OK I slept pretty well last night

[deerhound]

Last night I changed the cushion on my UMFF. It probably had about one month's use in total. I also shaved, washed my face with Ivory bar soap and rinsed it. I then washed it with Nutrogena Men's Invigorating Face Wash, and rinsed it. I then swabbed down with a kleenex soaked with Seabreeze. This drastically cut down the oil on my face at 2:00AM when my machine ramped up to stop some snores. Mask started leaking a little but I was able to get the leaks under control with a little repositioning. Went back to sleep and woke up to the TV alarm at 5:20AM as normal.

What I would like to know is why, after a couple of month's of fine tuning and mask changing and really thinking I had this whipped, do I all of a sudden start having seemingly unsolvable leaks for a few weeks. Are the cushions for UMFF and Quattro masks that short lived? I wasn't planning on monthly cushion changes but maybe it's necessary. The face wash routine seemed to help.

Dale

[ozij]

I've disocvered that the best regime for my nasal pillow was a daily wash with Dr. Bonner's liquid soap of both pillows and nose. And I really mean daily.

O.

[nanuke]

I take my UMFF into the shower with me in the am. I use a castile liquid soap on the mask and on me, but I think that Dr. Bonner's would be better for the mask. What I use has peppermint extract in it.

I also have been swabbing down with Sea Breeze. It seems to make a big difference.

Even after over 2 decades of CPAP'ing I was quite ignorant about it until I recently discovered this site, however, I have heard that the cushion and headgear should be changed every 3 months. Don't know if that's true.

SLEEP WELL

[nomoore]

You don't say what you use to clean your mask. I use a touch of liquid dish soap to wash mine in because it is designed to cut grease really well. I wash it daily.

[deerhound]

Use liquid Ivory dish soap or baby shampoo to clean my mask daily. My nights all start out with a great seal. It seems like a few weeks ago my face just started pumping out lots of oil. Last night was much better than the last few weeks. I just wish things would stay constant so I'm not always tracking down how to solve a problem every few days.

Dale

[CorgiGirl]

Some people's chemistry is just more problematic...I clean my face and mask every day but I've found that the seals for my FF432 will only last one month. I've tried a variety of things to clean my mask, all with the same result. My husband almost never cleans his mask and his seals last longer than 6 months. I think it may just be your individual body chemistry reacting with the silicon.

I am trying the Remzzzs cloth liners to see if putting a physical barrier between my skin and the seal helps. They're kind of pricey if you use one each night, but I've found that I can use one for four nights before it becomes too stretched out. You can find them at http://www.remzzzs.com.