Product review (5 stars): TIp for getting the filter to fit easily in the humidifier
I originally gave this filter just one star (see below to find out why), but now I'm upgrading it to five stars. Reason: my two newest purchases have been much, much better experiences. Both times the filter was quick and easy to install. My earlier purchase had crushed fold lines and put out an odor, but the two recent ones have been great. Here's a tip for getting the filter to fit right: When you take the filter out of the box, there'll be bends where it was folded to fit it in the product box. Don't do what I had done with my early purchases; don't let those folds guide you. Rather, be counter-intuitive. Don't let the folds make you think you should let the shape indicate how the filter should be installed. Do the opposite. Make the circle with the folds facing toward the center, not on the outer edge of the circle. It then goes easily into the correct shape.

My previous review:

It takes a long time, a lot of effort, and considerable swearing to install these replacement filters. They arrived folded which makes it a thousand times more difficult to get it to follow the shape of the ring it has to go into. Extremely annoying and frustrating. Would it be too much to ask that these be packaged in the shape that fits the track it has to go into? Also, the change filter notice popped up long past when it should have last time, and this time it popped up way too soon. The humidifier this is made for is great. Why ruin it with this lousy replacement filter? And the topper: now that I have the replacement filter in place and am running the humidifier it's putting out a terrible smell. It has to be the filter because it's the only new thing in the humidifier. I'm very seriously thinking about just tossing out the humidifier along with the filter -- and looking for something else to keep the air moist. This is unacceptable.