Stupid Pillow Tricks

[DiverCTHunter]

I know this has been asked and answered a million times, but...

How the heck do I get a new pair of nasal pillows to stay in until the silicone starts hardening up?

[chunkyfrog]

Lansinoh, just a really thin smear on the skin where it touches. Sticky!
(can I come along when you go through the check out?)
Actually, I've never had silicone "harden up" You've had this happen before?
Or do you mean it's pulling out of the frame?

[DiverCTHunter]

Lansinoh, just a really thin smear on the skin where it touches. Sticky!
(can I come along when you go through the check out?)

Sorry Chunkyfrog, I bought the CVS brand online.

Actually, I've never had silicone "harden up" You've had this happen before?
Or do you mean it's pulling out of the frame?

Umm... Maybe I'm crazy, but I thought that's why some of us boil our pillows.

[chunkyfrog]

I boil when the silicone gets cloudy and limp, and sometimes because it smells like it needs it.

[khauser]

Lansinoh, just a really thin smear on the skin where it touches. Sticky!
(can I come along when you go through the check out?)

It should be interesting when I go to get that add well. I do have adult daughters but I'm pretty sure they'd turn me down, even if they have no problems asking me to get them feminine supplies...

[Space Oddity]

How the heck do I get a new pair of nasal pillows

Somewhere in the forum there is a long post with photos showing how to use ladies tights to keep the pillows on a hybrid mask from popping out. Seems to have been a popular way to do it at one time.

[Janknitz]

chunkyfrog wrote:Lansinoh, just a really thin smear on the skin where it touches. Sticky!
(can I come along when you go through the check out?)

Totally off topic (sorry for the thread jack) but I bet he won't raise an eyebrow when he goes through check out. But here's a funny story: When I lived in Hawaii and we were trying to conceive, I found that home pregnancy tests were VERY expensive there. My friend in California offered to buy me a bunch and send them to me, but she had trouble finding them in the drugstore. Finally she found a clerk and asked. She said they waited until she went into the next aisle to start laughing. She was EIGHT MONTHS pregnant at the time!

Ahem, well, back on topic now. Diver, I think we're all confused by what you mean:
"How the heck do I get a new pair of nasal pillows to stay in until the silicone starts hardening up". Stay in WHERE? In your nose, in the frame? This question is also confusing because most of us find the silicone starts out pretty stiff and hard and softens over time and use. That's why people boil them--it firms them up again. Or did you mean getting the pillows to stay in the water during boiling???

[DiverCTHunter]

Yes, the pantyhose or floss fixes were what i was after.

For some reason, new pillows feel softer to my nose than older ones. I cycle between two pillow/cushion sets and leave the off pair in a tub of sanitizer solution. The new pillows are tackier than the older ones (until I boil the old set).

The new ones spread out over the evening and start to seal themselves off against the outer sides of my nostrils. (Pretty sure this is common).

I put Lanolin on the skin around the outer nares and just barely inside the nostril. On the newer pillow set, this makes the pillows slide faster unless I hold them in place for 10-15 minutes until the Lanolin gets tacky.

Please excuse my ignorance if I have the terminology or application sites wrong.

[cosmo]

I cycle between two pillow/cushion sets and leave the off pair in a tub of sanitizer solution.

I was cleaning my 2 pillow sets last weekend. I dunked the mask parts in soapy water. I got side tracked and left them in there for an hour. The pillow and frame frosted up and were more stiff. Luckily I have backup replacement pillows.

I still clean with soap, but I quickly rinse now. The frosted pillows did soften over the days but I don't think I'm going to use them.

This was the soap I used.

[Janknitz]

The nasal pillows are manufactured at several different sites, and I remember they would vary from one pair to another--seems like some are made better than others within the same brand.

Cosmo, I use 7th Generation soap, too, but I've never noticed it clouding my silicone. I find the silicone tends to get cloudy with age.

[Christine L]

How the heck do I get a new pair of nasal pillows

Somewhere in the forum there is a long post with photos showing how to use ladies tights to keep the pillows on a hybrid mask from popping out. Seems to have been a popular way to do it at one time.

This is what I was told to use but I haven't tried a hybrid yet. wiki/index.php/Hybrid_Mask_Modifications

[cosmo]

Cosmo, I use 7th Generation soap, too, but I've never noticed it clouding my silicone. I find the silicone tends to get cloudy with age.

I did leave it in there for 1 hour soaking.

[chunkyfrog]

Silicone tends to absorb gases, scents (and, I suppose, any chemical with tiny molecules.)
I was able to get a bunch of cloudy nasal pillows nice and clear by washing in unscented dish soap,
rinsing in very diluted vinegar, boiling in distilled water and soda, and rinsing again in diluted vinegar
and then distilled water. (I had some time to kill; and had a mission)
Not sure it was worth all the bother, but eventually, I couldn't tell the boiled pillows from the new ones.

[cosmo]

How long did you boil for?