Am I supposed to clean my heated hose every day?

[SgtSkippy]

Hey, everyone. I'm new here, I just got my first CPAP machine a couple days ago.

When I got my machine, they gave me a care/maintenance sheet. It says how often certain parts must be changed or cleaned. On this list, two items say to be cleaned daily: the heated hose and the mask cushion. The mask cushion is no problem. But the heated hose; I rinsed it with water after my first night and hung it up on a hanger to dry. 12 hours later when I was ready to go back to bed, the hose was far from dry! I live in a very humid place, which probably contributed. I had to make this "rig" with a microfiber cloth tied to a string that I could pull through the hose. It worked, kinda, but was still a pain.

So, should those hoses really be cleaned every day? I read a round a bit and people said it shouldn't be necessary, but, it was an old topic from years ago.

[palerider]

Hey, everyone. I am new here because I just got my CPAP machine.

When I got my machine, they gave me a care/maintenance sheet. It says how often certain parts must be changed or cleaned. On this list, two items say to be cleaned daily: the heated hose and the mask cushion. The mask cushion is no problem. But the heated hose; I rinsed it with water after my first night and hung it up on a hangar to dry. 12 hours later when I was ready to go back to bed, the hose was far from dry! I live in a very humid place, which probably contributed. I had to make this "rig" with a microfiber cloth tied to a string that I could pull through the hose. It worked, kinda, but was still a pain.

So, should those hoses really be cleaned every day? I read a round a bit and people said it should be that necessary, but, it was an old topic.

Most of us don't clean the hose... Many of those that do end up buying new ones more frequently because of the added wear.

[prodigyplace]

Welcome!

Most of us agree there is no need to clean the hose unless it is obviously dirty or there is an unexplained odor. Some people just clean the mask cushions with baby wipes.

Overcleaning & maintenance tends to shorten the useful life of the components, resulting in additional supply sales & profits for the DME.

EDIT: PaleRider beat me to it.

[old dude]

I might be a little on the extreme side, but I clean mine every two or three years by swapping it out for a new one.

Come to think of it, pretty much the same way I changed my sheets in college, but on an annual schedule.

No ill effects from either.

[babydinosnoreless]

I don't clean mine daily. When I do clean the hose, after I hang it for a couple of hours, I hook it back up to my machine and use the hose warm up feature on my machine to dry it the rest of the way out.

[SgtSkippy]

Okay, good to know. I rinsed it out again today but I'll ease off it for now unless I see stuff in it. Really appreciate the responses, everyone!

[Chris8243]

I only clean my hose only after I've been traveling. I let it hang all day to dry, but it never does, as you found out. At bedtime I'll hook it back up & turn the machine on and let the air blow thru it. Dries in about 10 minutes.

Been using CPAP for 1-1/2 years, haven't changed the hose yet. I have a spare but will wait until I notice an air leak, which I suspect won't be for a long time.

[prodigyplace]

My DME told me to hang the hose from the shower rod.
Guess what room in the house has the most germs?

Some people here have said you can tell a DME is lying by whether their lips are moving.

[zonker]

I might be a little on the extreme side, but I clean mine every two or three years by swapping it out for a new one.

Come to think of it, pretty much the same way I changed my sheets in college, but on an annual schedule.

No ill effects from either.

[jnk...]

The hose I use isn't heated, so I rarely clean it.

But if I used a heated hose, I would probably clean it about as often as I clean my humidifier tank, since both tend to be warm, wet places.

My apartment is climate controlled and I never open the windows, since I'm an allergy sufferer. But if I kept my windows open in a high-humidity climate, I might clean my humidifier tank and a heated hose more often than I would where I live now.

Cleaning/maintenance instructions tend to be written for worst-case scenarios. Only you know the scenario in your home.

[chunkyfrog]

Whether or not to clean the hose at all is a personal decision,
mostly based on individual preference.
I prefer to only clean that which is visibly (or olfactorily) dirty.
Compulsive over-cleaning of anything has detrimental effect,
as I learned the hard way when daily washing reduced pillow use to ONE LOUSY WEEK.
Baby wipes do the job without damage.