--- title: "DIY Vocal Steamer: Steaming Your Voice at Home With a Bowl and a Towel" description: "How to steam your voice at home with a bowl and a towel, as NHS hospital leaflets describe it: water, distance, minutes, what not to add, who should skip." author: "VocalSteamer Editorial Team" publisher: "VocalSteamer (published by Danver LLC)" section: "How-To" published: "2026-10-13" updated: "2026-10-13" language: "en-US" canonical: "https://vocalsteamer.com/diy-vocal-steamer/" image: "https://vocalsteamer.com/images/posts/diy-vocal-steamer.jpg" faq: [{"q":"How do you steam your voice without a steamer?","a":"With a bowl of hot water and a towel, as above. St George's also suggests breathing over a hot cup of tea, or in a hot shower or bath. Take the same care with hot water."},{"q":"What is a vocal steamer pot?","a":"If you mean a mug or pot you fill with hot water yourself, West Suffolk's leaflet describes a steam-inhaling mug that it says costs less than £10 at most large chemists (pharmacies). It warns never to tip it."},{"q":"How long should you steam over a bowl?","a":"The two leaflets that describe a bowl and towel say 2 to 3 minutes (St George's) and 5 to 10 (Guy's and St Thomas'). Royal Berkshire says 10 minutes without naming a method, and West Suffolk's 10 to 15 is written around a mug it tells you to refill 2 to 3 times. The two steam studies above used 3 minutes, and no source we checked compares durations."}] --- # DIY Vocal Steamer: Steaming Your Voice at Home With a Bowl and a Towel A DIY vocal steamer is a bowl of hot water and a towel: you hold your head over the bowl, under the towel, and breathe the steam. Hot water scalds, so let boiled water cool first, never use water that has just boiled, and keep the bowl away from children. ## Safety comes first * **Let boiled water cool.** Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust says to use boiled water that has cooled a little, not water that has just boiled. We found no figure, in degrees or minutes, for how cool that is. * **Keep your head a safe distance from the bowl and do not touch the water.** The same page says this is to avoid burning or scalding your skin. * **Set the bowl on a steady table, not your lap.** No leaflet we read says what to set the bowl on; this is our own caution. The Vicks V1200 manual makes the same point about its electric inhaler: a firm, flat waterproof surface, not a lap (archived copy captured May 19, 2024; checked October 11, 2026). * **Keep children away.** The US EPA's home humidifier guidance says steam and boiling water may cause burns, and that steam vaporizers belong out of children's reach. Treat a bowl the same way. One leaflet differs: West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which prefers a steam-inhaling mug to the basin and towel, uses ordinary water just boiled from the kettle and says to be extremely careful with it. Over an open bowl, this article follows the stricter instruction. ## The bowl-and-towel method, as two NHS trusts describe it The fuller version is on the Guy's and St Thomas' page "Recovering from vocal cord surgery," written for people having that operation: 1. Fill a bowl with boiled water that has been left to cool a little. 2. Drape a towel over your head and the bowl. 3. Keep your eyes closed. 4. Lower your head slowly until it is about 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inches) from the water. 5. Breathe the steam for 5 to 10 minutes. St George's University Hospitals' "Voice Care" leaflet, written for people with voice difficulties related to head and neck cancer treatment, is briefer: hold your head at a safe distance over a bowl of hot water, cover with a towel and breathe the vapor for 2 to 3 minutes. West Suffolk's leaflet, describing its steam-inhaling mug, says to breathe normally, through the nose or mouth. ![A person seen from behind with a towel over their head, bent over a bowl](https://vocalsteamer.com/images/posts/diy-vocal-steamer-inline-1.jpg) ## Where the leaflets disagree | NHS trust | Method described | Water | Distance | Minutes per session | Added to the water | | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Guy's and St Thomas' | Bowl and towel | Boiled, cooled a little; not just boiled | About 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inches) | 5 to 10 | Not addressed | | St George's | Bowl and towel | Hot | A safe distance; no figure | 2 to 3 | Plain water only, no oils | | Royal Berkshire | None given | Not stated | Not stated | 10 | Nothing needs adding | | West Suffolk | Steam-inhaling mug, which it prefers to a basin and towel | Ordinary water, just boiled; mug refilled 2 to 3 times | Not stated | 10 to 15 | 2 to 3 drops of Olbas or tea tree oil, only with a cold or throat infection | None of these leaflets cites a study comparing durations, so we do not pick a winner. [How long to steam your voice](https://vocalsteamer.com/how-long-to-steam-your-voice/) sets the minutes and daily frequencies side by side. ## What not to add Use plain water. No leaflet tells you to add anything for everyday steaming: St George's rules oils out, Royal Berkshire says nothing is needed, and West Suffolk's oil drops are only for a cold or throat infection. Salt is in none of these instructions. The saline in the voice studies was nebulized, not steamed; see [vocal steamer with saline](https://vocalsteamer.com/vocal-steamer-with-saline/). For anything prescribed, ask your doctor. ## What the research says about steam Not much. In a lab study of 45 vocally healthy women (Mahalingam & Boominathan, 2016), 3 minutes of steam from a facial steamer moved three acoustic voice measures back toward baseline after about 10 minutes of mouth breathing. In a warm-up study of 12 women (Keltz & McHenry, 2022), results were highly variable: of 7 analyzed participants, steam was best for 1 and worst for 3, who strongly disliked it. Neither shows that steam treats a voice problem, and we found no study comparing a bowl with a purpose-built steamer. See [does steam help vocal cords?](https://vocalsteamer.com/does-steam-help-vocal-cords/) ## Who should skip it and ask a doctor first * **Anyone with a voice problem that is not going away.** The NIDCD says to see a doctor if you have been hoarse for more than three weeks (especially without a cold or flu), are coughing up blood, have trouble swallowing or breathing, feel a lump in your neck, have pain when speaking or swallowing, or lose your voice completely for more than a few days. * **Anyone who coughs when steaming.** Stop, and ask a doctor before trying again. * **Anyone under a clinic's care.** Two of these leaflets were written for vocal cord surgery and head and neck cancer patients. Follow your own clinician's instructions. * **Children.** We do not recommend this method, or any device, for children. Our sources gave us no list of medical conditions that rule steam inhalation out, so we offer none. If unsure, ask your doctor first. ## What a bowl cannot do **Hold its temperature.** The water cools from the moment you pour it. West Suffolk tells mug users to refill 2 to 3 times a session for that reason, and says the basin and towel can be "hot, claustrophobic and boring." **Travel.** You need a kettle, a steady table and a towel every time. Two alternatives work differently: * **An electric steam inhaler** makes its own steam. The Vicks V1200 manual describes boiling tap water in the reservoir, about 3 to 5 minutes before steam starts and a session of 5 to 15 minutes, and warns that the water becomes extremely hot (same archived manual; checked October 11, 2026). See [what a vocal steamer is](https://vocalsteamer.com/what-is-a-vocal-steamer/) and [portable vocal steamers](https://vocalsteamer.com/portable-vocal-steamer/). * **A portable nebulizer** makes a cool mist, with no hot water, from sterile saline labeled for inhalation. The saline research is mixed: after 15 minutes of dry air, perceived effort in 34 sopranos returned to baseline only after nebulized isotonic saline, but phonation threshold pressure (PTP) did not change significantly (Tanner et al., 2010), while in 60 women no nebulized treatment significantly improved recovery of PTP (Tanner et al., 2007). Mayluck, sold by the company that owns this site, has [an article on portable nebulizers for singers](https://mayluck.store/blogs/care/portable-nebulizer-for-singers?utm_source=vocalsteamer.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=diy-vocal-steamer&utm_content=inline); ours is [vocal steamer vs. nebulizer](https://vocalsteamer.com/vocal-steamer-vs-nebulizer/). ## Steam or saline mist? Steam is warm water vapor, and a bowl makes it at home with nothing to buy. A nebulizer makes a cool mist from saline, which is what the saline studies above used. Mayluck's MY139 is a rechargeable mesh nebulizer with a built-in battery, so it needs no kettle or outlet while in use. The kit does not include saline. [Portable saline option](https://mayluck.store/products/mayluck-portable-mesh-nebulizer?utm_source=vocalsteamer.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=diy-vocal-steamer&utm_content=bridge-box) [How nebulizers are used and cleaned](https://mayluck.care/topics/safety?utm_source=vocalsteamer.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=diy-vocal-steamer&utm_content=bridge-box) Disclosure: both buttons lead to sites run by the company that owns VocalSteamer. ## Questions ### How do you steam your voice without a steamer? With a bowl of hot water and a towel, as above. St George's also suggests breathing over a hot cup of tea, or in a hot shower or bath. Take the same care with hot water. ### What is a vocal steamer pot? If you mean a mug or pot you fill with hot water yourself, West Suffolk's leaflet describes a steam-inhaling mug that it says costs less than £10 at most large chemists (pharmacies). It warns never to tip it. ### How long should you steam over a bowl? The two leaflets that describe a bowl and towel say 2 to 3 minutes (St George's) and 5 to 10 (Guy's and St Thomas'). Royal Berkshire says 10 minutes without naming a method, and West Suffolk's 10 to 15 is written around a mug it tells you to refill 2 to 3 times. The two steam studies above used 3 minutes, and no source we checked compares durations. ## Sources * [Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, "Recovering from vocal cord surgery" (last reviewed March 2024)](https://guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/recovering-vocal-cord-surgery): patient web page for people having vocal cord surgery, checked October 11, 2026 * [St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, "Voice Care" (published October 2023)](https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLT_VCR_LP.pdf): head and neck cancer patient leaflet (its printed review date, October 2025, has passed; still online), checked October 11, 2026 * [Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, "Voice care tips for a healthy voice" (August 2025)](https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/media/bkpj0oel/voice-care-tips-for-a-healthy-voice_aug25.pdf): patient leaflet, checked October 11, 2026 * [West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, "Practical voice care" (issued August 17, 2026)](https://www.wsh.nhs.uk/CMS-Documents/Patient-leaflets/SpeechandLanguageTherapyServices/6534-1-Practical-voice-care.pdf): patient leaflet, checked October 11, 2026 * [EPA, "Use and Care of Home Humidifiers"](https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/use-and-care-home-humidifiers): burn warning for steam vaporizer humidifiers * [NIDCD, "Hoarseness"](https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hoarseness): when to see a doctor * [Mahalingam & Boominathan, 2016, Laryngoscope (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26972609/): steam after mouth breathing, 45 women * [Keltz & McHenry, 2022, Journal of Voice (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32988703/): steam and straw-in-water phonation as a morning warm-up, 12 women * [Tanner et al., 2010, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20699338/): nebulized isotonic saline in 34 sopranos * [Tanner et al., 2007, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17538106/): nebulized saline and water after dry air, 60 women * [Vicks Personal Steam Inhaler V1200 use and care manual (PDF)](https://www.vickshumidifiers.com/wp-content/uploads/v1200-6-vv1_velvet_om_31im1200206r2_r1_23nov21_manual.pdf): manufacturer manual, read from an [Internet Archive capture of May 19, 2024](https://web.archive.org/web/20240519155030id_/https://www.vickshumidifiers.com/wp-content/uploads/v1200-6-vv1_velvet_om_31im1200206r2_r1_23nov21_manual.pdf), checked October 11, 2026 * [Mayluck MY139 product listing (mayluck.store)](https://mayluck.store/products/mayluck-portable-mesh-nebulizer?utm_source=vocalsteamer.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=diy-vocal-steamer&utm_content=inline): features and kit contents, read October 8, 2026 About the author: VocalSteamer Editorial Team. Research-based, not hands-on. Our guides are built from published studies, hospital and public-health leaflets, and makers' manuals. We have not tested the devices we write about, and each article is checked against its sources a second time before it goes live. [How we research and write](https://vocalsteamer.com/editorial-policy/).