A vocal steamer is a device for breathing in warm water vapor. People steam with an electric personal steam inhaler, a steam-inhaling mug (West Suffolk's NHS leaflet), or a bowl of hot water and a towel (patient leaflets from Guy's and St Thomas' and St George's).

What the research shows and does not show

The evidence is small and mixed. In a 2016 study of 45 vocally healthy women aged 18 to 30, about 10 minutes of mouth breathing raised jitter and shimmer and lowered the harmonics-to-noise ratio; 3 minutes of steam inhaled through the mouth from a facial steamer brought those measures back toward baseline (Mahalingam & Boominathan, level of evidence 4). A 2019 systematic review reported that steam inhalation improved noise-to-harmonics ratio, shimmer and jitter (Alves et al.). In a 2022 warm-up study of 12 women, results were highly variable: of the 7 participants analyzed, steam was the best strategy for 1 and the worst for 3, who strongly disliked it (Keltz & McHenry). Both experiments were small and used 3 minutes of steam. None of this shows that steam treats a voice problem or makes anyone sing better. We found no study on how long to wait after steaming before singing; the NHS leaflets listed below do not say.

If steam makes you cough, stop and see a doctor. The NIDCD says to see one for hoarseness that lasts more than three weeks.

Who steams

In a Canadian survey of 288 professional voice users, 86% had used at least one complementary or alternative remedy for voice loss. The most common were hot drinks with honey and/or lemon, lozenges, and inhaling steam (MacDonald, You & Fung, 2024). A survey records what people use, not whether it works.

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Sources

Study details are from PubMed abstracts retrieved October 8, 2026. The NHS leaflets were checked October 11, 2026.