New machine....NHS.. - really bad headaches, mask leaks

[rick blaine]

Hi andysnorer,

I've had several jobs in my time and as a result of one of them, dealing with Procter & Gamble, I know an awful lot about soap powders and detergents.

The best product currently available in the UK to wash a sleep apnea mask is Surcare sensitive dishwasher liquid. You will find it in both Sainsburys and Tesco.

It has nothing added to it – not a colourant, not a perfume, and not anything promising to be bactericidal.

As for your monthly 'deep clean' – which, I take it, you apply to both the humidifer tank and all your mask parts – I wouldn't recommend dishwater tablets.

You don't say which brand you use, or which part of the UK you live in (and hence, what degree of soft or hard water you have coming out of the tap), but ...

.. but, in general, dishwater tablets make sure they work in all areas by going into overkill with water softener.

To which they add: quite an aggressive detergent, often an oxygen releaser or bleach, and usually a perfume.

All four of these can harm the silicon cushion if used long term.

Typically, they make the silicon less flexible and less 'sticky'. And in a sleep-apnea mask, lowering those two properties can lead to greater leaks.

If you wash all the parts of a mask every day, you don't need a monthly deep clean. The only thing that might need a periodic clean is the humidifier water tank.

And what it gets clogged up with is not grease or burnt-on food, but calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate – in a kettle, some people call it 'fur' and 'getting furred up'.

The best and cheapest way remove that 'fur' from a humidifier tank is by soaking it in a mixture of three parts lukewarm water and one part distilled malt vinegar – for 20 minutes.

If the smell of vinegar bothers you, then lukewarm water plus the juice of five fresh lemons – with a soak of 60 minutes.

Sainsbury's sells a 568cc bottle of distilled malt vinegar for 50p. And fresh lemons for (today) 28p each.

And I repeat, you only need to put your humidifier tank in the vinegar soak or lemon soak. All the other parts will last longer with just the Surcare.

[andysnorer]

Hi Rick, thanks for your input, most grateful. I use Finish Pwerball dishwasher tabs, because living in the South of England, we have very hard water, very alkaline soil type, so using white vinegar on the reservoir and mask parts regularly, doesn't stop a buildup of limescale. Strangely enough, last night I used Imperial Leather handwash to clean the mask seal and my wife said everything was quiet until just before I woke up. I only had to reseat the mask once at around 6.00.

[rick blaine]

I understand about the tap water in the south of England – it's some of the hardest in the UK.

Where I am, in Gloucestershire, the tap water is bit better – but not that much.

I use Sainsbury's Still Scottish Mountain Water, which comes out of the ground a few miles from where I grew up.

It's 45p for 2 litres, £1.50 for an 8-litre family pack.

And it's some of the softest water you can buy, here, short of medically-safe distilled water (which, in the UK, you can only get from pharmacists, and costs the earth).

I do get some build up of limescale. But (a) it is minor, and (b) it takes a lot longer to become noticeable, and 'now I have to do something about it'.

And it makes for a great cup of tea.

[Jas_williams]

I understand about the tap water in the south of England – it's some of the hardest in the UK.

Where I am, in Gloucestershire, the tap water is bit better – but not that much.

I use Sainsbury's Still Scottish Mountain Water, which comes out of the ground a few miles from where I grew up.

It's 45p for 2 litres, £1.40 for an 8-litre family pack.

And it's some of the softest water you can buy, here, short of medically-safe distilled water (which, in the UK, you can only get from pharmacists, and costs the earth).

I do get some build up of limescale. But (a) it is minor, and (b) it takes a lot longer to become noticeable, and 'now I have to do something about it'.

And it makes for a great cup of tea.

I Also live in the Southwest of England and have a water softener and often use that water in my humidifer but then the humidifier bottom goes black but no limescale so use Vinegar to clean the black off

[andysnorer]

I had a good night last night, but Saturday and Sunday were awful, despite going to bed at different times, my poor wife said I woke up bang on 4am after the mask kept blowing off my face, making a real racket, which was confirmed by a red face on the machine in the morning.