new aloha pillow?

[neverbetter]

I've had my aloha since april and I sprung leaks last night and had to adjust the mask twice. I think it means I'm wearing out my pillows. Someone suggested boiling them and I if I can get little more life out of them boiling, I'm all for it. What do I do exactly? How long do I boil them for and what will that do exactly?

[chunkyfrog]

Can't hurt; even if it doesn't work, 2 months is pretty good.
Recipe for boiling silicone:
I usually wash with unscented mild soap/detergent;
and soak in 50/50 white vinegar and water first for a half hour; then boil.
2 qts (about, whatever) filtered or distilled water
1 or 2 tsp Baking soda
pot with basket or towel in the bottom (keep silicone off bottom of pot--where it may be too hot)
Bring to boil; lower heat to gentle boil for 10-20 minutes, watching pot carefully.
Rinse, air dry.

[kaiasgram]

neverbetter, I use medium size aloha pillows and have extra unused small and large -- I'm happy to send them to you if you use either S or L size.

[Uncle_Bob]

Have you cleaned them recently? I have had my orginal pillow about two months. I woke up last week and could sense a leak.
So i gave them a wipe over with my cpap wipes and now make sure my face is completely clean before going to bed. I have not had any more leaks since
Those aloha pillows need to have a bit of a "gummy" type grip and if facial oil builds up on them they simply slide around creating leaks.

Other than that i wouldn't see the harm in trying to boil them, it would be interesting to find out how it works out.

~UB

[neverbetter]

Bob, yes, I do wash it with dish-washing soap at least 3 or 4 times a week and I use diaper type wipes on the other nights.

Chunkyfrog, I have a question. You said:
"and soak in 50/50 white vinegar and water first for a half hour; then boil.
2 qts (about, whatever) filtered or distilled water
1 or 2 tsp Baking soda"

do you mean use the white vinegar solution in a boil and than boil again in the distilled water with the baking soda and BOIL AGAIN?

or do I add the baking soda to the 50/50 vinegar solution (which is what we do to fix a clogged sink, by the way..., so I don't think you want me to dissolve my pillows in that, right?

[chunkyfrog]

For the soak and the wash, just warm tap water; although
I have nuked (microwave) the vinegar and water (in glass) with the pillows covered for about a minute with no ill effects.
Hot vinegar water is a great grease cutter, but I wouldn't boil the vinegar (and never in a metal pot)
I would keep the vinegar and baking soda separate, because they react together (some folks use that to clean drains.)
I rinse the silicone parts between 'potions'. (wash, rinse, soak, rinse, boil, rinse, air dry)
We have hard water, so I use a fair amount of distilled water.

[allen476]

Bob, yes, I do wash it with dish-washing soap at least 3 or 4 times a week and I use diaper type wipes on the other nights.

Chunkyfrog, I have a question. You said:
"and soak in 50/50 white vinegar and water first for a half hour; then boil.
2 qts (about, whatever) filtered or distilled water
1 or 2 tsp Baking soda"

do you mean use the white vinegar solution in a boil and than boil again in the distilled water with the baking soda and BOIL AGAIN?

or do I add the baking soda to the 50/50 vinegar solution (which is what we do to fix a clogged sink, by the way..., so I don't think you want me to dissolve my pillows in that, right?

This is what she meant

Soak in vinegar and water at 50/50 mix for half hour ( I just wash with dawn dish soap but to each his own )

Boil distilled water and baking soda like he said (bring to a rapid boil then reduce to a gentle boil). Now you don't need to use 2 quarts for a single pillow. I use a 1 quart sauce pan with 2-3 cups of water and about a teaspoon of baking soda for 3 pillows. You can leave them in there for at least 5 minutes but since they are silicone 10-20 minutes won't hurt them either. Just make sure that the pot doesn't boil dry. Make sure to flip them over so that anything that is sticking out above the water gets some soaking time too.

Remove from the boiling water and rinse in HOT water. Set aside to dry for a few minutes.

But Uncle Bob does make a point that they do need to be gummy and in all of my experimenting I never tried it an these pillows. I did just receive an Aloha mask yesterday but have yet to use it as after I opened it the tubing was split where it was molded wrong. So I am interested as well if they stay gummy after boiling.

I just had a thought. Omit the baking soda the first time you do this and see what happens. Something tells me that you could have a reaction to the type of silicone they used for this mask. I will experiment with my own equipment with the baking soda.

Also make sure you have a spare pillow before hand.

[neverbetter]

kaiasgram , I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge the very kind offer. I, too am using the MD and my better half uses small.
That said, have you noticed these pillows run a wee bit smaller than most? I haven't done a side by side comparison, but I think I'm right.

[kaiasgram]

I'm afraid I don't have much of a comparison base. I started with Swift FX and the nasal pillows didn't fit the shape of my nasal openings very well, so I tried the Aloha and I'm doing well with the medium pillows. If I recall, the mediums on the swift fx were too small for me, but the large size was too big. PM me if you'd like me to send my small pillows your way. I just ordered a second Aloha mask for safekeeping, so I'll have two brand new size small pillows that I'm happy to donate. For other forum members, I also am happy to give my larges to anyone who could use a little break on some new pillows.