Confused regarding Mask/Tubing/Humidifier Tub Cleaner

https://www.resmed.co.uk/professionals/ ... intenance/

Patients should not use any of the following to clean their humidifiers as these solutions may cause damage and reduce the life of the product:

Bleach, chlorine-, alcohol- or ammonia-based solutions
Moisturising, antibacterial or glycerine based soaps
Water softening and unapproved descaling agents

I'd be tempted to put the thing in the dishwasher

To future readers - Never disassemble or put anything in a dishwasher if you don't have a spare. AND you should have spares of each piece/part of your system you need to sleep.

IF not you may be the one who has a need on a long holiday weekend and understand that a cpap/bipap problem is NOT considered an emergency by the DME/Supplier.

OP, this is what I do and what works for ME in regards to keeping my equipment clean and fresh. This has been my routine since I started CPAP therapy 7 months ago and it is my norm and second nature to me.

I have a medium sized tote dedicated specifically for washing my equipment with its own sponge and bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid. I also have a designated bowl for my Dreamwear mask and headgear for daily refreshing.

Every morning I disassemble the entire mask for daily cleaning (mask instructions indicated daily cleaning of nasal pillows and headgear) and place in the bowl with hot water and a drop or two of Dawn, let soak for a minute or two and rinse thoroughly. FINAL RINSE: Distilled water. Dump the water chamber DAILY. Let air-dry.

Every Saturday morning, heated tube, water chamber, mask and headgear ALL get a deep-clean soak in the tote of hot water, Dawn and a cupful or two of White Vinegar. After cleaning the equipment, I pour the soapy water through the hose and rinse the hose and other equipment thoroughly. FINAL RINSE: Distilled water.

Then, I let mask and headgear air-dry with the exception of my tubing/hose where I dry it using "Mask Fit" setting on my machine. It takes about 4 minutes to completely dry.

My Resmed machine gets wiped down at the same time with a CPAP wipe along with the area where my machine sit. I do change my filters every 2 weeks.

Again, this is MY method and how I do it that works for ME.

vandownbytheriver wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 28, 2024 6:49 pm

I use Dove Hypoallergenic Beauty Bar, which is probably from a chemical refinery.

Be careful. It contains dihydrogen monoxide. WHO estimates DHMO kills 236,000 people annually.

Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO, SF Fig. 1.1) is a chemical compound that is commonly used in lab investigations. This chemical compound, sometimes referred to as hydric acid, is colorless and odorless. DHMO is known to be a part of many environmental hazards, toxic substances, diseases, and disease-causing agents.

https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfl ... nformation

I fill my humidifier with DHMO every night

Folks are so clean here. I figure if you don't exercise your immune system, it won't be there when you really need it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdvSMf4GWA0

Thank you everybody for the replies! I really do appreciate everybody's advice .

What we ended up doing was soaking the humidifier tub in a 1:3 white vinegar/water bath for approx. 30 mins, then rinsed it out with water and gave it a wipe out with a microfibre cloth.

I had a chat to a different local pharmacy than I normally go to and they had a helpful lady who gave me some CPAP mask/tube soap made by Purdoux, she told us to use a squirt of that in a mixture of 1:5 white vinegar/water for cleaning of the mask and tubing.

So I think going forward I will go with this method for weekly cleaning:

HUMIDIFIER TUB:
1. Soak tub in 1:3 white vinegar/water solution for approx. 30 mins (Except for the rubber seal as I am not sure how the vinegar will affect the rubber), rinse well with water and air dry.
2. Wash the rubber seal with Purdoux CPAP soap & water, rinse with water & air dry.

MASK & TUBING:
1. Take the mask apart and wash the silicone mask cushion with Purdoux CPAP soap & water, rinse with water & air dry.
2. Wash the rest of the mask components & the tubing in a mixture of Purdoux CPAP soap & 1:5 white vinegar/water, rinse with water & air dry.

For the daily routine:
1. I will now empty the humidifier tub each morning and wipe it dry with paper towel, then leave it to sit dry until bed time, then fill it with distilled water.
2. Wipe over the mask cushion inside & outside with CPAP mask wipes.

Hopefully this will keep things at bay.

One question I had though, is it ok to take the humidifier tub out of the machine while it is in cool down mode (still pushing out a low flow of air with the snow flake symbol on the screen). It seems to take about an hour to 1.5hrs for it to cool down of a morning and I can't really wait that long to take the humidifier tub out and empty it as I need to get to work.

Thanks again all

Zaiforce wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:37 pm

One question I had though, is it ok to take the humidifier tub out of the machine while it is in cool down mode (still pushing out a low flow of air with the snow flake symbol on the screen). It seems to take about an hour to 1.5hrs for it to cool down of a morning and I can't really wait that long to take the humidifier tub out and empty it as I need to get to work.

Take it out hot... won't hurt anything... watch your fingers... you're going to cool it down anyway. Sounds like you've hit on the good regimen... just harder when you're doing it for someone else... a labor of love! I can let my stuff get rancid, pay the price of a sinus infection etc, and learn from it... you're being proactive.

Zaiforce wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:37 pm

One question I had though, is it ok to take the humidifier tub out of the machine while it is in cool down mode (still pushing out a low flow of air with the snow flake symbol on the screen). It seems to take about an hour to 1.5hrs for it to cool down of a morning and I can't really wait that long to take the humidifier tub out and empty it as I need to get to work.

The cool-down mode is for people who are worried about condensate (rainout) in the hose. It dries out the inside of the hose.

stevenal wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:27 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdvSMf4GWA0

I love George Carlin.

Zaiforce wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:37 pm

One question I had though, is it ok to take the humidifier tub out of the machine while it is in cool down mode (still pushing out a low flow of air with the snow flake symbol on the screen). It seems to take about an hour to 1.5hrs for it to cool down of a morning and I can't really wait that long to take the humidifier tub out and empty it as I need to get to work.

The gentle airflow on the Resmed Autoset stops after about 30 minutes.
Set a timer for 30 mins, check - on the back of your hand - whether the air is still flowing. Try it on a weekend and see if you can work the half hour's wait into your morning routine before you got to work.

I’m fairly new to my CPAP. But I discovered something I thought worth mentioning regarding the mold. I too discovered a slight pink in my water tank. Talking to another CPAP user I figured it was mold. Scary. I used the vinegar and water soak. I wondered if it’s traveled into the hose??? BUT the thing I wanted to share is that the answer to mold depends somewhat on where you live. We just moved from AZ to TN. Big difference in humidity. This friend I talked to dries her water tank after emptying it. Used a paper towel. I think that’s my problem as I took care in washing mine out every morning with soap but would just air dry. I use distilled water too. Our water here is bad.

My husband and I have both used cpap for 10+ years, so I just wanted to share that I would recommend against using anything on cpap equipment that has “fragrance” of any kind in the ingredients. That one word can host over 300 chemical ingredients, and they don’t have to disclose what they are. They’re usually designed to stay behind, and I don’t recommend inhaling them all night. They often include endocrine disrupters, formaldehyde releasers, etc. A good fragrance-free face wash is what I use on my face mask, as they’re designed to remove face oils and to rinse away clean. For the rest, we use a vinegar and hot water mix once a week, and replace parts with new ones when they come in.