Mask cleaning for traded masks?

jennmary · Post by **jennmary** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:18 pm

People also boil silicone baby bottle nipples...I did and had no problems. In the resmed manual for the UMFF it does mention a boiling procedure and gives a listing of temps versus minutes. It says it is meant to survive 15 treatments like this....or 15 treatments of cidex. I should be getting a new seal for my UMFF this week. Once I get it I will attempt to boil the old seal and let you guys know what happens.

Jen.....I get your point. I agree fully. I was in the medical field for some time. I worked in geriatrics, peds, and then with a general practice. It is amazing the things people catch even in a supposedly sterile hospital enviroment. So while I think vinegar is fine for a mask that only I have worn, I would want something stronger for a mask worn by someone else. I am also allergic to molds and all kinds of other fun stuff......so even if you dont have some horrible illness i would worry. The mask is in non sterile packaging and going through the us postal service. Even a tiny bit of moisture left from proir cleaning could be a happy home for mold and all kinds of other things. Just MHO.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:48 pm

I read this thread with interest, as my great-aunt was an OCD nurse and physician before antibiotics. She did her best to spread her practices throughout our family. We had the zero second rule--if it touches the floor, NO ONE eats it unless the dog wants it.

(A bit off topic: One medical show had an episode--was it ER?--where a transplant heart was dropped on the OR floor. HORRORS! They rinsed it in saline and implanted it. Hmmmmmm. While OR cleaning is thorough, any stray teeny, tiny cell of a virus or bacterium--say, the flesh-eating staph?--could have been disastrous. But at that point, who wouldn't accept that heart into their body, given the choice?)

So, here is my question:

What is the difference between going to a friend's home and using their hand-washed dishes vs. using a hand-washed mask, especially if allowed to air dry? I usually rub my masks with dishwashing liquid detergent and hot water (pretty darned warm--I'd guess at least 105-110 degrees or so) then soak in plain, hot rinse water for about 5 minutes and then use hot water and a 1:10 vinegar to hot water soak for 30 minutes (as directed by my RT at mask fitting sessions). I then rinse again in hot water and shake the silicone parts quite thoroughly leaving only tiny droplets of water which then air-dry quite quickly on a clean towel.

If the mask is used, of course most all of us would wash it before sending it off and then would also wash it before using. How about, if Cidex is largely bleach, using bleach on the incoming mask cleaning if you wish to do so? The manuals for most masks say that they can be cleaned for use in a lab something like 10-15 times (IMHE) so that should also hold for exchanges.

As long as it is not used on a regular basis, it seems to me that the masks should be fairly clean. Even my aunt would likely approve were she still alive. Or, at least I think so!

I have bought 3 masks from Forum Folk and they have not made me ill in the least. Of course, I did do the above regime on them before using them, and they were probably cleaned similarly before coming to me.

BTW, the cleaning issue for home mask/hose and humidifier use has been discussed to the nth degree--search out the subject and see!

krousseau had been an infection control specialist so her advice might be of particular interest.

jennmary · Post by **jennmary** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:28 pm

The difference between a friends plates and a mask is that you are not breathing the stuff from the plate directly into your lungs. Just as no one is saying that they wouldnt eat off a friends plate no one is saying they wouldnt use a used mask......just that they want to be sure it is fully sanitized first. I wouldnt feel confortable using a mask at a sleep lab that was just wiped clean so why would I do it in my own home? If someone is comfortable just cleaning with soap....great. I am not. It isnt just infectious disease. A mask coming from another part of the country could trasport all kinds of allergens with it. For some of us even the smallest amount of inhaled mold could send us to a hospital......or worse. I was hospialized for 3 days after attempting to clean a mold filled bathroom at a new home I was moving into. The mold spores mixed with all that steam (humidity) caused an allergic reaction that set off an asthma attack that even the rescue inhaler could not stop. Try explaining to your boss that you missed work because you were in the hospital for a mold allergy. Plain old soap and water can not kill certian kinds of mold.
Not everyone has these kinds of sensitivities.....I do. So I am extra carefull about anything that I have to breath through.
I use bleach in my dishwater along with dishsoap then also clean and heat dry in the dishwasher. Maybe I am just a psychotic germ and sporaphobe. But if it makes someone more comfortable....then I see nothing wrong with bleach, boiling, vinegar or whatever cleaning ritual works for them.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:50 pm

I know my Swift II booklet has a section called "sterilizing between patients" section.

See if you can find something similar in the manual for the mask.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:23 pm

JennMary, just so you don't feel like a freak - I've had to miss work because I inhaled too much dust while I was cleaning house - which I rarely do, for that very reason. I had to explain THAT to my boss. Trust me, they all made fun of me for it endlessly.

When I also explained to my boss that her overuse of perfume was causing me respiratory difficulties (for which I was also missing work and having to acquire antibiotics for) and could she please cut back, she stood in front of my desk and began spraying a pump bottle of perfume over her head. I began screaming at the third pump. I think she went up to 5 pumps.... Thankfully, she was "let go" and I don't have to deal with her anymore.

Everyone needs to feel comfortable about our mask cleaning routines. I think we all know our own level of comfort regarding other people's dirt and our own lungs. I think this is a great exchange of ideas on how to clean masks, but let's not get to the point of attempting to evangelize each other. We all know where that leads us.

Good rule of thumb - clean any mask that enters your home to your own satisfaction before using it.

Cheers,
B.

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:47 pm

birdshell wrote:

What is the difference between going to a friend's home and using their hand-washed dishes vs. using a hand-washed mask, especially if allowed to air dry?

Your stomach has hydrochloric acid in it--waaaaaaaay stronger than vinegar. Digestion enzymes and an immune system.

Your lungs have only the immune system. Also the lungs are about as fragile as cobwebs and have a gazillion nooks and crannies.

JMHO!

Jen

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:49 pm

By the way, if I had access to an autoclave or a waterbath machine where I could monitor the temp and keep it consistent within a degree I would TOTALLY go that route. Non-chemical is ALWAYS the way to go, IMHO.

But I don't have that. Never thought I would miss ANY aspect of that old lab job!

Jen

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:36 pm

So, call your old girlfriends at the lab, show up for lunch, and then beg for an autoclave session!

LOL,
B.

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:43 pm

Good rule of thumb - clean any mask that enters your home to your own satisfaction before using it.

Very well put! I agree 100%! Everyonr has a different idea of clean, we all have to do what we are comfortable with.

Brenda

Sleepy_G · Post by **Sleepy_G** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:03 am

jennmary wrote:People also boil silicone baby bottle nipples...I did and had no problems. In the resmed manual for the UMFF it does mention a boiling procedure and gives a listing of temps versus minutes. It says it is meant to survive 15 treatments like this....or 15 treatments of cidex. I should be getting a new seal for my UMFF this week. Once I get it I will attempt to boil the old seal and let you guys know what happens.

Hope it's OK to resurrect this thread. I just want to add that I ran a Respironics Comfort Classic mask (without the gel forehead spacer) in a microwave bottle steam sterilizer (http://www.aventamerica.com/products/wa ... _steam.asp) and it came out fine. I first cleaned it with soap and water then ran it for 4 minutes in the microwave, the typical sterilizing cycle.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:35 am

Great idea! Thanks for posting that! Since I don't own one of those, do you think I could jerry-rig something - like just filling a bowl with water, popping the mask in, and microwaving it for 4 minutes?

Cheers,
B.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:37 am

Shoot, it's not spendy, only $31. I wonder if it might be enlisted to sterilize other things? Cleaning sponges, lotion making bottles, etc.?

Thanks for posting this!
Babs

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:25 pm

A bit OT, but...

The twin brother of a close friend since Kindergarten is a specialist (M.D.) in infectious disease. He has been on the local Fox news a few times recommending that kitchen sponges (if they MUST be used) should be microwaved for 2 minutes each day. He is not a huge fan of kitchen sponges in general.

Personally, I should think that just microwaving the sponge may be harder on the microwave (as is popcorn, I've heard). I have microwaved my non-kitchen sponge in a bowl of water, for about 5 minutes (when I have been moved to use it). I then allow it to dry between uses. Sometimes I just find the sponge to be the most effective cleaning tool!

Now, ON topic:

One note about boiling the mask parts: I believe that is meant for sleep lab use--not weekly disinfection, as recommended. Thus, the 15 time limit--but I wonder if that is merely a CYA recommendation? Would the Cidex be any harder on the silicone than boiling/steam?

I wonder about 'outgassing' the silicone more effectively that way, as I have developed a sensitivity to the silicone. Anyone with a thought on this subject, I'd be interested to hear it!

Karen

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:52 pm

Being a historic reenactor, when people get on Fox News and tell me I'm going to die from my kitchen sponge, I tend to roll my eyes and change the channel. My grandmother survived her sponge well into her late 80's. My mom's surviving her's and is a far haler and heartier 70 than I am a 43. I do far worse things with a dirty cotton rag when I'm out in the field.

That said, to each his/her own level of dirt/bacteria level toleration. I probably have a higher tolerance level than most. I remember to microwave my sponges maybe once in a blue moon. Mainly I just throw them out when they gross me out.

I also don't think sponges should be replaced with disposable wipers, which I think is the new trend in "scare consumerism".

Wipes have their place. I was very, very, very grateful I had a container of antibacterial surface wipes in the bathroom when I got violently sick all over it over Xmas. But I'm not going to waste money on them for every little thing. Not to mention the waste issues.

But I'm digressing. Not dissing you Birdshell, just not jumping on the panic bandwagon with your MD friend.

Cheers,
B.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:49 pm

Hey, no offense taken, Babette.

Just because said MD has looked at the cultures of sponge bacteria growth--I personally tend to trust him. That, and I don't want to see my best friend's brother professionally!! (He is just as much a classmate of mine since Kindergarten as she.)

I'm also from a somewhat OCD tradition, if you have looked at any of my other posts. So, the microwaved sponges are a natural extension of that tendency.

Added to my statistical knowledge of empirical results, I tend toward the conservative in matters of cleanliness. That said, I agree with you about the occasional use of wipes; and, antibacterial agents in general are also not helpful. We need to develop our own immunities, and not overuse antibacterials--causing bacteria to mutate into resistant strains.

Best wishes,

Karen