CPAP Basics - 19 - Cleaning and Disinfecting

[bavinck]

I use baby shampoo to great success. Got the idea here somewhere.

[DenG]

I thought I had read not to use baby shampoo somewhere on here...

Sometimes the wealth of information on this site can be overwhelming - hard to search through so much and find definitive answers.

[chunkyfrog]

Baby shampoo is safe to use on all equipment except fabric masks, like Sleepweaver Advance, and Elan.
For best results, avoid any product with fragrance, antibacterial additives, or a conditioner.

[Bobby269]

http://www.resmed.com/assets/documents/ ... er_eng.pdf. http://www.resmed.com/assets/documents/ ... lo_eng.pdf.
The Resmed site offers the above suggestions. I can't find any suggestions to use vinegar. But in fact most DME"s do suggest using vinegar.

[Lukie]

Does anyone use Control 3 on their mask. It is sold at most cpap stores and is recommended for disinfection one's hose.

[DenG]

Baby shampoo is safe to use on all equipment except fabric masks, like Sleepweaver Advance, and Elan.
For best results, avoid any product with fragrance, antibacterial additives, or a conditioner.

Ok. Having been using the Elan previously, that's probably where I got the idea that baby shampoo is bad.

Any idea if the Ivory liquid I have would be ok?

I know "fragrance" is one of the listed ingredients, but it's listed as an ingredient in Johnson's baby shampoo, too.

[bavinck]

Vinegar is acidic, seems to me you would want something close to neutral as possible to clean the plastic parts of CPAP. I could be wrong.

[bavinck]

Does anyone use Control 3 on their mask. It is sold at most cpap stores and is recommended for disinfection one's hose.

I read somewhere here that the control 2 and 3 cleaner is not good to clean with, too harsh.

[Lukie]

Maybe just if you are getting over a cold or other respiratory infection.

[Outthere9]

How do you clean the Water chambers for the Cpap machine? Mom uses one and we have been wondering how to clean one, because hers is very dirty and it wont come out with just warm water. I tried several times.

I dunno what the exact name of the Water chamber is other than its a circle type one and you can't take it apart like i have seen these square ones on here.

[Sludge]

"Circle type" would seem to mean Fisher & Paykel, and their recommendations are

WATER CHAMBER: Should be rinsed daily with warm soapy water then rinsed with clean water. Weekly, the chamber should be cleaned more thoroughly with one part white vinegar to two parts water. The chamber should be left to stand with this solution before rinsing with distilled water.

If it's a disposable model, then the lifespan is about 6 months. Sounds more like mineral deposits (although the definition of "very dirty" varies greatly) and time for a new one. Using distilled water and good care helps lifespan.

[patrick_a]

Does anyone use Control 3 on their mask. It is sold at most cpap stores and is recommended for disinfection one's hose.

I read somewhere here that the control 2 and 3 cleaner is not good to clean with, too harsh.

http://www.respironics.com/pdf/1011138maskcleaning.pdf

[gburcalow]

I found a dish soap that is eco friendly, plant and mineral based, has no scents, and can even be used on fruits and vegetables and pets. I have used it for over a year.

http://www.planetinc.com/udl.htm

The only store local to me that I have found it was Kroger.

[ProVega]

I have been wondering just how important daily cleaning of my VPAP equipment is. How do things like the humidifier tank get dirty? I get cleaning my mask and it's appendid tube but, how do germs travel up a hose which has a positive pressure and flow? How do I know just how clean my mask is after I clean it? Am I really removing germs with warm water and dish soap?

[Julie]

The only slightly valid one here would be the hum. tank - it can, even if you're using distilled water, develop some residue, slimy pink or otherwise, over time... and that would need to be cleaned out - good thread recently on doing it with salt... try a forum search for hum. tank and salt.