Water damage can occur in your home or commercial property without warning, from severe weather, broken appliances, or a burst pipe. Although sometimes flooding is unavoidable, having a clean, functioning dehumidifier can help draw the moisture up from the floor and out of your walls, lessening the damage and trying to keep your property dry. If damage has already occurred, then dehumidifiers are a good first line of defense to restoring your property back to its normal condition.

How to Clean a Dehumidifier

Having a dehumidifier can help prevent bacteria, mildew, and mold at your house or commercial building by pulling moisture from the air. But, that same moisture goes inside the dehumidifier and can build up inside the machine, causing the same mold you were trying to avoid. To make sure your dehumidifier keeps working at its best (and healthiest), clean it regularly. During routine use, clean the dehumidifier at least once every three weeks. Here are some quick steps to keeping your dehumidifier like new:

  1. Turn off and unplug your machine.

    Bring the dehumidifier away from the electrical source to ensure it is safe to handle its parts.

  2. Wipe down the dehumidifier.

    Use a soft cloth to wipe down the outside of the dehumidifier to prevent outer moisture build up from getting inside the machine.

  3. Reservoir cleaning.

    Pull out the reservoir bucket (unless you're pumping water from a hose directly into a drain) and dump out the contents. Fill the bucket with water and a mild liquid soap. Scrub down the reservoir bucket and rinse. Dry the bucket thoroughly with a clean cloth before placing it back into the machine.

  4. Wash the dehumidifier filter.

    While your dehumidifier works hard to pull moisture from the air, the filter pulls the dirt, mildew, and mold from the moisture. Without the air filter, your dehumidifier will be placing contaminated water into the reservoir. Some machines have a bucket filter. This filter is tiny, usually no bigger than the tip of your finger and is tucked inside the reservoir bucket. Carefully pull out the air and bucket filters, gently wash them with warm soapy water. Rinse the filters and let them dry before placing them back into the machine.

  5. Vacuum out the machine.

    While your reservoir and air filters are drying, vacuum out the dehumidifier to get out dust and dirt.

Plug your dehumidifier back in, and you are good to go for a few more weeks. Dehumidifier maintenance is essential to keeping the air in your basement and home free and clear.

Has Your Home or Commercial Property Suffered Water Damage?

Call Roth. Sometimes a working commercial dehumidifier can't prevent a frozen pipe from bursting or unexpected flooding in the basement. We provide water damage remediation service and emergency water extraction to prevent further damage. We have banks of dehumidifiers, extractors, air movers and dryers, so we're prepared even for the largest water disasters. Roth Companies handles all types of water damage from flooded basements, leaking roofs, burst pipes, and broken appliances in your home or business.

Call 800-874-3473 Roth Companies and Roth Construction Company services water, fire, smoke damage restoration and remediation for Cleveland, Elyria, Akron, Canton, Sandusky, Youngstown, OH, Ohio areasServing the Cleveland, Elyria, and surrounding Ohio homes and businesses for 50 years!