SoClean?

[NEMarvin]

I appreciate the additional clarity. I did notice the "weaseling" and appreciate your candor.

[NEMarvin]

Thank you to jnk... and ChicagoGranny for the excellent responses. I do appreciate these over the the negative bashing that are no better than manufacturer scare tactics.

I think you are looking for something like peer review in a medical journal. It's a good guess that SoClean would not want their study peer reviewed.

Thank you. Yes, I do think you are correct. That's the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

[Julie]

Marvin - on the off chance you haven't tried it, turn down (or off) your humidifier and see how your sinuses feel after a few nights. Not everyone needs it by any means and it can definitely cause congestion, cold symptoms, sinus irritation, etc. if you're in a relatively humid environment/climate and don't need it at all, or only e.g. in winter when central heat'g causes dryness. I never use mine.

[palerider]

No one recommends NEVER cleaning the cpap equipment. (Except some ads)

Hell, not even me (mr lazy)... I used to wipe down my FFM cushion every day with some hand sanitizer, but not to get rid of any perceived bugs, rather to remove the facial oils so that the mask would fit better. I'd normally wash the mask frame and cushion every week with some hot soapy water, so that it was clean... more often if there was drool, cough, sneeze remnants

"soclean" won't touch that... STILL have to clean the mask.

[NEMarvin]

Marvin - on the off chance you haven't tried it, turn down (or off) your humidifier and see how your sinuses feel after a few nights. Not everyone needs it by any means and it can definitely cause congestion, cold symptoms, sinus irritation, etc. if you're in a relatively humid environment/climate and don't need it at all, or only e.g. in winter when central heat'g causes dryness. I never use mine.

Thank you. I initially added a humidifier because I was suffering from lots of congestion. I added humidity (and flonase) and one or the other or both worked.

I do believe that little to no humidity is better however, in the long run--as you suggest. After my most recent bout with painful sinuses and headaches upon waking, I did turn off the humidity, and saw a near-immediate improvement. My most recent flare-up, which was just angry sinuses, with lots of sneezing and draining, was after a long segment of nights (month?) without humidity. Back on flonase, and have humidity again but on a very low setting. I'm hoping to actually turn off all humidity again, and try, as some have suggested, "passive" humidity.

[NEMarvin]

No one recommends NEVER cleaning the cpap equipment. (Except some ads)

I read (I think on this forum topic) several people jump all over one user asking "why do you clean your hose?" Yet my manufacturer recommends that. That's what I was referring to.

[ChicagoGranny]

I read (I think on this forum topic) several people jump all over one user asking "why do you clean your hose?"

Hang around a while, and you'll hear it again. It's a local sport. Along with NoClean.

(For the record, I never clean the inside of my CPAP hose.)

[jnk...]

My point in mentioning manufacturer's recommendations was to point out WHAT KIND of cleaning is recommended. NOT to point out what a reasonable schedule for doing it is.

Manufacturers do not recommend hosing it off in the driveway, soaking it in a radioactive solution, sandpapering it off with heavy grit paper, using a metal brush and power drill, sprinkling it with holy water, having your pets lick it clean, or using SoClean.

That was my point. Perfectly reasonable. Not over-the-top ridiculous like all the other posters around here.

[chunkyfrog]

I clean my mask frame when the mesh is grubby.
I install new pillows every 21 days.
I clean the headgear when it is too stretched out to fit properly.
I probably "should" clean my hose once in a while--but I have spares.
The tank gets washed when I suspect biology may have happened in there.
I dust the rest.

[Slartybartfast]

I think we're all a little tired of hearing the ads on late night TV and daytime AM radio stations using scare tactics to promote a machine that may or may not do anything, and certainly isn't beneficial for anyone unless they're immunocompromised. And if you are so afflicted, you need to get your information from somewhere else than an online forum. And, yes, anyone who shows up here and seems inordinately interested and defensive about a cleaning machine/product is presumed by most of us to have an ulterior motive (read: "Shill") and is subjected to merciless scorn, ridicule and ad hominem attacks by a few members.

It is worth noting that the machine manufacturers haven't come out with their own version of the (machine which will go unnamed). Were the technology to have any benefit, you know someone would offer one, and others would follow.

As others have said, just follow the manufacturers' cleaning instructions. And as for those who never clean their machine, you're talking to one. 7 years in dusty Southern California. Same machine, same hose, mostly same mask. Machine and hose have NEVER been cleaned. Filter is rinsed out with dishwashing liquid in the sink maybe once a year, and that's it. Humidifier is washed in the sink maybe once a month.

[Pugsy]

Pugsy,
I am not sneaky spam. I'm a 20 year CPAP user, and seemingly prone to sinus infections since I've started using it, especially in the last few years. My doctor (board certified internist, with nothing to sell) suggested that I look at the cleanliness of my CPAP. So, as a result, I'm seriously considering the SoClean. One of the reasons I joined this "forum" is to find out more information. Earlier, someone said "where's the verification that it works? " I posted what is shared on their website as research. However, the "longtimers" here think that it is appropriate to discredit anything and everything. I'm looking for meaningful, intelligent dialogue. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I don't care if you wash your CPAP in a hog wallow. I'm trying to learn for me.

Tell me that I've not made a mistake when I came here looking for thoughtful, intelligent dialogue?

You are entitled to your opinion ...just like everyone else here and that includes myself.
My opinion doubts the "I am not sneaky spam" statement. I am entitled to voice my opinion.
I did NOT try to block your opinion no matter what I thought about it.

I don't care for your opinion...you don't care for my opinion. So there..we are even. Have a nice day.

And you can decide if coming to a place where 99% of the members think SoClean is a scam is a worthwhile endeavor for you.
It's pretty obvious what the general climate is and has been for years and years.
As for deciding to buy one or not....it's your money and last time I looked it was a free country and we get to buy whatever we want no matter how many people might think it is a waster of money.

The only person you have to make happy with your decision is yourself. Doesn't matter one bit what anyone here thinks.
I think that the general climate about the SoClean is quite evident here. Did you really think you were going to get anything different in a response than past people who came here for whatever reason and opened up this old can of worms again?
All these people against the SoClean for whatever reason...they get to voice their opinion just like you do.
It's your problem if you don't like what they say.

[palerider]

No one recommends NEVER cleaning the cpap equipment. (Except some ads)

I read (I think on this forum topic) several people jump all over one user asking "why do you clean your hose?" Yet my manufacturer recommends that. That's what I was referring to.

There's a difference in "never cleaning" (which you've mistaken the 'jumping all over' for, and "obsessive cleaning" which is what the actual jumping was related to.

I don't bother cleaning my hose, because it doesn't get dirty. I also don't have to replace it because it's not worn out by shoving a brush through it every day. No, I don't wash my mask every day... because I don't feel it needs it.

However, if you WANT wash your stuff every day, more power to you... but don't climb on your soapbox and tell everybody else that they absolutely must do it.

What I am adamantly opposed to is people saying that you *HAVE* to REPLACE perfectly good, functioning equipment on some arbitrary schedule... doing nothing but creating waste, and incurring added expense.

[palerider]

Manufacturers do not recommend hosing it off in the driveway, soaking it in a radioactive solution, sandpapering it off with heavy grit paper, using a metal brush and power drill, sprinkling it with holy water, having your pets lick it clean, or using SoClean.

How about mommy spit, mommy spit fixes everything... doesn't it?

Aside, can I use holy water in place of distilled?

[palerider]

The tank gets washed when I suspect biology may have happened in there.

*makes note* "steal that 'when I suspect biology may have happened in there' phrase"... love it.

[hobbs]

I just never get tired of this!