Cleaning tips? Drying tips?

Well it is the weekend and I'm trying to clean my stuff for the first time.

The first issue that arose is the cleaning/disinfecting method. The manuals say to use "pure" soap nothing with moisturizers, fragrances, or antibacterial agents. They claim anything other than "pure" soap can damage the plastics/gel pieces. I looked at the entire counter of soaps today and I'm sorry to say there is no such thing as "pure" soap anymore. The closest thing to it is Dove's hypoallergenic soap with 1/4 moisturizer or softsoap's plain with an antibacterial additive. I ended up using the antibacterial stuff. I didn't won't the possibility of a greasy slipping leaking mask. The clinician's methods list using something called Cidex PRO or Opa or by using a disinfecting unit that raises a bath of water to a specific temperature.

So, I washed and rinsed the mask and hose and laid them out to dry and hung the hose up. The manuals say to make sure everything is dried completely. It is looking like that might be in a day or two. All the grooves and such in the hose and on the mask parts do not lend to maximum surface area for quick drying. Is there a surefire way to get the pieces (especially the hose pieces) to dry as quick as possible?

Yeah, don't use anything with moisturizer.
Try baby shampoo. That's what most people use.
As far as drying, give it a head start by drying it as much as possible with a lint free cloth.
Also, you can try Nuetrogena liquid soap.

Dr Bronners soap! It's real soap! I'm finding that my mask seal is lasting longer with the Dr Bronner's than with normal mild dish detergent.

To dry the hose, you can attach it to your CPAP and let it blow for however long it takes to dry (e.g. 30 minutes). Giving the hose a good spin above your head first will get rid of the larger drops of water.

I dry my mask by first shaking out all the water, then I assemble it and hang it upside down (attach the headgear in reverse), and it's usually dry in a couple of hours. I hardly ever wash the pastic pieces, just the silicon.

You may find that in time you get lazy with the cleaning of CPAP parts. That's OK too! My current system consists of thoroughly cleaning the mask silicon daily, and the tank from the humidifier weekly. The rest gets cleaned whenever I think about it or feel like it.

taberge wrote: Is there a surefire way to get the pieces (especially the hose pieces) to dry as quick as possible?

Well, you might try removing your SmartCard (so you're not registering a session), remove your humidifier, and just turn on the machine to blow through your hose and mask for awhile.

I wash almost nothing. I do my nasal pillow (swift) once in a while as it seals better when clean. For that I use plain old hand soap with whatever in it and I am on the first two pillows for over 2 years.

Other than that in my opinion and the opinion of many here, nothing else requires cleaning.

On cpap.com they have some hospital grade stuff to clean mask and hose. You put like an ounce in a big tupperware bowl with water and let sit for an hour or so. Then a little trick I came up with is I put it all back together rinse it and turn on machine I put the mask down and a pillow on top of it. It won't shut off because there is still some pressure on it, anyway that's what I do.

Take a look at this old thread for suggestions on soaps - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5712&p=51566#p51566