Intro, Cleaning Habits, etc.

[Amishboy51]

First, my apologies for asking about something that's probably already been asked a million times, but I'm a newbie to this forum and tried to search, but didn't find anything that specifically addressed this.

Am I crazy/wrong to be washing all my equipment everyday? I'm especially wondering about the hose, because every so often I have "rainout," and wondered if it might be due to moisture remaining after cleaning. Most of the time, though, I don't have any rainout issues, even without the use of a cozy.

Typically, I wash the hose every morning in the shower, and then just let air-dry the rest of the day. I also wash the mask and humidifier reservoir in mild soap each morning and also let air-dry the rest of the day. I have the cpap/humidifier setup on the nightstand, pretty close to mattress level.

I've been doing it this way for most of the time I've been on cpap, which is about 17 years now. I'm generally compliant and use the cpap about 7.5-8 hours/night. That said, I have to say that I'm still somewhat tired during the day and sometimes nod off in front of the tv or sitting in front of the computer, in addition to the occasional rainout issues mentioned above.

So, if anyone has any comments or suggestions about anything I've mentioned above, much appreciated.

[LSAT]

In my opinion...if you spend 10 minutes a day cleaning your equipment, you are wasting 60 hours a year or 1020 hours (42 days) over the 17 years you have been on CPAP. You will find many opinions about cleaning if you go back and search the postings.

[JDS74]

Congratulations on your cleaning regimen. Most of us don't clean often enough.

Two suggestions:

1) Get a second hose and swap them each day. That will give you 48 hours for drying. I need to start doing this.
2) Use distilled water in the humidifier chamber. Then cleaning can be done less frequently without any worries if you dump the water and refill daily.

[Sandra_ON]

I was told by my RT to wash the humidifier tank daily and the mask part. Wash the hose weekly along with the headgear. The rainout is not caused by washing it but from breathing. You can buy a heated hose (which I did) or there are hose covers you can purchase. Since I bought the heated hose, no rainout!

[Amishboy51]

In my opinion...if you spend 10 minutes a day cleaning your equipment, you are wasting 60 hours a year or 1020 hours (42 days) over the 17 years you have been on CPAP. You will find many opinions about cleaning if you go back and search the postings.

I think you value my time way more than I do!

Seriously, though, it's become habit over the years, so it doesn't bother me any more than showering and shaving every day does.

Congratulations on your cleaning regimen. Most of us don't clean often enough.

Two suggestions:

1) Get a second hose and swap them each day. That will give you 48 hours for drying. I need to start doing this.
2) Use distilled water in the humidifier chamber. Then cleaning can be done less frequently without any worries if you dump the water and refill daily.

Thanks for the congrats, but I guess I should mention that I already use distilled water and still clean the chamber daily (thereby, of course, needing to use fresh water every night). Maybe somewhat anal, but I guess I thought those were the manufacturer's instructions, which I didn't question.

[Julie]

If you breathe room air all day every day, and don't wash out your nose, there's no reason to wash the hose! If you've been sick and are concerned about a recurrence (which really doesn't happen a lot) then you might want to clean it one time, but otherwise makes no sense at all! And using wipes on the mask cushion every few days, plus a weekly wash, should be more than enough. You don't live in a sterile environment and your set-up is not invasive. You may, in fact, be cheating yourself of the benefits of a strong immune system by leaving your system 'too scrubbed' to live in the real world. Microbes won't kill you unless you're already seriously immune compromised. None of us came with Lysol, hot water or even vacuums, yet most have survived pretty well.

[Wulfman...]

First, my apologies for asking about something that's probably already been asked a million times, but I'm a newbie to this forum and tried to search, but didn't find anything that specifically addressed this.

Am I crazy/wrong to be washing all my equipment everyday? I'm especially wondering about the hose, because every so often I have "rainout," and wondered if it might be due to moisture remaining after cleaning. Most of the time, though, I don't have any rainout issues, even without the use of a cozy.

Typically, I wash the hose every morning in the shower, and then just let air-dry the rest of the day. I also wash the mask and humidifier reservoir in mild soap each morning and also let air-dry the rest of the day. I have the cpap/humidifier setup on the nightstand, pretty close to mattress level.

I've been doing it this way for most of the time I've been on cpap, which is about 17 years now. I'm generally compliant and use the cpap about 7.5-8 hours/night. That said, I have to say that I'm still somewhat tired during the day and sometimes nod off in front of the tv or sitting in front of the computer, in addition to the occasional rainout issues mentioned above.

So, if anyone has any comments or suggestions about anything I've mentioned above, much appreciated.

If you do a forum search on "cleaning", you'll find most of those million posts.

Personally, I wouldn't consider your cleaning routine to be all that "clean". If you're going to clean it that way, why bother?

I've used the same hose for nine years and have never "cleaned" it.
"Rainout" is too much humidity for the air to carry. In other words, the heated humid air is cooling in the hose or mask and condensing into water. You either need to turn down the setting or increase the temperature in the hose or room. The consistency (or lack thereof) of rainout can depend on the time of year and the ambient temperatures and relative humidity.

Your tiredness could be caused by ineffective therapy, insufficient pressure or using a range of pressures with an APAP, not enough sleep or other factors (like other health issues).


Den

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[SleepWrangler]

Typically, I wash the hose every morning in the shower, and then just let air-dry the rest of the day.

Personally, I wouldn't consider your cleaning routine to be all that "clean". If you're going to clean it that way, why bother?

Ya, I think the bathroom and kitchen probably have a lot more contaminants than any other area of the home ... especially if they are shared with other people or animals.

[Islandwoman]

I have been a "user" since November 25,2013. My first reaction to cleaning was germophobia. I washed every thing every day. Now every week or two except for humidifier. I tried cleaning weekly(distilled water) but invisible slime could be felt when I touched the inside of the reservoir . Now I empty the tank in the morning rinse in filtered water(under sink, catches amoeba, most bacteria)and air dry upside down. No more slime. I have an electric teakettle and after dinner I fill it with the filtered water and boil for herbal tea. At bed time I fill the reservoir with the cooled water left in the pot. I also hang the hose over my bedroom door to get it out of the way and air it out. My obsessiveness has lessened with CPAP therapy and I can't believe how well I feel.

[Amishboy51]

First, thanks everyone for your responses.

So, the consensus seems to be that I'm washing everything way too often, as well as unnecessarily emptying and refilling the distilled water daily?

And the rainout has nothing to do with the hose position/CPAP machine height and everything to do with the hose temperature? So all I have to do is use the cozy more consistently or get a heated hose?

[Julie]

It's not the rainout has nothing to do with humidifier position, but that the cozy and/or heated hose can help very much. I'd still not put the machine above your head if you have a choice. And emptying good (paid for) DW is unnecessary. IF you eventually see pinkish residue in the water tank (that needs cleaning with a Q tip or something similar, with a follow up rinse of course, then clean the tank... there's no way to get such perfect water that you'll never see any problem or need to clean it, but the frequency, unless you have very hard water and don't use distilled, could probably be a lot less.

[HoseCrusher]

I tell people to clean according to their immune system. If you don't have leaks and never get sick you probably don't need to clean as often as a person that frequently gets sick and has facial oils that effect mask seal.

I have a good immune system but clean my mask, hoses, and humidifier chamber daily. It only takes a couple of minutes. The reason is because I have grandchildren that think my mask is part of flying an imaginary airplane. We take great "trips" together and have great adventures. But, I think it prudent to clean up after they are done.

[Lukie]

Everyone has different standards for cleaning their CPAP equipment for as many reasons.
I personally tend to clean my equipment more than many because I am older and prone to pneumonia and colds.
Now just this week I saw an article that linked CPAP use with pneumonia and warned all to keep their stuff clean.
So here is my routine.

I wash my mask and humidifier with warm water and Ivory liquid daily.
I hang my hose up to air out daily
I wash my hose weekly with warm water and Ivory liquid.
Once a month I wash all my equipment with soap and water and soak it in Control 3 disinfectant
that kills staph etc
I have two hoses so I wash one and let it dry and use the other one. If it has
droplets in it I will blow air from the machine through it.

[Julie]

Can someone please explain to me the logic of washing out the hose? The hose that blows ordinary, room air that you breathe all the time when not on Cpap, and that is then put through 1 or 2 filters in the machine and into your resp. system just like it is in the daytime? I really would like to understand your reasoning... really.

[Amishboy51]

Speaking only for myself, I can't supply any reasoning, except following the manufacturer's instructions. And, somehow, putting something near your mouth and breathing into it just makes it seem like cleaning would be helpful.