How to clean a moldy mister

[chameeeleon]

So I recently bought a new hand pump mister thingy, washed it, filled it up, and then I tested it. It worked fine, I emptied out the extra water and put it away with the lid sitting on it (but not screwed on) to allow any extra water to dry. I come back the next day and there's a ring of mold in the tube thingy! I looked for a way to take it apart so I could wash it out but there was no way. Any ideas on what I could do to clean this up and prevent it from happening again?
pics attached

 

[Carlton]

So I recently bought a new hand pump mister thingy, washed it, filled it up, and then I tested it. It worked fine, I emptied out the extra water and put it away with the lid sitting on it (but not screwed on) to allow any extra water to dry. I come back the next day and there's a ring of mold in the tube thingy! I looked for a way to take it apart so I could wash it out but there was no way. Any ideas on what I could do to clean this up and prevent it from happening again?
pics attached View attachment 96536 View attachment 96535

I would fill it with a 1:10 bleach to hot water solution and let it soak for several hours. Then rinse the mister until you can't smell bleach. There might still be some discoloration, but hopefully the bleach has killed active bacteria present. You may have to do this regularly, or run your mister water through an RO filter to remove trace impurities that support mold growth. Or, find a hand mister that you can take apart completely to clean.

 

[JosieJobo]

Milton!

I use Milton its less harmful than bleech you wash/ sterilise baby's bottles out with it

 

[DGray]

I am a big "bleach believer" - it is the best cheap sterilant, and is very safe for terrestrial animals. Every zoo and animal importer I ever worked with used bleach. If it only killed Coccidia...