washing foam nasal mask

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Starfield
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2022 10:54 am

washing foam nasal mask

Post by Starfield » Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:48 am

I am new to this group and searched for previous posts about this with no luck.
I seem to perspire a lot on my face while wearing a silicone mask. My skin broke out terribly so I switched to a foam nasal mask. This helped but has given me issues with two things...

One: It states you can't wash it! Can you imagine wearing this thing and sweating to the point that the foam is very wet and not being able to wash it? What do you do to clean it?? It doesn't tell you on the tag how to clean it. It just says in 5 languages do not wash!

Two: I am getting severe leaks. Like air is rushing out on various sides at various times. This air is strong enough to wake me up. Now this could be because I did dampen the foam with soap and water and squish the excess water out. (I just couldn't take the idea of not cleaning the mask after sweating that badly) I think the foam seal could have squashed down and gotten less spongy creating leaks. I replaced the mask this morning with a new one but I'd like to figure out how to keep it clean before I use it.

I have the N20 foam nasal mask and a new Resmed CPAP machine if that makes a difference.

Any ideas?
Thank you, This group is a great resource. (I've been lurking in the background for a bit and this is my first post)

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ChicagoGranny
Posts: 14409
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 1:43 pm
Location: USA

Re: washing foam nasal mask

Post by ChicagoGranny » Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:13 am

Use an unscented baby wipe each morning ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6cDyMXQCpw&t=49s

Your mask leaks. It's not so easy to clean. It's recommended to replace the cushion every 30 days. It has a large footprint. It touches the sensitive area on the nose bridge.

Have you tried any different masks? You can peruse different models at cpap.com.

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robysue1
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Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:39 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY

Re: washing foam nasal mask

Post by robysue1 » Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:29 am

Starfield wrote:
Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:48 am
I am new to this group and searched for previous posts about this with no luck.
I seem to perspire a lot on my face while wearing a silicone mask. My skin broke out terribly so I switched to a foam nasal mask. This helped but has given me issues with two things...
Have you considered using a mask liner under the mask? That would keep the silicone seal from touching your face, but still allow you to use a mask with a cushion that can be washed.

Here's the link to cpap.com's selection of mask liners so you can see what I'm talking about: https://www.cpap.com/plp/cpap-mask-leaks/ZT0zMTc
Joined as robysue on 9/18/10. Forgot my password & the email I used was on a machine that has long since died & gone to computer heaven.

Correct number of posts is 7250 as robysue + what I have as robysue1

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clownbell
Posts: 369
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:46 pm

Re: washing foam nasal mask

Post by clownbell » Thu Sep 22, 2022 2:32 pm

Have you tried a pillow mask? Much less area to cover - ohly the nostrils. The rest of your skin is unaffected.
ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset with built in humidifier
Resmed P10 pillow mask