Is Putting Vinegar "In" Humidifier Water Safe?

[Cosmonaut.Chimp]

I would put in just a hint of Jasmine to smell nice!!!

[Cosmonaut.Chimp]

Can I substitute caffeine-free diet Dr. Pepper instead of distilled water?

[Unrestless]

Vinegar is not inert. Think about the reaction between vinegar and baking soda. That's because vinegar is acidic and baking soda is basic. What is the pH of your lungs? (I don't know, but don't want to chance it). Would you let vinegar set on certain kinds of surfaces? Likely it would erode them. I use vinegar to clean out mineral scale from my rice cooker. It does the trick nicely.

Your lungs are very, very delicate. Be careful with them. Distilled water only.

However, I don't rinse out my cpap when I clean it with vinegar. Because I mix distilled water and vinegar 50-50 to clean it. To rinse it with tap water seems to be rinsing it with something less clean than the vinegar/distilled water. I let it dry out thoroughly before I use it.

[Gasper62]

Easy to find the info.............. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0002.pdf

[archangle]

Bad idea. Even if it wasn't bad for you, vinegar fumes are corrosive and might be bad for your machine.

[chunkyfrog]

Put some vinegar on a tissue and try to breathe through it.
See how long THAT lasts!
Pickles smell good, but I would never stuff a pillow with them.
I am weird, but not THAT weird!

[SewTired]

Vinegar is a mild acid. You do risk damaging your humidifier if it is not designed to have a slightly acidic content.

[kteague]

As much as I enjoy the smell of vinegar (yes I said that) I'm not putting it in my humidifier. I do use vinegar when cleaning it though. Life is simpler when I can dismiss some things as absolute instead of expending thought, research and decision-making energies. This is one of mine. Don't need science as I have already decided to never put anything in my humidifier water. Saving those decision-making brains cells to apply to something required of me. I do have to be careful of my lungs though since they are already damaged by a toxic exposure to formaldehyde. As one doctor told me, I have been pre-embalmed. My sensitivities make this an easy decision. Maybe for someone else it would be completely safe. Interesting to read the replies though.

[Uncle_Bob]

The best place for malt vinegar is on British fish and chips. Always put the vinegar on before the salt.

[~Q~]

I use vinegar to clean my gear on occasion. I just thin down the vinegar with water, wash everything, and then let it dry before using it.

[yaconsult]

If you can drink the water and breathe the air in your house, then they are not a problem for your cpap machine. No special cleaning or filtering is needed.

Now, many of us save ourselves from the chore of having to remove mineral deposits from the water tank by using distilled water instead of tap water, but even the tap water is perfectly safe to drink - never mind the fact that you are only inhaling the water vapor.

Don't add anything to the water and you won't have to worry about the effects on your water tank or its seals or your body.

[flightco]

I don't think it's possible for regular vinegar that you would use in cooking to harm you.

Using that logic, inhaling broccoli isn't harmful either.

Anyway, in reponse to the OP, depending on the concentration, it can really FU your lungs:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0002.pdf

Right, the household use of acetic acid/vinegar is very concentrated. The vinegar you put on your chips and in your salad could be huffed all day long with probably no harmful effects.

I'd love to see a research piece on huffing broccoli.

even so, there must be a better way.

[Huydle]

I’m 5+ years late to the convo but thought I’d post this in case someone can benefit from the info.

We’ve been putting vinegar, about 1/2 cup, maybe a little more, into my baby daughters humidifier to prevent mold growth. Sometimes it would get the room smelling quite sour, but nevertheless daughter never seemed to have any respiratory difficulties.

I started having a problem with mold growth in my humidifier chamber so I started putting a small amount, maybe a couple teaspoons, into the water. The smell was unpleasant but after at least 2-3 nights I didn’t have any lung issues. Ultimately what made me stop using vinegar , however, is that it somehow made much more condensation form in the tubing, ultimately causing the elbow piece that connects the tubing to the mask to get wet, and when that happened the flappy valve piece would start making noise, which woke up my wife and led me to discontinue the practice of putting vinegar into my humidifier chamber.

Also for what it’s worth im a family doc and don’t think that breathing diluted vinegar would cause any significant clinical problem with the lungs, but I can’t say that with enough confidence to liberally recommend that. Maybe there’s a pulmonologist on the forum who can give their opinion?

[Deborah K.]

One day I accidentally poured about 1/4 cup of white vinegar in to top up the water in my tank. When I went to bed I simply could not stand the hideous smell. I dumped and rinsed it all very well and refilled. I still couldn't stand it. I had to dump again and this time very thoroughly wash the tank, my hose and my mask to get the stench out.

So no, I do not recommend adding vinegar to your tank. Because you are directly inhaling, the smell is very much stronger than you think it will be.

[palerider]

I’m 5+ years late to the convo but thought I’d post this in case someone can benefit from the info.

Also for what it’s worth im a family doc and don’t think

Anyway, in reponse to the OP, depending on the concentration, it can really FU your lungs:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0002.pdf

And THAT is why we don't have blind faith in doctors, many of whom "don't think"....