Cleaning masks etc

[bucsfan0713]

Hubby is new to the CPAP world (first week) He has not mentioned to me how often we should clean the equipment. Is there a special cleanser that we should use, or hot soapy water? Thanks in advance Laura

[RiverDave]

Lots of different strategies on this one. Some people every day, others weekly, monthly, or never. Same thing for the cleaning medium. About the only unifying theme is that the cleaner is not harsh. It's just what you are comfortable with.

My routine:

Mask cushion: daily (oily skin)
Mask (hard parts, humdifier tank): monthly
Hose: rarely (current hose is 6 months old and has been cleaned once)
I use a generic "dawn" type detergent

[bucsfan0713]

Thanks for the reply!

[Hurricane]

I do the hose once a week, mask daily, chin strap daily, humidifier I just keep adding distilled water, and about once a month, I rinse it out with Johnson Baby Shampoo,mixed with warm water, which I use on all the equipment, followed by a good rinse, I also forgot once a week I take one cup of white vinegar, to one cup of water, and do the hoses and humidifier. Its all up to the individual how germ conscientious they might be.
Ed

[Hawthorne]

My routine is somewhat like River Dave's.
I clean my mask cushion daily with the Citrus 11 moist wipes (can be bought from cpap.com and maybe your DME). I can get them in Canada from the DME.
Once a week I clean the whole mask, the hoses and the humidfier water chamber with fairly warm water and Classic Ivory Dishwashing liquid. Certain additives in some cleaners will damage parts or shorten their life.
Sometimes I'm really lazy or really busy and they get left longer. I DO wash the mask cushions every day though because it helps with the seal. If I don't have any Citrus 11moist wipes, I use my Ivory on the mask cushions. It just takes a few minutes.

[bap40]

You must be careful of the cleaning products you choose to use. Nothing with fragrance, nothing anti-bacterial, nothing with lotions in them. No alcohol products. Most of us use a very mild soap or shampoo and a lot of us do the vinegar rinses.

I am sure there are a whole list of what can and can not be used on equipment under the "our wisdom.

I use an all natural soap called Kirk's and do the vinegar rinses. The cushions every day and hose, humidifier, hose about once a week and I do not take the humidifier apart due to leaking issues with my type of machine.

Good luck to your husband.

[OldLincoln]

I want to add emphasis on using ONLY distilled water in the humidifier. You might get by a couple days on tap water but many have reported the pink slime that doesn't go away with any degree of cleaning. You get it using tap water and you might as well buy a new water tank if you do. So, start off right with a gallon of distilled water plus a couple backups.

[megaleads]

ONLY distilled water in humidifier. Tap water kills the equip.

I found it extremely beneficial to add salt to the humidifier water. I would get continuous sinus infections prior to this trick... If I did not clean the hoses out every 2 to 3 days i would get miserable sinus infections... till i started to add salt to the water. adding about 3 tablespoons of water to the humidifier keeps bacteria from growing and is not harmful to breathe. The salt stays in the humidifier... it is not harmful to the hose or the plastic and keeps dangerous bacteria from growing in the small crevices. It is not bad to inhale and 99% of it stays in the humidifier.

as far as cleaning the mask - i found that oxy pads / facial cleansing pads work most effectively.

NOTE - i regularly switch between two face masks - one that braces on my nose and the other that rests on my forehead. switching back and forth helps to prevent nasal fatigue and lines on your nose.

[DreamStalker]

ONLY distilled water in humidifier. Tap water kills the equip.

I found it extremely beneficial to add salt to the humidifier water. I would get continuous sinus infections prior to this trick... If I did not clean the hoses out every 2 to 3 days i would get miserable sinus infections... till i started to add salt to the water. adding about 3 tablespoons of water to the humidifier keeps bacteria from growing and is not harmful to breathe. The salt stays in the humidifier... it is not harmful to the hose or the plastic and keeps dangerous bacteria from growing in the small crevices. It is not bad to inhale and 99% of it stays in the humidifier.

as far as cleaning the mask - i found that oxy pads / facial cleansing pads work most effectively.

NOTE - i regularly switch between two face masks - one that braces on my nose and the other that rests on my forehead. switching back and forth helps to prevent nasal fatigue and lines on your nose.

Salt in the HH is way worse than tap water. I suppose if you have disposable HH reservoirs it is not a big deal.

Adding salt to HH "keeps dangerous bacteria from growing" ? ... and I guess that is why there are no bacteria in the ocean right?

The idea of putting ONLY distilled water in the HH means ONLY distilled water in the HH ... not salt, not Vicks, not magnets, not magic crystals, not anything but DISTILLED WATER


I rinse out my HH once or twice a year with tap water, and I have never washed my hose as it remains as squeaky clean as the day I got it ... maybe because I change out my air filters once every three months. The only frequent cleaning I do is on my nasal pillows about twice a week ... and I do use scented liquid soap without any problems.

[CorgiGirl]

All good suggestions. I didn't see this posted, so if I missed it, please excuse....

If you have a Fisher and Paykel Flexifit mask with the big cushion (full face or nasal), do not wash the cushion. My DME says it has anti-microbial stuff embedded in it, like many plastic items these days. Also immersing it or washing it will break down the foam prematurely.

Here's a link to the full face version: https://www.cpap.com/advanced-find-cpap ... her-Paykel

[Nodzy]

Straggling along to this post - I wipe my mask daily with a Citrus Cleaner wipe or the Citrus Cleaner spray - I wash the mask thoroughly each week with mild soap and water. About every 21-days I disinfect it with Control III solution.

The humidifier tank, I clean it about every 3-weeks, along with the mask, in Control III solution. And I'm overdue to get my tube cleaned. Ohhhhhh, the XPAP tube..... I clean it about every 6-weeks.

It's all a chore list, but I prefer to think of it as a strange hobby. But then, I also think of eating as a hobby... rather than a necessity. Ahh, the luxuries of not living in a constant-food-shortage third-world country.

Nodzy

[echo]

Good info Nodzy!

Your sig reads like a cpap.com inventory list

[sleeplessinaz]

Hi--I am pretty much with everyone else --clean the mask daily (oily skin) and I use Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Castile Soap--liquid. Can be found in High Health stores. Almost never clean the hose out --LOL! the humidifier is just topped off every night before bed---almost never clean that out either. Everyone has their own deal on this issue --But I cleaned alot when I first started.

Carrie

[gasp]

Hubby is new to the CPAP world (first week) He has not mentioned to me how often we should clean the equipment. Is there a special cleanser that we should use, or hot soapy water? Thanks in advance Laura

I use Dr Bronner's castile (lavendar). I wash my entire mask about once every month and my nasal piece every night. I wash my hose once a month and swap it for another that is thoroughly dry as it has sat one month waiting for the swap out.

[Nodzy]

Your sig reads like a cpap.com inventory list

Yeah, Echo... and I took out the backup PAP and backup masks. But, I thought the detailed list might help some else... or at least get them to thinking about surviving longer with OSA.

OSA is finally being documented in small studies that reveal that in otherwise healthy people having OSA can increase their likelihood of premature death by four (4) to six (6) times the rate for healthy people who do not have OSA. Finally, they're recognizing it as a prime generator of a multitude of serious resulting ailments that actually cause far too many premature deaths.

Cheers to all who care and share here to help others. And I mean... even the newbies with questions that keep the successful PAP'ers taking it seriously.

Nodzy