Advice on cleaning & taking care of my CPAP!

[Dominguez1]

Can someone tell me whats the best way to clean out my CPAP kit! the hose, mask, etc....... what kind of detergent to use, how often do i have to do it??? does the hose have to be washed from the inside to? O and last but not least the humidifier, how to wash it & how often ???

[msla]

If you have a foam filter, wash and dry it weekly. You will find a coating of dust on it. Disposable filters, inspect monthly and replace as needed. Hose wash out from the inside monthly or as needed. If you have a lot of "rainout" (condensation of humidity in the hose and mask), you will want to clean frequently. Take the mask apart and wash it. Soft mask parts recommended is daily. I have used Ivory liquid dish soap as it does not have too many added scents to annoy me when I try to go to sleep. Mask headgear and chin straps, weekly to monthly. If you use distilled water in the humidifier and empty and dry it each morning, you should be able to go weekly or longer between washings. I have successfully used the bulk reverse osmosis/deionized/UV treated water from the dispenser at the grocery store. I fill a 2-3 gallon refrigerator container with a spigot at the bottom making it easy to fill the resevior. You can use potable tap water, but you will get a build up of mineral and crud over time. Washing daily will keep the humidifier clean in this case. You can clean the minerals out by soaking in vinegar and rinsing well. Use a damp cloth on the outside of the machine.

Rolf

[Jersey Girl]

I replace my disposable filter once a month. I wash my hose and mask once each week with Ivory Dish Washing liquid and very warm water. I soak my chamber in distilled vinegar once a week - 1 part distilled vinegar to 3 parts water. Rinse thoroughly.

Best regards,

Jersey Girl

[brazospearl]

Some of us don't wash our equipment nearly as often as the manufacturers recommend. I soak everything when I first get it, to get rid of the plastic-y smell. Then I wash the mask when I think about it and the hose very rarely. Headgear every couple of weeks. I think there's more danger of nasty stuff getting in the hose the more frequently it's washed, but ymmv. Find what works best for you.

[Julie]

The point is that the whole thing is such a closed system that chances of actually needing to clean anything often are pretty slim. The mask doesn't (and often shouldn't be) need to come all apart - it's often really hard to put it back together - just use sterile wipes on the cushion and/or very mild baby or 'pure' soap (ask pharmacy) of some kind on it, no perfumes or other chemicals as some can deteriorate the silicone. The humidifier and hose are all one-way things, usually with just distilled water in them so you can probably go indefinitely without bothering.

[bdp522]

I started out cleaning everything daily. After reading here I changed that! I clean the nasal pillows daily using wipes(a clean mask seals better) and once a month I wash them with Dawn dishwashing liquid followed by a vinegar/water soak and rinse(to remove any soap residue). I clean my hose....never. I clean the humidifier once or twice a year(distilled water only), I just top it off every other day. Foam filter gets washed(with Dawn) monthly and disposable filter replaced monthly, during our high pollen season I change the disposable filter weekly and wash the foam filter weekly.

Brenda

[chunkyfrog]

I had to clean my humidifier chamber--Even with using only distilled water in it--it had MOLD in it!
That was the disposable tank--I now have the washable tank. My doctor happily wrote the RX after he was told about the mold.