After a recent hot shower I was overcome with a familiar feeling that could only mean one thing, it was December in Chicago. I had a tight, dry and itchy feeling to my skin that totally erased any comfort I had gained from a few minutes to myself in a steamy shower. I associate this feeling with the disappearance of any moisture in the air, shoveling the car out, chapped lips, gobs of lotion, static cling and getting shocked when touching my kids. The heat (and air conditioning for that matter) coming on exacerbates all of these things. It’s right at this time that I take out our Crane humidifier and ask it nicely to please work overtime for the next 6 months.
Most people take out their humidifier when they are sick to help soothe their sore throat and relieve congestion, but moisturizing the air has benefits year round. I used to think that it wasn’t necessary to moisturize the air with a humidifier since we had one of those whole-house humidifiers until I found out that it’s debatable whether those actually produce enough humidity to gain the benefits of moist air.
What are those benefits of moisturizing the air?
- Protecting wood – You have probably noticed that your wood door acts different from winter to summer. This is because of the moisture levels. Wood can crack and split if it gets too dry. A lack of moisture can also cause paint to chip. Maintaining consistent moisture levels can protect your whole home.
- Relieving congestion – Newborn babies are obligate nasal breathers (meaning they can only breathe through their noses). Newborns also have a ton of natural congestion. We’ve all been there, fussy baby can’t eat because she can’t get a breath while latched onto the breast or bottle. This leads to major stress for mommy. Moisturizing the air can help baby breathe easier, eat easier and sleep better. Cool mist humidifiers are also recommended to relieve symptoms of Croup. When my second son had this scary illness I put the humidifier right next to him and let him breathe the mist right from the spout.
- Reduce snoring – Dry air aggravates the nose and throat and can cause snoring. My husband snores. As if I am not up enough with my sons, it’s a major source of stress when the sound of a chainsaw erupts from the other side of the bed.
- Stop spread of flu – The flu virus spreads easier and lives longer in dry air. Moist air can help protect your family from getting the flu to begin with!
- Soothe symptoms of illness – Being sick sucks. A sore throat is torture, a stuffy nose makes it impossible to sleep, coughing, sneezing! Humidifiers can ease all of these symptoms.
- Prevent illness by protecting throat and sinuses – When your nose and throat are moist and mucusy they are able to catch germs before entering your lungs and making you sick. Dry air can negatively affect our bodies on so many levels. By keeping the air moist we are helping our bodies do what they are naturally meant to do, fight germs and stay healthy.
- Moisturizing skin – While all of the previous benefits to moisturizing the air are enough to have me convinced this one is my personal favorite. I have sensitive skin and all of its ailments come to life during the winter. One winter while I was pregnant I kept a pasta server in the pocket of my recliner to scratch my back. Now I have 2 humidifiers going all the time, 1 for the living room and 1 for the bedroom.
Crane has a new collection this season called Horribles and they are only available at Best Buy. They are colorful little creatures with designs geared toward kids with names like Zeke the Martian, Jax the Dreadful, Chip the Robot and Scarlett the Frightful. They are a great addition to a kid’s room. To celebrate the release of their new collection Crane is offering up a Horrible of your choice to a lucky Badass in a giveaway that you can enter by clicking here! US entries only.
