crud in my humidifier tank

I have crud in my humidifier tank. Ew. And no, I don't clean it often enough.

I have white vinegar, so I plan to use that. how much water to how much vinegar to clean it?

also, it seems to stick to the walls, and the hole in the humidifier is small, so how do I scrub the walls?

It sounds like you may want to consider a real disinfection process versus just cleansing. This forum's host, https://www.cpap.com, has a product on their website that is used for disinfecting. It's called Control III.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Contro ... e-Kit.html

You can use 100% vinegar and it won't hurt the HH reservoir. You probably don't want to "scrub" ... at least not with anything that will scratch the plastic or aluminum parts of the reservoir. So if you have to wipe, use a soft sponge or cloth.

You need to use ONLY "distilled" water to prevent crud from forming in your HH reservoir in the first place.

Hi all; just a language question from a "poor" Italian : what's "CRUD" ( bacteria or something else? )? Can you write another word? Many thanks!!

"crud" refers to any kind of residue or growth that may be coming from bacterial or fungal sources. It may be a slimy film, very often pink in color, and generally adheres to the inside surfaces of the tank, but in really bad cases may be floating around in there. Not a happy thought!

vinegar will help dissolve deposits but won't disinfect bacteria. You could use dilute bleach and them lots and ots of water to rinse. But a proper disinfectant is probably best. As you will use distilled water going forward, you won't have to do this treatment again.

I think its common for folks here to open, rinse, and dry the chamber every day.

Try some really warm water and a PoliDent denture cleansing tablet. Once the tablet quits fizzing, you can shake it well to get it working again.

Final rinse w/a vinegar solution and you should be good to go - just remember, DISTILLED WATER ONLY in your humidifier from now on.

Yes crud could mean biological or mineral ... depending on what it actually is will determine best approach.

BTW - Vinegar will kill bacteria unless you know of some super duper bugs that thrive in acid.

Hey, just curious on this ... do you need to clean the hose too?

I use distilled water and empty and remove the reservoir (almost) every day. I fill it with a vinegar solution every week (or two) and let it sit for a few hours. Should I be doing the same or similar with the hose too, not just the reservoir?

Confessions of an xPAP sinner: about the only time I clean my humidifier tank is when I have to empty it to take on a trip w/me. I use ONLY distilled water. I haven't ever washed a hose. I seldom wash my mask. I haven't ever washed any mask headgear. I do wash my face every night tho, if that counts! Oh, and I do wash my chin strap about once a week or so if I've "drooled" on it. Oh, I also just keep adding distilled water to the humidifier tank and don't empty it except when traveling.

Slinky wrote:Confessions of an xPAP sinner: about the only time I clean my humidifier tank is when I have to empty it to take on a trip w/me. I use ONLY distilled water. I haven't ever washed a hose. I seldom wash my mask. I haven't ever washed any mask headgear. I do wash my face every night tho, if that counts! Oh, and I do wash my chin strap about once a week or so if I've "drooled" on it. Oh, I also just keep adding distilled water to the humidifier tank and don't empty it except when traveling.

Well, it's good to hear that from a vet. Seems like the key is to use distilled water and then not so much cleaning is necessary.

Well, now, I guess it wouldn't hurt at all to clean everything once a week. I'm just the lazy type and my mask is replaced every six months and my hose every 3 months. Just 'cause I'm a lazy slob doesn't mean you have to be!

Oh! I do change my filter once a month 'cause on accountta we had a forced-air furnace add-on woodburner for 20+ years and this is one dusty house. Plus hairy dogs and cats to boot.

Personally I cannot top-up my HH, I need to clean once every one or two weeks or it starts accumulating weird stuff. Mostly dust, but I am pretty sure I had mold growth once too. I use only 'demineralized water', which is the only thing i can get here (it is suitable for car batteries and humidifiers). Most people can get away with just topping-up up their HH, but YMMV.

I never clean the hose, maybe once every month or two if I am especially inspired. For me the hose dries out during the day so it's not an issue. The HH is an issue for me because I don't use up all the water within one or two days so it sits around.

For all my cleaning I use one part vinegar to a few parts water, seems to work ok (soak for a few hours). I also rinse it with soap after the vinegar soak. I tried diluted bleach once - the smell wouldn't come out for days and it didn't seem very healthy.

Basconero: You can also say "I feel like crud," which means "I feel like a heap of garbage" Crap is another word for crud (with crud being the more 'polite' form).

Demineralized water is NOT the same as distilled. Like I said, if you want to avoid crud in your HH reservoir, use "distilled" water ONLY.

Like the slink, I have never washed the hose ... same one for over 2 years and it is squeaky clean. I have only rinsed out my HH reservoir maybe 4 or 5 times in the same period and have never washed it or soaked it in vinegar or anything other than "distilled" H2O ... it is as squeaky clean and new looking as the day I got it.

Use distilled water and you don't have to mess with cleaning or crud.

DreamStalker wrote:Demineralized water is NOT the same as distilled. Like I said, if you want to avoid crud in your HH reservoir, use "distilled" water ONLY.

Yeah I know. Between being 'lost in translation' and 'lost in this culture' I have not been able to find a bottle labeled in english called "distilled water". The demineralized water I can find here is suitable for car batteries, humidifiers, and irons, and it's the only thing I can find that is anything near being distilled. I THINK but am not sure that it actually IS distilled, but the wording is 'lost in translation'. It's either that or build our own distiller (which the BF was actually keen on doing).