Cleaning the Bleep interface + tubing

I'm trying out the new version of the Bleep mask, and the improvements in tube flexibility and vent diffusion are really making a difference. Before long, I'm betting I will change my profile -- kind of like divorcing the Aloha and saying "I do" to the Bleep.

The instructions say to wash the interface + tubing every day, and they also say to wash them by agitating them in soapy water then soaking them for 10 minutes before rinsing.

Is that what other users do? And for those of you who have the new version, do you leave the little pieces of white diffusing substance and the black bikini bottom (you know the bit I mean) in place when you wash the interface/tubing? I assume you do but want to be sure.

Big surprise but I don't wash it daily... More like once a month when I think about it.
I have done both...left the bikini thong on and removed it but when I put it back on I accidentally tore part of the skinny black bikini.
I also changed the filter material at the same time. I left it torn and just put it back on and it still holds the filter material and to be honest I can't even see the torn spot unless I look real close. All it needs to do is sort of hold the filter diffuser in place anyway. Not a critical issue. The bikini is very fragile. No way would I try removing it daily. That's just asking for it to get torn putting it back on repeatedly. I would leave it on until I decided it was time to change the filter diffuser material.

Manufacturer's cleaning guidelines generally err to maximum safety to cover their own butts;
and if you break it, they have MORE to sell.
Some things last longer if you keep them clean--but clean too much, it wears out faster.

Many thanks to you both; I appreciate the guidance. I think maybe I'll do the 10 minute soak, removing nothing, but just once a week. I can manage that.

You will eventually want to change the diffuser material just be extra careful sliding the bikini off the round air intake thing.
Off is easy...putting back on is when I tore the thin area. I wasn't as careful as I needed to be. It's a tight fit but then it has to be a tight fit and also thin because we don't want the vent holes blocked by solid material.

Oh...when you do change the diffuser filter material you only need a couple of layers to get the job done. Doesn't take much to be a sufficient diffuser. Thin section and tiny.

Ah! Thanks for explaining this. (And I wish they'd have mentioned this in their literature.) Every couple of months often enough?

I think I went 3 months before I changed the filter material.
I got a chance to demo the new bikini thing last spring but you will be able to tell when it discolors to the point that washing doesn't seem to do the trick. Most likely more of a yuck factor than anything else but there comes a point when even I am bothered by yuck coloring. Might have lasted longer if I was more religious about the washing. Oh well.. I am not going to change after all these years.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:07 am

. . . yuck coloring. : . . .

Makes you wonder . . .
They could have chosen a color that doesn't stain,
but that might have been too "user friendly".
I guess they don't do that.

Less reason for me to switch.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:54 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:07 am

. . . yuck coloring. : . . .

Makes you wonder . . .
They could have chosen a color that doesn't stain,
but that might have been too "user friendly".
I guess they don't do that.

Less reason for me to switch.

Would you want to use a filter in your machine that started out black?

Heck, people were freaking out over their P10 vent holes having a black tinge to them that they couldn't remove.
People seem to not like dark or yellow for some reason or other. Yuck factor is important to some people. Others maybe not so much.

One little ResMed filter will provide enough diffuser machine to last for years even if someone changed it once week.
I have one such filter that I deconstructed just for diffuser material and it was easy to do. One could use a couple of layers of gauze material if they wished.
Even F & P with their optional filters use a blue like filter and offer replacements for a reason. It eventually will stain as well.
Our exhaled breath just contains stuff that will stain products...even the P10 vent holes eventually will stain. Would it have been better to have a black P10 to start with?

Yuck factor -- got it!

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 1:33 pm

Yuck factor -- got it!

Yeah, kinda like bed hair in the morning. It doesn't bother me unless I look in the mirror so I try not to look.

But this reminds me...I probably do need to go change the filter in the machine. When I can't remember when I last changed it then it usually means I most likely have surpassed my own yuck factor limits on the machine filter. It's probably the one thing I do with my equipment that I am the most religious about. Partly to protect the machine's inner workings and partly to protect my own inner workings. I live out in the country in a 60 year old farmhouse and it's dusty as all get out. The machine filter is the one thing that I don't let slide very often.

So the black is only coming from soil--not a part, like the bikini thing?
My bad.
I have seen silicone stains from colored plastic, tape, whatever; so if not that, then ok, I guess.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 1:46 pm

So the black is only coming from soil--not a part, like the bikini thing?
My bad.
I have seen silicone stains from colored plastic, tape, whatever; so if not that, then ok, I guess.

Correct. The black or darkening of the diffuser material is from our own exhaled breath. It's totally unrelated to the color of the bikini and the bikini doesn't bleed into the filter when washed either. The bikini feels more like plastic with nubs on it to grab the filter material. It's not cloth with dye in it. It's a very thin and tiny piece of plastic.

Back before I got the bikini and I was just using the regular rectangular filter up against the vent holes to be my diffuser I would notice little circles of discoloration corresponding to the area of the Bleep where the vent holes are. Very easy to spot when the rest of the rectangle filter was white and a much larger white area. Definitely coming from me. That discoloration still happens with the bikini holding the filter material. I used to just wash it out when I used the big rectangle until the rectangle fell apart. It is soil from my breath. Probably my potty mouth.

The color of the bikini isn't the problem and I suppose they could have used a different color but the contrast with the black and white makes it much easier to see where to place the little slivers of filter material to act like a diffuser. You would just have to see it and how tiny things are to get the real impact of what such a little area we are working with. If you cut a dime into quarters the sections would still be considerably larger than what we work with in terms of the filter slices.

Wow I just figured out that's a real mask I would probably be interested in as a replacement for resmed swift lt i've been hoarding but can't find on the secondary market,, and not a moderator covered swear word. Must be 2020.

Makes you wonder how the name was chosen--or who was trusted to name it . . .
Or why . . .