MABIS Facial Steamer, Steam Inhaler, FSA Eligible, Vaporizer or Vocal Steamer with Aromatherapy Diffuser and Soft Face Mask for Cleansing, Sinus Pressure, Congestion, Colds and Cough, 25mL

After a recent bout with allergies and inconsistent results from my Neti pot, I decided to look for other alternatives and thought a personal steamer might do the trick. As I looked for a consensus, I noticed there's a huge price disparity between many of them and all of them seem to have a large cadre of haters who have had bad experiences. After quite a bit of research, I decided on this unit and so far I've been very happy with the results.The MABIS is a pretty simple device. There are two water chambers. The first one is the water that gets heated and I only put distilled water into that. There's a little measuring cup that tells you how much to fill it but I usually put in a bit more which I will explain later. The water in that chamber is pulled through holes in the bottom into another section which then heats it to the point where it turns into steam, and the steam shoots out into the breathing tube. Pretty simple.The second water compartment is essentially a little plastic drawer you slide into the device and it is not heated. Instead a tube pulls the liquid out and shoots it in a fine stream into the steam from the other compartment as it rises. This 1) cools the steam so it isn't as hot, and 2) allows you to use aromatherapy with the steam. I personally only use the salt packets from my neti pot in this water compartment as the negative reviews made me nervous to try anything too fancy. I've had good results thus far. A quick note - the water 'drawer' actually has two sides. The bigger side is the one where you put the 'aromatherapy' laden water. The smaller side is under the drain and catches all the water that doesn't leave the device as steam.CARE AND MAINTENANCE - I've been worried since the beginning that the device would stop working but I've had no issues since I bought it three months ago. I'm probably jinxing myself but I've been doing a couple of things that might help others and I thought I'd share them as it took me a while to figure this out. First, I've seen people put the suction hose down into the drain section of the 'aromatherapy drawer' to get a longer run time. Don't do that! While that will work and it will allow you to run the device longer, I suspect the longer running time puts a strain on the device's heating element beyond its design. The device ships with a measure device for the 'distilled water compartment' and if you use it the two sections empty at about the same time. I stopped using the measuring cup but I think they include it as a reminder so people do not use the device for too long (they might also include it for legal reasons as without the 'aromatherapy water' to cool the steam, the steam hitting your face increases in temperature real quick). I overfill the the 'distilled section' because I had a couple of uses when it heated all the water out of the distilled section and I started to smell burnt plastic. That's never a good sign so I make sure the water in the 'distilled' chamber never runs out (which is why I put a little extra in). Then key is to only use the device for as long as the water from the 'aromatherapy drawer' isn't empty. Once it runs out (about 6-7 minutes) - turn off the device, unplug it, let it cool a bit, pull out the aromatherapy drawer and empty the drainage water. Then open the 'distilled chamber' and carefully pour the very hot water down the drain. The residual heat of the device will cause the rest of the water to evaporate, which should help its longevity as leaving water in an electrical device is never a good idea. I also make sure to allow it to completely cool if I feel the need to use it the same day.Perhaps I'm being overcautious but I've used this device almost daily for three months and been very happy. I can see where I may need to replace the soft plastic mask someday as I can't image it will take the repeated heating and cooling forever. I can see no issues with hard plastic warping that others have reported but even if it broke today I'd know I got my money's worth. This device cost less my last three months of allergy medicine and I think it has helped my sinuses more than pills or my neti pot. While I hope it isn't something that needs constant replacement, it's been well worth the price so far (and I know I've jinxed myself).

This was a great product for the first 5-6 uses. I used it after purchasing because I was sick and it did work very well. It brought relief and felt good on my lungs with bronchitis. I put it away, it hasn’t even been a year yet, and I’m sick with bronchitis again. So I got it out to use and it simply won’t work. Strange because I was very careful with it, put it all back in the original box, and didn’t even use it that much the first time. The light briefly came on, and now that went off too. It’s just done and I feel it’s practically new. I see other people had similar problems with this unit. I wish I had read the reviews better now. I’m not going to even try to return it because it seems this company is horrible about that, but I will never buy from them again.Update: my bad. I forgot you had to put water in the inside and the outside reservoirs. It’s working fine. I updated my post and increased it to five stars. Go to YouTube and look up how to use before using. There are great tutorial videos on there.

I used this steamer four times, following all "user instructions," before the purple aromatherapy tank melted slightly and fused itself to the back inside of the unit. Ridiculous!Why did this occur on the fourth time? The fourth time is the *only* time I did not partially remove the purple aromatherapy therapy tank, immediately after utilizing the unit. Every single time, of course, as instructed, I turned off the unit and unplugged it. Nowhere in this unit's literature does it say to "also pull out the aromatherapy tank." When I thought about what I did differently the fourth time, that was when I realized the problem. (I also came to Amazon to search through comments, and noticed that this was an insanely common occurrence. How in the world has this company not responded to the vast number of people with this complaint?)Can you use this unit without experiencing this problem?YES. If you make this mistake of buying this thing, after you've run the unit's full cycle, *immediately* pull out the aromatherapy tank, part way. Doesn't need to be all the way out, just partially. (Also, consider wiggling it, periodically during operation, for insurance.) Let everything cool off, and all should be well.Can you get the tank out *after* it fuses/melts into the back of the steamer itself?YES. I figured if I reran the unit, by doing exactly the same type of steaming routine (albeit without filling up the jammed aromatherapy tank), it would soften up whatever was melted in the back of that tank. After running its 10-minute cycle, I unplugged the unit, dumped out all the hot water, pulled off the top, stuck an unused pencil, eraser end first, into the hole at the top of the purple aromatherapy tank, and gently tapped with a hammer. (The eraser end was all the way down into the bottom of the tank, on the front face side.) After gently tapping for several minutes, the purple tank popped out. I cleaned it off super thoroughly, and will resume using it, since I have no choice and need to use this for health issues.Hopefully this helps someone. In the meantime, this company needs to get on the ball, and resolve this, or at least make a more thorough recommendation to "pull the aromatherapy tank out partially after using the steamer."Happy New Year!