Mold buildup in hose?

[unclematt]

Would mold build up in the hose if you use a humidifier? I've been using the same hose for 2 months without cleaning it. I'm hesitant to clean it because of the problem of drying it out. Also, the DME said to clean it with a vinegar and water mixture. I hate the odor of vinegar.

[jdm2857]

Many forum users rarely clean their hoses (actually their xPAP's hoses) and report having few problems. If you hate vinegare, you could use a bit of mild dishwashing liquid. To dry the hose, tie a small piece of clean cloth to a 7' long string with a small weight tied to the other end. Drop the weight into the hose, and pull the cloth through a few times.

[Goofproof]

I don't cleam mine, I don't use water in my HH either, but if I wanted to worry about cleaning it I would clean it in the morning and hand it ofer a door to dry. NOT the bathroom door, bathrooms are not clean ever... Jim

[dels]

I wash mine weekly at least. After a serious battle with a drug resistant pseudomonas in my lungs I just wont risk other wise. My doctor recomends ( the infection doctor) washing everything weekly.

[katcw]

For those who don't want to use vinegar, would lemon juice work? Similar acid content, nicer smell.

[Bert_Mathews]

For those who don't want to use vinegar, would lemon juice work? Similar acid content, nicer smell.

GREAT Substitute for Vinegar! Your right the ACID is the agent in Vinegar that kills any mold.
Now for my story In two years I "HAVE NOT" cleaned a hose or even replaced the hose on one machine that gets about 50% of my use. ALSO never use DISTILLED WATER <just clean the tanks weekly with LEMON JUICE> & Go throw a tank of water per night. I use tap well water / Bottled water while traveling! (That should draw some CRITICS !!)
jdm2857 has the SOLUTION for DRYING the Hose.........

BERT " There are too many other things to worry about!"

[Wulfman]

Would mold build up in the hose if you use a humidifier? I've been using the same hose for 2 months without cleaning it. I'm hesitant to clean it because of the problem of drying it out. Also, the DME said to clean it with a vinegar and water mixture. I hate the odor of vinegar.

I'm still using the same hose that I started with in May of 2005.......and I still haven't "cleaned" it. But, I live in a very low humidity area and I only use passover (cool) humidification with my machine with distilled water.....plus, I hardly ever disconnect it from the mask and the tank.
To my way of thinking, the more you disconnect the hose and insert items inside it (rags, rods, brushes, etc.), the greater the chance that "things" (like bacteria) may be introduced to have a chance to grow inside it.


Den

[RipVW]

I just clean mine with neutrogena cleansing liquid soap & hot water. But, I do use a hose connector to connect the hose to itself on both ends, then rotate the hose and let the hot soapy water soak for awhile before a hot water rinse. Then, I hang it in the closet to dry, and use another hose, so the just cleaned one has plenty of time to dry.

[bdp522]

Use only distilled water in HH. Never clean hose, never dry hose.

Brenda

[clanrat]

I have used tap water in my HH tank for years with no problems. Bottled water when travelling.

I clean my tank and hose monthly with baby shampoo and hang it over the door knob to dry.

Whenever I get a new mask - 6-9 months for me - I do the full vinegar disinfect routine on the tank and hose. I think I'll try lemon juice after reading this thread. There are also commercial germicidal preparations that should be safe to use on the plastic.

I sure wish I could toss my tank parts in the dishwasher, but I'm not brave enough to try it. I'm worried the heat would separate the rubber from the metal base on mt REMStar Auto tank.

[dsm]

Would mold build up in the hose if you use a humidifier? I've been using the same hose for 2 months without cleaning it. I'm hesitant to clean it because of the problem of drying it out. Also, the DME said to clean it with a vinegar and water mixture. I hate the odor of vinegar.

I clean mine with mouthwash slightly diluted. Great thing is, when you go to use the hose you get a really clean-mouth feel

Method is to pour 2 capfuls of Listerine (or your fav nouthwash) in one end & 2 capfuls of warm water then hold thumbs over each end & tilt the hose one way then the other so the solution sloshes from end to end.

DSM

[pagebypage]

Go ahead and clean it out. Vinegar is probably a good choice; if you don't like the smell put it on your machine and run it for a few minutes to dry it out and get rid of the smell. Then it should be ready for nightly use.

I don't use a himidifier any more, but when I did, I used tap water and didn't clean it or even worry about drying it. Oh I might have cleaned it once, but I never worried about drying it since it helped with the humidity and I never had any rain out.

[harry33]

Ive had black mould in my mask which is nasty as it produces spores that you breathe in

I soak it all in cold water and chlorine bleach then soak and wash in warm water and detergent

avoid hot water as it softens some clips that hold masks together so they come apart

[cpapqueen1]

NO CHLORINE BLEACH!!!! You'll kill the lining of your lungs along with the bacteria!!

[Roeschti]

NO CHLORINE BLEACH!!!! You'll kill the lining of your lungs along with the bacteria!!

So true.
I will probably use Isopropyl alcohol. Or Ethanol, not sure yet.