Is it really necessary to clean your mask & tubing ?

[Physician]

I have two brothers in law who have been on cpap for years and neither of them ever wash anything.

Are they still alive ?

[Sillyme]

It always amuses me that people think they can "infect" themselves with their own germs.

Maybe it's the ads for tooth brush sanitizers. I believe there is a limited time that bacteria can live on a dry surface. Viruses I don't know. But my shower curtain liner regularly gets spots of mildew that need to be bleached and it doesn't have anything organic to grow on. And my cat's water bowl will get slimy if it's not washed every day. My mouth usually tastes pretty yucchy in the morniong even though I brush at night and I don't know what organisms cause that. I think I feel better washing the mask parts and humidifier at least every other day.

[Muse-Inc]

...regularly clean our mask/pillows and tubing, preferably with baby shampoo and water rinses...

I now soak in a Dawn solution for several hrs before maskup, then rinse well. I spray with white vinegar if the least bit of slickness remains, then let air dry on my night stand.

...is there evidence that this does any actual good other than esthetics and a warm fuzzy feeling of cleanliness...

I need the silicon and my skin to be very clean to get a good seal.

[Sillyme]

I now soak in a Dawn solution for several hrs before maskup, then rinse well. I spray with white vinegar if the least bit of slickness remains, then let air dry on my night stand.

I've been told to use Ivory dish soap or Neutrogena (sp?) face soap. My insurance only pays for new soft parts every three months. I wonder if soaking that long does anything to deteriorate the silicone. Those mass produced parts are so ridiculously expensive.

[Muse-Inc]

...I've been told to use Ivory dish soap or Neutrogena (sp?) face soap...wonder if soaking that long does anything to deteriorate the silicone...

None since I started doing this last January or so. My nasal discharge (gotta love allergies) is really sticky (probably a lot of proteins) and tough to remove...Dawn is the only thing that works well. Used to have allergic reactions to the Dawn residues, gone now thank goodness, as I was having to re-wash with an eco-friendly soap to get rid of the Dawn residues.

[Sillyme]

Dawn is the only thing that works well. Used to have allergic reactions to the Dawn residues, gone now thank goodness, as I was having to re-wash with an eco-friendly soap to get rid of the Dawn residues.

Come to think of it - Isn't Dawn the detergent that worked so well on the oil covered birds?

[erika]

My husband has had his CPAP machine for 10 years. I've never seen him clean anything- mask, tubing, filter.
I've had mine for a month and have been cleaning the nasal pillows daily. I haven't cleaned anything else though.

The fact he doesn't clean his grosses me out. He does get a sinus infection about once a year. I wonder if it is related.

[Muse-Inc]

...Come to think of it - Isn't Dawn the detergent that worked so well on the oil covered birds?

Yup, great for dispersing grease...used to use it on grease stains on clothes, then read that shampoo works better...tried it, yup, shampoo is best for getting grease spots out of clothes. I am not willing to risk my expensive silicon mask parts to try shampoo as a cleaner

[plr66]

I am not willing to risk my expensive silicon mask parts to try shampoo as a cleaner

Why not? I used baby shampoo daily on a single set of nasal pillows for nearly a year and never needed replacement pillows...

[Wulfman]

My husband has had his CPAP machine for 10 years. I've never seen him clean anything- mask, tubing, filter.
I've had mine for a month and have been cleaning the nasal pillows daily. I haven't cleaned anything else though.

The fact he doesn't clean his grosses me out. He does get a sinus infection about once a year. I wonder if it is related.

One thing I definitely clean/wash on a regular basis is the (foam) intake air filter (once or twice a month). Depending on the machine model, most of them are washable.

You might want to check his out. For one thing, if they get plugged up, it's hard on the machine and will wear it out sooner. The other is that the air coming in could be restricted.......and affect the performance of the machine......besides being somewhat "dirty".


Den

[SleepyT]

This is one topic that is heavily debated here...to clean or not to clean! You realize there is only one way to put this one to bed, right? Someone needs to swab the various cpap parts...hoses, masks, etc. and see what grows in a petri dish. That should solve once and for all whether we need to regularly clean our cpap equipment.

Is there a scientist among us?

[Sillyme]

This is one topic that is heavily debated here...to clean or not to clean! You realize there is only one way to put this one to bed, right? Someone needs to swab the various cpap parts...hoses, masks, etc. and see what grows in a petri dish. That should solve once and for all whether we need to regularly clean our cpap equipment.

Is there a scientist among us?

Maybe some people build up a resistance to the things that multiply on unwashed masks. Soap and water aren't really going to disinfect anything - just slow down the growth. I like the smell (or lack of smell) of a clean mask. I think it's more of an aesthetic thing.

[Jaylee]

I use Dawn as well, but I only soak for a couple of minutes once a week, not hours. My mask doesn't get as grimy as other people's, I think. It never smells funny and never has gunk on it. Maybe I am just special?

[SleepyT]

This is one topic that is heavily debated here...to clean or not to clean! You realize there is only one way to put this one to bed, right? Someone needs to swab the various cpap parts...hoses, masks, etc. and see what grows in a petri dish. That should solve once and for all whether we need to regularly clean our cpap equipment.

Is there a scientist among us?

Maybe some people build up a resistance to the things that multiply on unwashed masks. Soap and water aren't really going to disinfect anything - just slow down the growth. I like the smell (or lack of smell) of a clean mask. I think it's more of an aesthetic thing.

True..and I agree...I like the smell of clean cpap equipment. I use soap and water to clean with...and then I use the Control III disinfectant (from cpap.com). It kills everything!

[Goofproof]

Your body has billions of germs in it, many are needed to stay healthy. The air we breath daily is filled with germs and pollution, it doesn't kill us, infact, what doesn't kill up makes us stronger. The body has immune responses to germs we run into, that prepare our bodies for the invasion and leave us stronger in the future.

In this country, we are being taught be marketing that everything is bad and marketing has the cure, it's not and they don't. Just because you see it on T.V. (AD), or read about it in the news or mag, doesn't mean it's true or worth concern, the idea is to scare you into buying a product.

What is true is that many products that kill germs, make way for better and more dangerous germs, germs that are resistant to our attempts to kill them. Jim