is a trick that is as old as the hills you might say.

If you were to compare it to today’s humidifiers, the method of boiling water as a humidifier would be considered a vaporizer if you were to buy it at a big box store.

Vaporizers boil water to moisturize the air with steam. Boiling water on the stove is the exact same thing.

The only difference is the vaporizers usually come with some sort of medicinal additive like Vicks to help with congestion and breaking up phlegm.

But there’s nothing saying that you can’t add essential oils to your boiling water and get a similar, if not better breathing effect.

Some of the most common essential oils for adding to a vaporizer, Diffuser,  or a DIY humidifier are:

• Eucalyptus
• Peppermint
• Lavender
• Clove
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Ginger

1.Eucalyptus oil

Next to putting Vicks rub all over your chest, eucalyptus oil is one of the most popular ways of combating breathing problems. It is known for its anti-inflammatory agents that help minimize respiratory flare-ups including bronchitis and asthma.

2.Peppermint oil

Peppermint is a lot like eucalyptus, it not only has a similar smell, it also has many of the antimicrobial properties that help ward off bacteria and viruses that eucalyptus oil has.

3.Lavender oil

If you ever do any research on what kind of things you can do to help you relax, lavender essential oils usually appear at the top. Lavender oil is known for its ability to reduce anxiety and promote a sense of calmness. Lavender oil is an excellent addition to your do-it-yourself humidifier.

4.Clove oil

Clover oil is another essential oil that is known for its benefits related to respiratory conditions. When inhaled, clove oil is a deterrent to allergy and asthma triggers.

5.Rosemary

Rosemary oil has a very unique smell that is great to add to your homemade vaporizer. Not only does it smell great, it contains an ingredient called ” Cineole”

According to the US National Library of Medicine, Cineole reduces cough frequency after 4 days.

5.Oregano

Oregano oil in your homemade humidifier will help fight off a cold bug. It’s true. Oregano oil contains three ingredients that are known to fight off bacteria. Carvacrol, Thymol, and Rosmarinic acid, all found in oregano oil, create a natural antibiotic and fungicide.

6.Ginger

Ginger oil has been shown to effectively decrease the symptoms of a cold. If you got the sniffles, adding Ginger oil to your boiling water humidifier is an excellent way to open up your airways and make it easier to breathe in general.

Although boiling water as a humidifier is an excellent do-it-yourself way to add moisture to the air, adding steam to the air is not always what you want out of a humidifier.

Cool mist humidifiers are generally known to be more soothing as a method of adding moisture to the air than hot steam.

A bowl of water in front of a fan

You can get a good DIY cool mist humidifier effect by placing a bowl of water in front of a fan.

That is essentially what an evaporative cooler does. It blows a fan across water to add cool air to the house.

By putting a bowl of water in front of a fan, the fan helps evaporate the water and moisturize the air and give you a cool breeze off the water at the same time.

Although it’s not going to be as effective as buying a cool mist humidifier, it’s still a very good option if you do not have a humidifier.

Humidify a room with a bowl of water

When you think about it, water evaporates. And though it may not evaporate at the rate that can give you instant relief, just leaving bowls of water around the house is a humidifier because the water will evaporate and add the moisture to the air.

Leave the water in the bath

One of the easiest ways to have a huge DIY humidifier is to run a bath and leave the water to evaporate instead of draining it out.

Take a shower for humidity

Leaving the doors open when you shower so that the moisture from the shower gets into the rest of the house is also a adequate do-it-yourself humidifier.