In this week’s 10 Easy Pieces, we covered standout humidifiers, ranging from state of the art to artfully simple. Here’s one more that belongs in the latter category. We discovered it at a recent design show at the Javits Center in New York. If you’ve been leaving out pans of water to battle dry air in your rooms, you’re ready to upgrade to this sculptural Japanese diffuser.
Above: Shaped like a boat with tear-drop sail, Ohashi’s Mast humidifier is made of fragrant hinoshi, Japanese cypress. All it requires is some water in its basin–lift up the hull’s top and fill. Cypress is rot resistant and has a lemony evergreen scent; in Japan it’s the wood of choice for hot springs baths.
Above: Designed by Shin Okada, the Mast comes in three sizes. As the thin wood of the sails absorbs water from the hull, it delivers moisture and scent into the air at a rate, according to Okada, six times as fast as an open pan of water does. Handmade by wooden box specialists Ohashi, the Mast is available from Japanese company Masuza. We hope it makes its way to some US retailers soon.
Intrigued by these all-natural humidifiers? A 10 Easy Pieces post not to miss: Best Old-World Household Essentials.
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