I have three crane cool mist humidifiers- two animal ones for the kids and a drop one for me. They work fine but they are so annoying to clean. And if I’m not right on top of it and forget for several days they get really gunky- this kind of pinkish orange slime coating in the bottom and in the area with all the crevices that the water/ mist comes up from.

So 1) I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong since people generally seem to like these ones. Do people really dump out the water every day? Clean weekly on the dot with vinegar? Is there some short cut I’m missing? Do you use distilled water? That just seems wasteful- when we have colds I fill up all three almost every night. Tips for cleaning those crevices where gunk builds up easily and quickly? How long should I expect these to last? The first one we got is probably about 4 years old and sounds like it’s struggling. From reading online I bet I got water in the motor. But the other animal sounds and works fine but gets grimy so quickly.

2) favorite humidifiers that are easy to keep clean and low maintenance? I think I need to replace at least the struggling motor one.