Cleaning the Ultra Mirage FFM

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:10 am

Can anyone help me regarding the required cleaning schedule for the Ultra Mirage Full Face Mask.

Resmed's on-line materials suggest washing the "mask system" (which they don't define) in soapy water every day. However, the video which accompanies the FFM says nothing about daily cleaning. Is daily cleaning needed? What gets cleaned daily?

When washing the mask components weekly, the video shows only the exhaust vent, cushion, cushion clip and headgear being washed. Is this sufficient or does the remainder of the mask system also have to be washed? Do any other individual components have to be disassembled and washed separately?

butchie · Post by **butchie** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:52 am

great question -was going to ask it myself

as an aside -do you all change the distilled water daily in the humidaire chamber - or use same for a few days

what about the actual hose that runs from the unit to the mask - weekly in soapy water ? does it actually rinse the soap out well when water is run through to rinse it ?

loonlvr · Post by **loonlvr** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:20 am

Well, guess I am a slob lol. I wash my masks(I have two that I rotate with) every few weeks. I just remove the headgear and wash whole thing in hot soapy water. I don"t take it apart ever. I put a little soap in hose with hot water, shake it and attach it to my faucet-slips on end on mine. Then i run hot water thru it. As far as humidifier goes, I just top it off every nite. When i do clean it I again don't remove bottom. Just add some soap and flush with hot water. Been doing this for over 2 years and never had a problem. But I know that there are what I call clean freaks who clean everything almost daily. I think overdoing it just causes too much wear and tear on mask. I think washing face before using mask really helps with seal tho. Hope this helps.

butch · Post by **butch** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:46 pm

thanks for reply .

I'm probably not going to be as much of a clean freak either (just started therapy Wednesday night)- I'm sure on a scale of 1 thru 10 I'll fit somewhere around 5.5 -6.0 on the cleanliness scale

Newsgrouper · Post by **Newsgrouper** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:41 pm

I clean my Ultra Mirage FFM every day but I do not take it apart. I fill my sink with hot water and a little liquid soap and then submerge my mask and agitate it a bit. I rinse it in clean water, wipe off the excess water and then leave it to dry. It only takes a few minutes.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:57 pm

I just remove the 4 headgear clips from the mask removing the headgear, fill the bathroom sink with hottest water I can run in it and a squirt of Dawn antibacterial handwashing liquid, grab it by the elbow, give it the ole up & down adjitation action for 30-seconds, rinse and blow dry a little bit with a hair dryer and good to go.

The cusion never has been removed from my masks. Resmed has no idea how to clean a mask, follow their instructions and you WILL be buying replacement cushions every 3 months.

I have no insurance, I get a year out of a UMFF mask quite easily.

Ontario RT · Post by **Ontario RT** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:00 pm

I wouldn't presume to tell a long-time user how to take care of their own mask, but I sell ResMed products and I tell people NOT to use antibacterial soap as it is too harsh and will ultimately cause the mask cushion to break down.

I also advise people to wash their humidifier chamber daily. Dump the hot water, agitate with liquid soap and tap water, rinse with tap water. That humidifier chamber is a warm moist environment and is utopia for microbes. Plain old soap will kill them, but it must be done daily.

Futhermore, I have seen masks which have never been dismantled before the weekly soak in soapy water and can't believe people put them on their face. Oil and dirt from your face and hair gets lodged in the cracks and won't be cleaned away unless you take the mask apart. Washing your mask will only increase its longevity, as long as you're careful with the delicate parts. Daily mask cleaning is as simple as a quick wipe with soapy water, then rinse with tap water. Weekly, dismantle and soak for 15 minutes or so in a sink with soapy water.

So I guess I am trying to tell you what to do. I understand that old habits die hard so maybe I can convince someone out there who is new to CPAP to clean their equipment properly.

snorzalot · Post by **snorzalot** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:20 pm

Let's face the truth here with cleaning a full face mask. We all know we should probably come close to following the manufacturer's advice on how to clean "their" product. If you really want to see how, watch this video

https://www.cpap.com/downloadVideo.php?VGID=41

However, we also know that most of us are too lazy .. err I mean busy to clean our masks daily. So where is the happy compromise?

Ideally, I think owning two masks can certainly help with cleaning. You have a backup or spare mask ready to go at all times (hopefully clean) while you have another mask "air drying" for another night's use.

Personally, and I like to think of myself as a clean individual, I clean my full face every other night. I leave the head gear attached and try to keep it out of the sink, but if it gets wet so be it I have the spare and I'm talking about practical cleaning time.

I fill my sink half way up with Johnson and Johnson standard baby shampoo with WARM water and I hand massage/clean the silicon poriton (which I detach from the mask), the elbow piece that joins to the outside of the mask (which I detach) and the vent port (that is below the elbow piece and also detached).

This leaves me with a mask shell, a silicon cushion, a plastic elbow and a vent port to manually clean. I scrub them pretty well and then I rinse in fresh warm/cool water and lay the pieces on a towel I have laid out next to the sink.

That night, I wear my backup mask and let everything that was cleaned "air dry" overnight. The next morning or evening when I get home from work, I reassemble the "cleaned mask."

I agree with the previous poster regarding heated humidifiers. Most people use the same water two nights or change daily and clean weekly if that. I recommend you at least minimally clean the humidifier canister at least every two days if not daily with warm J&J baby shampoo (no antibacterials). I'm lazy like most so I tend to add water on night 2, and clean this every 3rd night, but recently I've started rinsing nightly, doing a 30 second warm water and shampoo swirl and then rinsing again and adding back distilled water so I'm getting better--perhaps two canisters to work in with my masks would make this more efficient and "healthier."

I hope this helps!
Thanks!

snorzalot · Post by **snorzalot** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:25 pm

I almost forgot to mention... for MEN

Women tend to wash their faces nightly before bed to remove makeup. Men tend to be hassled into brushing their teeth and then going on to bed without washing their faces

I use a little neutrogena (sic?) facial soap mild every night to clean/wash my face and it MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE in mask seals and really does help with leaks. I recommend this to all the guys. Wash your face before bed. Your mask will thank you by not sliding around on your oily face and causing leaks

Thanks!

Brent Hutto · Post by **Brent Hutto** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:35 pm

snorzalot wrote: I use a little neutrogena (sic?) facial soap mild every night to clean/wash my face and it MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE in mask seals and really does help with leaks. I recommend this to all the guys. Wash your face before bed. Your mask will thank you by not sliding around on your oily face and causing leaks

That Neutrogena face soap is good stuff. It's pretty mild, it cleans the oil and stuff off your face very effectively and it doesn't leave any junk behind like so many "beauty" products do.

OT: Neutrogena also makes a shampoo that you can use once or twice a week to clean all of the scuzz out of your hair that your normal shampoo puts in.

roztom · Post by **roztom** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:00 pm

I'm new but I empty & wash everything with mild soapy water daily & rinse.

Once a week I soak in Vinegar & water.

I used to be in the Water Pollution business - I know what can grow in water. In a closed system - you want CLEAN.

If you pump garbage into your lungs - you might regret it, especially with today's antibiotic resistant bugs.

Tom

snorzalot · Post by **snorzalot** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:09 pm

Ok, ok ... I'll start washing it everyday then but I won't like and you can't make me like it even though you can convince me to do it

Seriously, these are great points and I'm going to step up my "maintenance!"

Thanks again!

roztom · Post by **roztom** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:14 pm

Good Move, IMHO. It would be unconscienable to be treating one issue and create another.

Why leave our health up to chance?

There's so much in life that we can't control. Might as well control as best we can the things that we can.

Best,

Tom

snorzalot · Post by **snorzalot** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:39 pm

Tom,

Do you have any idea how I can get this algae eater back out of my humidifier?

Hehe

roztom · Post by **roztom** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:02 pm

Sure. Just keep a snail in there. But watch out for the snail poop. L)

tom