The 3 Best Easy to Clean Humidifiers in 2023

This is our buying guide on the best easy to clean humidifiers. Below is a quick summary of our top recommendations. Scroll further down to read our in depth, hands on reviews, for each easy clean humidifier.

BEST BUDGET

LEVOIT
Humidifier

  • Good build quality
  • 3 liter water tank
  • 25 hour runtime
  • 290 sq-ft coverage rating
  • Higer mist volume than most
  • Adjustable mist settings
  • Quiet operation
  • 360 degree adjustable nozzle
  • Ergonomic refill design
  • Large opening prevents spills
  • Leak proof design
  • Intuitive controls via knob
  • Comes with a cleaning brush and water filter sponges
  • Essential oil tray
  • Budget-friendly
Best Overall

Livatro Top Fill
Humidifier

  • 4 liter water tank
  • 220 sq-ft coverage
  • Up to 40 hours of constant usage
  • Adjustable mist volume
  • 3 levels of adjustment
  • Auto-shutdown feature kicks in when water runs out
  • Whisper quiet ultrasonic diffuser
  • Filter free design
  • No need to replace the filter
  • Easiest humidifier to clean
  • Anti-leak design prevents spills and leaks
  • Easy to refill
  • Does not require top cover removal
  • Integrated essential oil diffuser
  • Non-intrusive LED indicator
PREMIUM CHOICE

LEVOIT Cool Mist
Humidifier

  • 6 liter water tank
  • 60 hour runtime
  • Can cover over 500 sq-ft of space
  • 300 ml/hr maximum mist volume
  • Customizable mist volume
  • Large knob for adjusting the mist volume
  • Provides a wide range of adjustment
  • 360 degree adjustable mist nozzle
  • Can direct mist to any spot in a room
  • Integrated gran handles
  • Make it easier to move this large humidifier
  • Easier to clean
  • See-through water tank
  • Lets you notice any mineral deposits more quickly
  • Surprisingly quiet for such a large humidifier
  • Best easy to clean humidifier

This article recommend the best, easiest to clean humidifiers.

Humidifiers require regular maintenance and cleaning to perform optimally and humidify a space effectively. The frequency with which you need to clean the unit only goes up the more you use it.

But not all humidifiers are built equal, and some are easier to clean than others. Not to mention, the time and resources you spend cleaning the unit add up in the long run.

For our money, Livatro’s Top Fill Humidifier is the easiest to clean unit you can get. It sports a filter-free design, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of replacing anything. Plus, the top-fill design makes refilling and cleaning a breeze.

We review and recommend all things ‘humidifiers’. So if you wanted an informed opinion, you came to the right place.

Keep reading for more of our thoughts on the best, easiest to clean humidifiers.


Livatro Top Fill Humidifier

OVERALL BEST

Livatro’s top fill humidifier may be extremely easy to clean, but that’s not the only benefit. It’s a seriously high performing unit with a voluminous water tank, impressive runtime, and plenty of features that make your life easier.

We are fans of the minimal, straightforward design of this unit. It’s hardly the most compact thing we’ve ever seen, but even that has its benefits.

For one, Livatro managed to fit a large 4 liter water tank into this easy to clean humidifier chassis. That means you get an enduring runtime of just under 40 hours, with lower mist volume settings. Cranking up the volume does cause runtime to suffer, but not nearly as much as we were expecting.

Speaking of, the mist volume is fully adjustable, with 3 levels available. Maximum output is around 200 ml/hr, which means you get quick, efficient humidification, in addition to the high coverage rating.

That rating comes in at a healthy 220 sq-ft of space; not the highest, but far from the worst. It should cover just about any large bedroom, if not some smaller living rooms as well.

But you came here looking for the easiest to clean humidifiers. In that regard, this unit certainly stands out, with a filter-free design that makes it very easy to clean. Plus, it makes our lives a lot easier, as we didn’t have to replace the filter, or even think about having to deal with mold.

Here, we should mention that filter-free humidifiers often require you to use distilled water, which is a bit more expensive than the alternatives. But using distilled water prevents any mineral build up in the tank, making your humidifier easy to clean.

Another huge benefit of this unit is the anti-leakage design. Accidental spills and leaks can be just as hard to clean up as your humidifier, so it’s nice to see this feature implemented.

The top lid design is also pretty ergonomic, which makes refilling the tank a breeze. You don’t even have to remove the cover to refill the tank.

Bringing it back to the features, we have one of the lowest noise levels of any humidifier of this size. It uses an ultrasonic setup, which is whisper quiet, and also adds to the reliability of the unit.

This humidifier comes with an essential oil diffuser integrated into it. It’s a nice touch, giving you a more pleasant atmosphere, and masking any odors as well.

If you’re anything like us, you need total darkness to even think about going to sleep, making night lights and indicator lights annoying. This easy to clean humidifier has one of the smallest LED indicators that turns off after a while, so you can rest easy.

More Specifications

BrandLivatro
Capacity4 Liters
Runtime40 hours
MaterialPlastic
Product Dimensions6.93″D x 7.2″W x 12.87″H
Power SourceCorded Electric
Control MethodTouch
ShapeRound
Product Dimensions6.93 x 7.2 x 12.87 inches
Item Weight3.63 pounds
Customer Reviews4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,522 ratings
Pros
  • 4 liter water tank
  • 220 sq-ft coverage
  • Up to 40 hours of constant usage
  • Adjustable mist volume
  • 3 levels of adjustment
  • Auto-shutdown feature kicks in when water runs out
  • Whisper quiet ultrasonic diffuser
  • Filter free design
  • No need to replace the filter
  • Easiest humidifier to clean
  • Anti-leak design prevents spills and leaks
  • Easy to refill
  • Does not require top cover removal
  • Integrated essential oil diffuser
  • Non-intrusive LED indicator
Cons
  • May require using distilled water

LEVOIT Humidifier

BEST BUDGET

This Levoit humidifier gives you an inexpensive, easy to clean humidifier that still maintains high performance. It uses an ultrasonic setup that produces micron-sized mist, and the simple controls make it simple to set up.

The design of this unit is actually quite similar to the last one, albeit a tad bit smaller. It is medium sized, and probably more at-home on the desk than the shelf.

Overall though, we were impressed by the way it’s put together. It doesn’t show any concerning signs, like so many budget units often do. The plastic outer shell is nice and sturdy, and doesn’t have that ‘clunkiness’ that so many budget-friendly, easy to clean humidifiers do.

One side effect of the slightly smaller footprint is the smaller water tank. 3 liters is still plenty for most scenarios, but more volume would have been appreciated.

Maximum runtime was measured at around 25 hours with lower mist settings. Higher mist volume does put quite the dent in that number, but nothing to be concerned about.

But put this baby in high gear, and it’ll outperform even our top pick. Mist volume is higher than other humidifiers of this size, enabling a coverage rating of almost 300 sq-ft. That puts this unit squarely in large humidifier territory, but at less than half the cost!

One feature we found really useful was the 360-degree adjustable mist nozzle. This allows you to direct the flow of mist to a particular spot in your space, helping humidity it faster.

Of course, if that doesn’t work, you can just use the convenient knob to increase the mist volume. We much prefer this kind of tactile control over buggy touch controls. That same control knob also doubles as a power button, which is nice attention to detail.

For those looking to put this easy to clean humidifier in their bedroom while they sleep, know that it is quite…quiet. Operating noise never intruded on our slumber, and even at higher settings, it did not make a peep.

Moving on to the cleaning, we liked how straightforward the process is. It has a leak-proof design and the whole humidifier is dead easy to take apart for cleaning.

The process is helped along by the inclusion of a high quality cleaning brush in the box. Always nice to see stuff like this bundled in the box.

Refilling the water tank is no great feat. The large opening ensures easier refilling, and reduces the chances of spills.

One slight drawback is that this easy to clean humidfier does use a filter in the water tank. This will require regular replacement and maintenance, which is a bit disappointing. But then again, maybe being filter-free is too much to expect from this budget-friendly humidifier.

And Levoit gives you 2 water filter sponges in the box, which goes a long way in making up for the filter dependent design.

An integrated essential oil tray comes as a surprise, though we could honestly take it or leave it. The aromatherapy effect isn’t nearly as pronounced or powerful as more expensive humidifiers, and we ended up not even using this feature that often.

More Specifications

BrandLEVOIT
Special FeatureTop-Fill Humidifiers
ColorWhite
Capacity3 Liters
Floor Area290 Feet per Second Squared
Operation Modeultrasonic
Runtime1500 minutes
Item Weight1.38 Kilograms
Model NameHumidifiers for Bedroom Large Room, 3L Cool Mist Top Fill Oil Diffuser
MaterialBPA-Free, suitable for baby
Product Dimensions7.2″D x 8.11″W x 11.57″H
Included Components1 x 3L Cool Mist Humidifier Dual 150, 1 × User Manual, Environment-friendly Choice! We use recyclable cartons to protect our earth., Hassle-Free Warranty and Friendly Customer Support Team-Based in California!, 1 × Cleaning Brush, 2 × Water Filter Sponges (1 Pre-Installed), What’s More?
Power SourceETL Certified AC Power Adapter
Control MethodTouch
Product Dimensions7.2 x 8.11 x 11.57 inches
Item Weight3.04 pounds
Customer Reviews4.5 out of 5 stars | 29,893 ratings
Pros
  • Good build quality
  • 3 liter water tank
  • 25 hour runtime
  • 290 sq-ft coverage rating
  • Higer mist volume than most
  • Adjustable mist settings
  • Quiet operation
  • 360 degree adjustable nozzle
  • Ergonomic refill design
  • Large opening prevents spills
  • Leak proof design
  • Intuitive controls via knob
  • Comes with a cleaning brush and water filter sponges
  • Essential oil tray
  • Budget-friendly
Cons
  • Essential oil diffusion could have been better

LEVOIT Cool Mist Humidifier

PREMIUM CHOICE

It’s not that we have a thing for Levoit humidifiers. It’s just that they make such a high quality humidifier that is easy to clean. Their cool mist humidifier is no different, with its massive water tank, large selection of premium features, and impressive coverage.

Make no mistake, this is one of the best humidifiers you can buy. It has an industry leading water tank capacity of 6 liters. That means fewer refills, longer runtime, and beefier mist volume.

To be a bit more specific, the runtime for this unit at lower settings was measured at a jaw-dropping 60 hours. Expect it to go down when using higher mist volume, though not by much.

It’s a similar story on the coverage side of things. It is rated to cover over 500 sq-ft of space, which is high even by large humidifier standards.

Adjusting the mist volume is made easy thanks to the large knob (a carryover from the cheaper Levoit unit on this list) up front. We liked how much range of adjustment you get with this knob.

It is a welcome departure from cheaper humidifiers that only offer 2 or 3 preset modes. Here, you can set it JUST right and get optimal performance.

As for real world performance, this easy to clean humidifier needs no time at all to humidify a space. The 300 ml/hr max mist volume makes short work of dry air, boosting moisture to high levels quicker than you can say ‘humidifier’.

Another carryover from the cheaper unit that deserves praise is the 360 degree rotating mist nozzle. It seems even more at home on this larger model, as you can just set up the unit in a central spot and direct mist from there.

When you do need to move the unit around, integrated grab handles make picking it up a lot easier.

In fact, those grab handles make cleaning this already easy to clean humidifier even simpler. You get something to grab onto and get some leverage, allowing for deeper, more effective cleaning.

Here, we found the see-through tank to be really convenient for cleaning. You might not think that such a simple feature could make for such a noticeable difference, but the see-through tank does just that.

It allows you to see into the water reservoir, and spot any mold, mineral deposits, or any other contaminants that may have accumulated inside. The earlier you notice these, the faster you can deal with them!

But what surprised us most was just how quiet this easy to clean humidifier is. It’s a larger unit, so we were fully expecting to get a bit of sound, or at the very least, a low hum at high mist settings. The Levoit didn’t so much as make a peep, even when we ran it at full tilt for a few hours.

Finally, refilling this tank is about as easy as it gets, with a large, removable top-lid that lets you quickly pour water in without much spillage.

Overall, we think the Levoit cool mist humidifier is worth a second, and even a third look, if what you want is a feature-rich, no-compromises, easy-to-clean humidifier.

More Specifications

BrandLEVOIT
Special FeatureTop-Fill Humidifiers
ColorGray
Capacity6 Liters
Floor Area505 Square Feet
Operation Modeultrasonic
Runtime60 hours
Item Weight4 Pounds
Model Name6L Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifiers for Bedroom Large Room,
MaterialBPA free, suitable for babies and adults
Product Dimensions8.1″D x 9.7″W x 13.4″H
Included Components1 × User Manual, 1 × 6L Ultrasonic Top-Fill Humidifier, 1 × Cleaning Brush, 1 × Quick Start Guide, 2 × Water Filter Sponges (1 Pre-Installed)
Wattage26 watts
Power SourceETL Certified AC Power Adapter
Control MethodTouch
ShapeRound
Product Dimensions9.7 x 8.1 x 13.4 inches
Item Weight4 pounds
Customer Reviews4.5 out of 5 stars   | 18,196 ratings
Pros
  • 6 liter water tank
  • 60 hour runtime
  • Can cover over 500 sq-ft of space
  • 300 ml/hr maximum mist volume
  • Customizable mist volume
  • Large knob for adjusting the mist volume
  • Provides a wide range of adjustment
  • 360 degree adjustable mist nozzle
  • Can direct mist to any spot in a room
  • Integrated gran handles
  • Make it easier to move this large humidifier
  • Easier to clean
  • See-through water tank
  • Lets you notice any mineral deposits more quickly
  • Surprisingly quiet for such a large humidifier
  • Best easy to clean humidifier
Cons
  • Large size may prevent placement in tighter spots

How Often Should You Clean Your Humidifier?

A humidifier needs regular cleaning and maintenance in order to perform well. Generally speaking, a humidifier that is being used heavily should be cleaned at least once a week. However, if your humidifier gets used more often, or at higher mist settings, you might have to clean it even more frequently. 

In addition to that, it is important to replace the filter regularly. Again, the exact interval will depend on how much your humidifier gets used and what kind of water you use, but a good rule of thumb is to replace the filter every 2-3 months. 

And finally, it is always a good idea to disinfect your humidifier’s water tank. This, we recommend doing maybe every other week. 

Only when you keep up with the maintenance and cleaning of your humidifier will it provide high performance and also last for a long time.

AUTHOR

Shawn Willis is all about humidifiers. After working for some of the biggest names in the industry, he started HumidifierGuys with Scott Dawson. Now, the dynamic duo helps others figure out what they need in their next humidifier.

Shawn is an avid sports fan, motorcycle enthusiast, and has two dogs named Whiskey and Boba.