machine hygenine??

can someone please tell me what is recommended for cleaning of machines, masks and hoses? I mean how often should they be done? My supplier didn't tell me much and it's a weekend here so can't ask them LOL.

I had been initially cleaning my humidifier water chamber each day but from reading here saw many people just top off the water. I tried that but after a few days the bottom of my water chamber was SLIMY and deffinately needed to be cleaned unless I really wanted to get sick.

I wipe my mask over with baby wipes daily and take it all apart to clean 2-3 times a week and clean the filters every day as i've got bad seasonal allergies.

What do people do with their hose? how often should I clean that?

One often overlooked but critical aspect of control is machine hygiene. Machine clothing wears continuously and accumulates contaminants.All paper machines have cleaning systems, but these systems must be well operated and maintained to minimize fabric wear, fabric filling, and machine contamination.Paper machine hygiene typically focuses on Moving part such as fabrics and rolls ,Stationary elements and structures, such as paper machine frames ,screening and stock contaminant control.

I suggest you ignore Mr. Shane's note as he appears to be answering a question unrelated to Cpap. As far as hoses go, I think some people never do it at all, some very infrequently, and a few once a month at most. I would think wear and tear re handling and removing it would cause more damage than just leaving it alone, but it's up to you.

What kind of water are you using in the humidifier? I'm surprised that it got slimy after only a few days (if you're using distilled water).

I think most of us use wipes on mask cushions (the part that touches us) anywhere from daily to weekly and beyond, but I don't think there's a need to dissassemble the whole thing anything like as often otherwise, because the chances of messing up when reassembling - i.e. getting it wrong and/or breaking small parts, are greater than the chances of it being terribly dirty after only a couple of days. In fact I think few of us do that very often at all.

I take a little different approach. I figure why add additional concerns to my life, so I take the time to clean everything.

I do a soak to clean hoses mask and humidifier once a week and also clean my machine filter at that time.

I spray down my mask and hose every day, and wipe it down with a lint free cloth. I also empty the water out of my humidifier and let it air dry daily.

I am using this product

http://www.respi-products.com/

The soak is done by adding a little dish washing detergent to the water after the respi soak has been added. The soak is followed by a rinse in clean water. I put the hose in a bucket of water, let it soak for awhile, shake it under the water to clean the inside of the hose, then let it soak awhile more before rinsing.

In 6 months of xPAP use, I have not had any respiratory infections, no stuffy noses, no sinus issues, no staph infections, and no nasal or face irritations or sore spots. I am not sure I can "blame" all of this on my cleaning procedure, but I don't think it hurts to have clean equipment.