cleaning solutions for the lazy

[luke80]

Hey! hey, so like a lot of you I'm a little frightened and taking extra care of my respiratory health right now. During normal times, I just run my cpap through the 'soclean' ozone generator every morning and properly clean the hose and tub maybe once every week or two, but I do notice that when I'm coming down with something, it goes better if I actually scrub the hose out with the brush every night. (It doesn't always get done, but I try, and I'm pretty sure it's not just in my head; I do a lot better when I'm sick when my equipment is clean.)

Of course, I've now got a tickle in my throat and I'm coughing. I generally feel okay and have no idea if it's "it" but even if it's just a cold it's enough to put me on cleaning duty, and considering how bad "it" gets, I am being extra thorough.

Washing the thing is getting to be a real chore. (I'm one of the lucky ones who is still working... but I am dramatically less effective when working from home than I was in the office, so I'm putting in more hours and effort and often find myself messing with the cpap when I really should be sleeping; this is my third recession and I am acutely aware of just how important it is to maintain work performance during this time.)

What if I just bought 5 of the hoses, and swapped them out every night, then cleaned them all out every weekend?

If I did this, would it be better to just leave the dirty hoses somewhere dry? or should I submerge them in a soap/vinegar solution? is that gonna hurt the hoses to soak them for a few days out of the week? (I use the resmed 'heated hose')


Does this generally sound like a good idea? Am I missing some other easy automatic way to clean the cpap that works as well as scrubbing with that goddamn overgrown test tube brush?

[zonker]

Hey! hey, so like a lot of you I'm a little frightened and taking extra care of my respiratory health right now. During normal times, I just run my cpap through the 'soclean' ozone generator every morning and properly clean the hose and tub maybe once every week or two, but I do notice that when I'm coming down with something, it goes better if I actually scrub the hose out with the brush every night. (It doesn't always get done, but I try, and I'm pretty sure it's not just in my head; I do a lot better when I'm sick when my equipment is clean.)

please don't use soclean. see this thread-

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178909&p=1347695&hi ... n#p1347695

Does this generally sound like a good idea? Am I missing some other easy automatic way to clean the cpap that works as well as scrubbing with that goddamn overgrown test tube brush?

you are free to clean as much or as little as you like. but it really, really isn't necessary. you are breathing the exact same air through the machine as you are breathing without the machine. there really is no benefit from going what i would consider as being overboard with a cleaning routine.

[Wulfman...]

Hey! hey, so like a lot of you I'm a little frightened and taking extra care of my respiratory health right now. During normal times, I just run my cpap through the 'soclean' ozone generator every morning and properly clean the hose and tub maybe once every week or two, but I do notice that when I'm coming down with something, it goes better if I actually scrub the hose out with the brush every night. (It doesn't always get done, but I try, and I'm pretty sure it's not just in my head; I do a lot better when I'm sick when my equipment is clean.)

Of course, I've now got a tickle in my throat and I'm coughing. I generally feel okay and have no idea if it's "it" but even if it's just a cold it's enough to put me on cleaning duty, and considering how bad "it" gets, I am being extra thorough.

Washing the thing is getting to be a real chore. (I'm one of the lucky ones who is still working... but I am dramatically less effective when working from home than I was in the office, so I'm putting in more hours and effort and often find myself messing with the cpap when I really should be sleeping; this is my third recession and I am acutely aware of just how important it is to maintain work performance during this time.)

What if I just bought 5 of the hoses, and swapped them out every night, then cleaned them all out every weekend?

If I did this, would it be better to just leave the dirty hoses somewhere dry? or should I submerge them in a soap/vinegar solution? is that gonna hurt the hoses to soak them for a few days out of the week? (I use the resmed 'heated hose')


Does this generally sound like a good idea? Am I missing some other easy automatic way to clean the cpap that works as well as scrubbing with that goddamn overgrown test tube brush?

Why don't you change your Subject line to "Cleaning solutions for the utterly stupid"?

search.php?keywords=soclean

Why even "clean" a hose? THERE IS NOTHING IN IT TO CLEAN!
What a friggin' wast of time!!!

But, if you insist on wearing out your hoses (and wasting time cleaning them), do it in the evening and then the residual moisture in it (if any) will be added to your water vapor coming from your HH tank through your hose.


Den

.

[luke80]

please don't use soclean. see this thread-

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178909&p=1347695&hi ... n#p1347695

hm. My problem is mostly that the thing stays moist all the time, and it starts to smell a little funny pretty fast if I don't do anything. The soclean solves that problem, mostly, as the thread above would put it by disinfecting but not cleaning. I did a little more reading (should have done that before posting) and it sounds like resmed says you should hang up the hoses to dry every day and wash them every week:

https://www.resmed.com/epn/en/healthcar ... ifier.html

"In general, the air tubing should be removed every day by pulling on the finger grips on the cuff. Hang the tubing in a clean, dry place until its next use."

I'll start doing that.

Maybe the problem is that to tolerate it, especially when I'm coming down with something, I feel the need to crank up the humidifier, so my gear ends up more wet than usual. This would be consistent with other people I know who don't mess with the humidifier settings and never clean the thing and don't really have problems.

[chunkyfrog]

Soclean's target market are fools with more money than brains.
There! I said it.

[LSAT]

If you are lazy and want a simpler way to clean your gear...read your manual. It says wash with soap and water. When I decide to wash my gear..which is not often..I use Dawn.

[palerider]

Soclean's target market are fools with more money than brains.
There! I said it.

I wonder how many of the trolls would have come out of the woodwork just to criticize me, had *I* said that...

[Thumper68]

Soclean's target market are fools with more money than brains.
There! I said it.

I wonder how many of the trolls would have come out of the woodwork just to criticize me, had *I* said that...

I estimate 72.7%

[chunkyfrog]

Soclean's target market are fools with more money than brains.
There! I said it.

I wonder how many of the trolls would have come out of the woodwork just to criticize me, had *I* said that...

True, but somebody had to state the obvious.

[Lifeisabeach]

Does this generally sound like a good idea? Am I missing some other easy automatic way to clean the cpap that works as well as scrubbing with that goddamn overgrown test tube brush?

No, no this does not sound generally like a good idea. It's crazy overkill. Look, I get you are trying to stay healthy, but obsessing over this isn't "healthy" either. There are more practical ways to minimize the time you spend on cleaning your gear. The first thing you need to do is stop using the SoClean device. Seriously, stop it. It's dangerous to your health and it's not even effective. That's the preliminary conclusion in the FDA's early testing and you can fully expect them to yank those products off the market in the near future. These things are also damaging your equipment according to ResMed. In fact, the warranty on new purchases since the end of February will be VOID if they determine there is damage caused by these devices. Seriously, just stop it. None of the regulars here use these damn things and you aren't any healthier than they are for having used it.

To address your complaint that your hose stays moist all the time... you didn't say what your humidity settings are set to. I used to have mine set to Auto, but I found that it would get too aggressively high so I scaled it back to a more moderate value. Same on the temperature. See if this helps. If anything, maybe set the temperature a little higher. Disconnecting your hose and letting it hang as ResMed suggests should be fine, although I don't see the need myself. My hose hangs on a hook on the wall over my machine in my bedroom by the mask strap when not in use, so most of any moisture that may be in there, when it condenses will go right back into the water chamber. Same diff as if I took it off the machine and hung it up to "dry". But what little does stay in the tube, so what? In the tube, in the chamber, what exactly do you think the difference is?

You didn't mention what your water source is for your water chamber. You can use tap water, distilled, and other sources, but what you use affects how often you need to clean. Using tap water means you should empty the chamber daily and let it air out. Let it go longer and minerals will build up as will bacteria. You can go longer without cleaning by using distilled water, maybe a few days before bacteria can become an issue? I personally use de-ionized water, which is purer than distilled water is. There's a sticky thread about distilled water.... read through the posts in that to find out more. I was getting sinus infections using distilled water until I switched to this stuff, though that would have been avoidable if I was more meticulous in cleaning in a more timely manner. I've typically gone 2-3 weeks or so without cleaning my water chamber, although I'm trying to stick to it weekly now just to be better about it.

Your mask... it should ideally be wiped off daily. A lot of folks use unscented baby wipes. Being lazy, I only clean mine once a week or so but I take it to the sink and use soap and water. Baby wipes are convenient, but wasteful and just more garbage that can be avoided if you care about that.

This is all you really need to do routinely. I wash my hoses once a month or so. Some folks don't wash them at all, but I do eventually get a very mild musky-like smell, or so I imagine I do. I just can't see how more often than once a week in the worst case scenario makes any sense at all as long as you are being sensible here in what you do.

[TropicalDiver]

Hey! hey, so like a lot of you I'm a little frightened and taking extra care of my respiratory health right now. During normal times, I just run my cpap through the 'soclean' ozone generator every morning and properly clean the hose and tub maybe once every week or two, but I do notice that when I'm coming down with something, it goes better if I actually scrub the hose out with the brush every night. (It doesn't always get done, but I try, and I'm pretty sure it's not just in my head; I do a lot better when I'm sick when my equipment is clean.)

Of course, I've now got a tickle in my throat and I'm coughing. I generally feel okay and have no idea if it's "it" but even if it's just a cold it's enough to put me on cleaning duty, and considering how bad "it" gets, I am being extra thorough.

Washing the thing is getting to be a real chore. (I'm one of the lucky ones who is still working... but I am dramatically less effective when working from home than I was in the office, so I'm putting in more hours and effort and often find myself messing with the cpap when I really should be sleeping; this is my third recession and I am acutely aware of just how important it is to maintain work performance during this time.)

What if I just bought 5 of the hoses, and swapped them out every night, then cleaned them all out every weekend?

If I did this, would it be better to just leave the dirty hoses somewhere dry? or should I submerge them in a soap/vinegar solution? is that gonna hurt the hoses to soak them for a few days out of the week? (I use the resmed 'heated hose')


Does this generally sound like a good idea? Am I missing some other easy automatic way to clean the cpap that works as well as scrubbing with that goddamn overgrown test tube brush?

I am super sensitive to mold. Every morning, I remove the humidifier chamber and empty it out. I set the hose in such a way that any residual moisture drains out. I set the tank out to air dry. I use a wipe on my mask. At bedtime, I refill the tank with distilled water.

Ideally weekly (but usually more like monthly), soap and water tank, hose, and mask. No brush. No soclean, If I am sick, I do the soap and water every few days to avoid the grossness.

Here is my logic: I need to avoid mold at all costs -- the best way to do that is to dry everything out each day. If I was super anal, I would just use a hurricane dryer to dry everything each morning. Most other potential pathogens are likely mine so....

[Dog Slobber]

I am super sensitive to mold. Every morning, I remove the humidifier chamber and empty it out. I set the hose in such a way that any residual moisture drains out. I set the tank out to air dry. I use a wipe on my mask. At bedtime, I refill the tank with distilled water.

Ideally weekly (but usually more like monthly), soap and water tank, hose, and mask. No brush. No soclean, If I am sick, I do the soap and water every few days to avoid the grossness.

Here is my logic: I need to avoid mold at all costs -- the best way to do that is to dry everything out each day. If I was super anal, I would just use a hurricane dryer to dry everything each morning. Most other potential pathogens are likely mine so....

Have you ever experienced mold in your CPAP equipment, or is your process purely preventative, knowing you'll react badly should any mold show up?

[chunkyfrog]

Known sensitivities are a legitimate reason to avoid mold, but
SOAP AND WATER will remove it--while ozone can only kill it.
Dead mold still contains the particles that trigger allergies.
Clean and lazy do not fit together.
There are NO SHORTCUTS!

[TropicalDiver]

Have you ever experienced mold in your CPAP equipment, or is your process purely preventative, knowing you'll react badly should any mold show up?

Yes, a bit around the lid gasket in my old S9. At that point, I was emptying the humidifier every two to four weeks. Every since, it has been preventive.

[palerider]

> cleaning solutions for the lazy

Take water, add soap. there's your cleaning solution.