How To Clean A Moldy Air Conditioner

While your dehumidifier is decorated pulling wet from the air, it's besides collecting all sorts of nasty stuff -- mildew, bacteria, mold. Cleaning it out regularly (at least once every few weeks) is an important office of its maintenance, especially during periods of frequent employ. Follow these steps to make sure your dehumidifier is clean, which, bonus, helps it run optimally to keep the air you breathe as healthy as possible.

Read more than: Everything you need to know earlier buying a new dehumidifier

1. Unplug your dehumidifier

Turn off your dehumidifier and unplug it. This ensures that information technology's safety to make clean, whether y'all're but wiping it downwardly quickly or spending a fleck more than fourth dimension rinsing the bucket, filters and other individual parts.

how-to-dehumidifier-8 — The air filter
Chris Monroe/CNET

ii. Wipe the outside

Your dehumidifier does a lot of work to remove potentially chancy stuff from the air. Its outer shell is the first line of defense between your dehumidifier's internal components and the muggy air it'south trying to collect.

So, after you've turned off your dehumidifier and unplugged it, get a dry out fabric and wipe off whatsoever gross stuff that'south collected on the outside. If it'due south especially dirty, you tin can dampen the cloth, but don't spray h2o -- or any cleaning solvents -- direct on it.

3. Clean out the reservoir

All of that wet from the air ends up in your dehumidifier saucepan (unless you're pumping the water straight into a separate bleed). That means it tin become muddy fast and needs to be cleaned roughly in one case every three weeks during frequent use.

Add mild liquid soap and h2o to the bucket. Then scrub gently and rinse. Let the bucket dry earlier putting information technology back.

End what you're doing and make clean your moldy dehumidifier. Hither'southward how

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4. Rinse the air filter

Your air filter is the workhorse of your dehumidifier. While the bucket collects water, the air filter extracts dirt, mildew, mold and other impurities in the air in your home.

Take out the air filter and launder it gently with a sponge and soapy water. Allow it dry out completely before reinstalling information technology.

five. Vacuum

If you want to be extra thorough, catch a vacuum attachment or a brush and clean out any remaining dirt.

how-to-dehumidifier-5 — The saucepan filter
Chris Monroe/CNET

6. Remove and clean the saucepan filter

The bucket filter as well helps trap devious impurities in your dehumidifier. It's much smaller than the main air filter -- near the size of a thimble -- and is typically tucked away somewhere in the reservoir. Remove the saucepan filter -- check your manual to ostend that your dehumidifier has one -- and rinse it with warm water. Let information technology dry out completely before returning information technology.

And that'southward information technology -- you lot're done.

These steps should work for about plug-in residential dehumidifiers, only exist sure to read the manual that comes with your appliance to get specific use and care info.