Silicone mask parts - wash in borax and water okay?

[DreamDiver]

20 Mule Team Borax is an excellent cleaner for most fabrics, plastics and metals. You can soak many things in a basin of water and borax to make them entirely free of odors, fungus and bacteria.

I'm curious if anyone has tried soaking silicone mask parts in Borax. Silicone seems like a pretty stable substance since you can boil things made of silicone in water for five minutes or longer to sterilize them. They turn a very little whiter, but after cooling and waiting a day, they go back to their original color.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Many items in the home can cause unexpected results when mixed with household cleaning agents. I'd rather use someone else's experience before messing up.

[Babette]

I have no idea. I soak my mask parts and hoses in 50/50 white vinegar and hot tap water. Seems to work pretty good for me.

I make a laundry detergent out of borax, which I use for all my laundry, including my chinstraps and snuggle hoses. But I don't usually put anything silicone in the laundry.

Good luck!
Babs

[Bearded_One]

Borax solution should be safe to use with silicone.

According to http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/o ... icone#chem

Silicone o-rings have a rating of 3 out of 4 for resistance to borax solutions, which is "Fair, usually OK for static seals". For reference, fresh water also has a rating of 3.

That table is a pretty good reference of what should be safe to use with silicone.

[DreamDiver]

Babs, Bearded_One,

Thanks for your replies. I expected there should be no adverse reaction, but wanted to hear if anyone else had had experience. I'll try soaking one piece of silicone and report back.

[Guest]

To go off topic, Borax is a miracle cure if your dog has fleas and infests your carpet with them. I sprinkled on Borax, let it sit there a couple of days, and then vaccumed it up and the fleas were gone forever . I don't know if thats how I got my breathing disorder

[DreamDiver]

To go off topic, Borax is a miracle cure if your dog has fleas and infests your carpet with them. I sprinkled on Borax, let it sit there a couple of days, and then vaccumed it up and the fleas were gone forever . I don't know if thats how I got my breathing disorder

You mean OSA or something else?

[DreamDiver]

Okay, I tried Borax on one silicone mouth part. While it doesn't harm the silicone, it leaves a very fine white powdery residue on the silicone when it dries. You end up having to wash it again with lots of soap and some cotton swabs to get into tiny crevices. Yes it works, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.

Just some feedback.

zzz

[Hawthorne]

Did you rinse it thoroughly with warm water after you washed it in the borax solution? Just wondering because it might have saved all that extra if you didn't. If you did then Borax is too much work!

Thanks

[SleepyNoMoreNotLoggedIn]

Have you tried the Control 11?

You can purchase it at cpap.com!

[Babette]

I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap. I wash it well, scrubbing it with my fingers. Then I rinse, and follow up with a 50/50 hot water/white vinegar soak for a couple of hours. Rinse, then repeat the washing step, to cut the vinegar smell. Air dry.

No problems, no residue, works great, doesn't appear to break down the silicone.

Cheers,
Barbara

[Leonbergergirl]

I use Borax to clean the crusty burners on our gas stove...it is nasty.
Leonbergergirl

[DreamDiver]

Did you rinse it thoroughly with warm water after you washed it in the borax solution? Just wondering because it might have saved all that extra if you didn't. If you did then Borax is too much work!

Thanks

Yup. Too much work.

Have you tried the Control 11?

You can purchase it at cpap.com!

There's a similar product used in the greenhouse industry called 'GreenShield'. It's awesome at cleaning seed trays, getting rid of fungus and algae. It doesn't surprise me that someone has come up with a formulation for CPAP and laboratory equipment. I still haven't bought any, but a little goes a long way, if the mix proportions are the same as GreenShield.

I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap. I wash it well, scrubbing it with my fingers. Then I rinse, and follow up with a 50/50 hot water/white vinegar soak for a couple of hours. Rinse, then repeat the washing step, to cut the vinegar smell. Air dry.

No problems, no residue, works great, doesn't appear to break down the silicone.

Cheers,
Barbara

Yeah, I was just exploring whether borax would be an easy alternative and just reporting back. Borax is excellent for removing bacteria and odors on lots of things. For silicone items, it's just not worth the effort. Dr. Bronner's a great soap. I've used Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild, Ivory Liquid Hand Soap (no antibacterials). Someone on the forum was saying they used J&J's No More Tears Baby Shampoo effectively too.

[RipVW]

Yep, for daily soaking, Ivory Dishwashing liquid is my choice, but whenever I need to disinfect any CPAP equipment, I use Control III Disinfectant CPAP Cleaning Solution
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Contro ... eaner.html

[CPAP2011]

I use a Resmed P10 and clean it using a solution by mixing Borax with water. It takes a little agitation to get the borax to dissolve. I then soak the P10 and slimline hose (but not the strap!). I use a dedicated soft toothbrush to brush the vent holes in the P10. Then rinse with water. I have not had problems with "chalking" / deposits when I rinse well. I dry the hose and there is no vinegar smell and is seems much cleaner than I get when i use vinegar.

[Goofproof]

Just make sure the Mules don't step on the plastic parts and break them. Jim