CPAP hose plugs/caps for cleaning purposes

Pap-Daddy wrote:There is absolutely nothing wrong with using it with drops of moisture still in the hose. Even if you feel you MUST wash the hose does not mean you must dry it before use as you will very likely just add moisture for the humidifier anyway.

Conventional wisdom says when you don't clean the hose there is no reason to hang it anywhere.

phindq wrote:I hang my hose to dry. I'm a very new newbie (about a week doing this), so is there conventional wisdom against hanging a hose to dry?

Many of us do not wash our hose. I did when I first started treatment, but now I don't. If you feel you must wash the hose, just hang it up to dry. The level you clean to is up to you. I prefer to wash our mask cushions and my wife's mask liner once a week, the water reservoirs once a month and the strap pads once a month. The only time I wash my hose is when I have a bout of bronchitis. Once I finish my antibiotics, I wash and sanitize the hose by soaking it in a diluted vinegar solution. This is the only time I wash my hose. I cleaned and sanatized my wife's hose after she had an upper respiratory infection, but not since. I do not plan on cleaning either hose unless one of get sick again.

He is expressing an opinion that the hose does not have to dry in order to use it. You may get a few drops of water blown though your mask however. Not hanging in the bath room may deal with unsanitary conditions in every bathroom, generally fecal coliforms have a way of landing on everything, google tooth brushes, fecal coliforms in bathrooms to get an idea.

"Researchers at an American Society for Microbiology meeting on Tuesday presented a study showing that 60 percent of toothbrushes analyzed in communal bathrooms at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut tested positive for fecal coliform bacteria.

To make matters worse, the research shows that if you’re sharing a bathroom, there’s an 80 percent chance that those fecal bacteria came from someone else’s bum." Googled for you!!

I clean my hose about every other year, whether it needs it or not.

The main purpose of cleaning the hose is to support the industries which create products for that purpose.
My conscience is clear in not patronizing them, since their business is based on a need which is purely imaginary.

I should have clarified. By 'wash' I meant running soapy water through the hose for 20 seconds, rinsing and drying. My wife uses cpap equipment for infants in the hospital and she says the nurses will do this daily with the baby hoses.

I don't hang the hose in the bathroom. I agree, that's gross.

silversleeper wrote: "Researchers at an American Society for Microbiology meeting on Tuesday presented a study showing that 60 percent of toothbrushes analyzed in communal bathrooms at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut tested positive for fecal coliform bacteria.

To make matters worse, the research shows that if you’re sharing a bathroom, there’s an 80 percent chance that those fecal bacteria came from someone else’s bum." Googled for you!!

From the Center for Disease Control:

The mouth is home to millions of microorganisms (germs). In removing plaque and other soft debris from the teeth, toothbrushes become contaminated with bacteria, blood, saliva, oral debris, and toothpaste. Because of this contamination, a common recommendation is to rinse one's toothbrush thoroughly with tap water following brushing. Limited research has suggested that even after being rinsed visibly clean, toothbrushes can remain contaminated with potentially pathogenic organisms. In response to this, various means of cleaning, disinfecting or sterilizing toothbrushes between uses have been developed. To date, however, no published research data documents that brushing with a contaminated toothbrush has led to recontamination of a user's mouth, oral infections, or other adverse health effects.

https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectio ... rushes.htm

Hi, davecpap,

Here is something I found in the CPAPWiki, under the article "Cleaning CPAP Equipment", which may help you. At the end of the paragraph is described a technique to achieve an enclosed hose in which to swish a cleaning solution.
"Actually “cleaning” the tubing may occasionally be desirable, as for example when rainout droplets have been allowed to sit in the tubing for days, or even just hours. Some people "dunk" the tubing into a basin of soapy water; possibly a bit awkward due to the tubing length. Simply rinsing the interior by holding one end against a spigot, and allowing the other end to drain into the bathtub, may be sufficient. (Some people have described taking the tubing into the shower with them for rinsing!) If it is desired to use soap (or some other safe cleaning material), the use of a male-to-male adaptor makes the task much easier. (A male-to-male adaptor is typically a small plastic connector, both of whose ends will fit inside the rubber cuffs at the ends of the tubing, and which may be used to connect two hoses together. Some masks come with parts which may be usable for this purpose – e.g. the swivel assembly on a Mirage Activa. An adapter suitable for such use is sold by CPAP dot com at: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/hose-c ... -cpap.html .) After partially filling the hose with water, and adding a suitable amount of soap, use the adapter to connect the two ends so that the tubing forms a continuous loop. The cleaning solution can now be easily “swished” through the tubing, and allowed to stay inside for as long as is desired. After cleaning, rinse thoroughly and dry rapidly, as already described."

Jean

Pap-Daddy wrote:Conventional wisdom says when you don't clean the hose there is no reason to hang it anywhere.

No, that's not the conventional wisdom. Some people choose not to clean the hose, but this is a risk. Perhaps it's not a huge risk, but just from a practical standpoint, the risk is non-zero. That hose is constantly humid, sometimes to the point of rainout, this creates the potential for mold. Some will say that the hose can't be contaminated because the airflow is one way, from the machine to the mask, but this ignores the fact that most of us open up the machine every day to fill the humidifier. Also, that little flapper on the end of the mask isn't designed to keep the hose airtight or sterile, it's just to keep us from suffocating if the machine turns off.

The conventional wisdom is: once a week wash the tubing in warm water with a mild detergent and let it hang to dry.
Source: http://www.resmed.com/au/dam/documents/ ... ac_eng.pdf

I don't think stoppers would make cleaning any easier or more efficient. It seems enough to fill 1/4 of the hose with hot, soapy water and then raise and lower the ends to swish it around. Also, because these non-heated hoses are so cheap, I replace it every couple of months.

I've had the same hoses for years, as have many others here, and I shudder to think of the size of the landfill where you live if you really replace hoses that often just because you can. It was confirmed yesterday that plastic is now equal to or heavier in the ocean than the weight of fish/wildlife there. Wonderful legacy we're leaving for the next generation.

IMO, hospitals require cleaning EVERYTHING to prevent infection.
This practice became more focused after HUGE lawsuits--following hospital-transmitted infection deaths.
At home, nobody else is using/handling your equipment.
Use your own judgement.
Compromised immunity may justify additional cleaning.
If germophobia is what drives you to clean more than most feel is necessary,
do enough to keep yourself from climbing the walls.

lego wrote:

Pap-Daddy wrote:Conventional wisdom says when you don't clean the hose there is no reason to hang it anywhere.

No, that's not the conventional wisdom. Some people choose not to clean the hose, but this is a risk. Perhaps it's not a huge risk, but just from a practical standpoint, the risk is non-zero. That hose is constantly humid, sometimes to the point of rainout, this creates the potential for mold. Some will say that the hose can't be contaminated because the airflow is one way, from the machine to the mask, but this ignores the fact that most of us open up the machine every day to fill the humidifier. Also, that little flapper on the end of the mask isn't designed to keep the hose airtight or sterile, it's just to keep us from suffocating if the machine turns off.

The conventional wisdom is: once a week wash the tubing in warm water with a mild detergent and let it hang to dry.
Source: http://www.resmed.com/au/dam/documents/ ... ac_eng.pdf

I don't think stoppers would make cleaning any easier or more efficient. It seems enough to fill 1/4 of the hose with hot, soapy water and then raise and lower the ends to swish it around. Also, because these non-heated hoses are so cheap, I replace it every couple of months.

much as it pains me to say it, the original quote you highlighted is right, if you don't clean the hose, there's no reason to hang it anywhere.

and it's highly debatable as to whether there's any need for washing hoses anyway, but that isn't addressed in what you're arguing about.

the *instruction* is to wash the hose.... that has nothing whatsoever to do with the decision, or "conventional wisdom" of those that have been on cpap for some years, and who've decided it's a waste of time and materials to be constantly washing hoses.... it also seems to shorten their lifespan, creating more expense and waste.

Julie wrote:I've had the same hoses for years, as have many others here, and I shudder to think of the size of the landfill where you live if you really replace hoses that often just because you can. It was confirmed yesterday that plastic is now equal to or heavier in the ocean than the weight of fish/wildlife there. Wonderful legacy we're leaving for the next generation.

Got a link for this? If true it is such a sad statement of affairs

I use a hose coupler. I fill mine with warm soapy water when I clean my cpap, couple the ends together, swish the water out, then rinse with the bathtub faucet.

I also empty my water chamber out each day and then run the cpap while I get around in the morning to dry everything out.

All this talk of choosing to not clean hoses sounds just like the anti-vax arguments.