THE HOSE - TO DISINFECT OR NOT TO DISINFECT ?

Marietjie wrote:Hi - I'm using CPAP now for 10months and the hose developed tears.(washed in baby shampoo and disinfected with Milton x one a week - hung up on washing line (not too long) to dry. I replaced the hose and the selling agent told me NOT to wash or disinfect the hose because it is only air that goes through the hose ! (I think what I did wrong was to hang the hose on the washing line)
Okay - my question. Is she right? I don't want to do something stupid and need to buy a hose again. The hose is very pricy. And what about germs ? ? ? I'll appreciate it very much if I can get the right procedure to keep the hose clean. THANX

This is my 0.2c worth. I have a big bottle of mouthwash. Every 2 weeks I dilute some in 50 water I pour it in one end of the hose the slosh it around for 2 mins then spend 5 mins flushing with hot water.

That night I feel like I have very good breath & am certain all the bugs & microbes died

DSM

This is one of those things that would need to be answered by some actual lab research. At this point, we don't really know but it's telling that Gail and Den don't wash their hoses and seem to suffer no dire consequences.

BTW, Den, you're mistaken that a person can't be reinfected with their own germs, but at least one study (I think it was done in 2005 but I'm too lazy to look it up this morning) demonstrated that you're absolutely right that the water vapor created by convection heat from our humidifiers can't carry bacteria (unlike nebulizers or humidifiers that bubble, which generate micro-bubbles that can carry bacteria and even mold particles just fine).

I wash mine once a week using Johnson's baby shampoo, same as for my mask. Rinse it thoroughly with tap water and then rinse it again with distilled water. I then hang it up to dry vertically (put two small finishing nails in door frame to hook on) so that any remaining DW inside either evaporates or slides out the bottom of the hose. I have a ceiling fan in my bedroom that helps speed-up the drying time. It usually takes about 2-3 hours to dry. Hook it back up to my machine and let it run for about thirty seconds to blow out any dust that may have settled in and it's ready for use.

I wash mine when my wife asks me to wash the windows... "Sorry hun, gotta wash my APAP hose - you don't want me to get sick do you?"

Raj wrote:This is one of those things that would need to be answered by some actual lab research. At this point, we don't really know but it's telling that Gail and Den don't wash their hoses and seem to suffer no dire consequences.

BTW, Den, you're mistaken that a person can't be reinfected with their own germs, but at least one study (I think it was done in 2005 but I'm too lazy to look it up this morning) demonstrated that you're absolutely right that the water vapor created by convection heat from our humidifiers can't carry bacteria (unlike nebulizers or humidifiers that bubble, which generate micro-bubbles that can carry bacteria and even mold particles just fine).

I'll wait for the "proof".....
Logic tells ME that if you are "sick" (cold, flu, whatever), you get over it and have built up an immunity to whatever it was. I also believe (as has been studied.....but I'm too lazy to look it up this morning ) that the more a person is exposed to and lives through and develops immunity to......the healthier they will be. As in "That which doesn't kill you will only make you stronger". People are so damn afraid of "germs", but they're all around us......it's counter-productive to try to kill them all. We can't (or won't) survive in a sterile world.

Den

I'm pretty much Domestically Disabled. I don't wash much of anything. Forced myself to wash my cpap cannula yesterday because it was getting leaky, but that was it. I wash my hose about twice a year - when the urge hits me. I run soap and hot water through it, then soak it in a 50-50 white vinegar water solution - re-soap to kill the vinegar smell, rinse thoroughly, and then hang it up to dry outside on the laundry line. Sometimes I do the "spin it around thing" to try to shake out the excess water, before hanging it up. I drape it over the line, then tie the ends together with a twist-tie, so it doesn't fall off the line.

My laundry line is on a covered porch, so the hose isn't getting direct hot sunlight on it, so it's not melting any part of it.

Doesn't always dry in one day. I dry alot of my cpap parts on top of my hot water heater tank. Most things will dry in an hour or two.

I have multiple hoses, just for the heck of it, but tend to use just one all the time. Lately it's the new white performance hose, but I don't notice any big difference between it an any other hose. I just bought it for the heck of it.

Hope this helps,
B.

Wulfman wrote:"That which doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"

Yeah, but if it does kill you, then it's too late to change your mind.

Wulfman wrote:
Your "selling agent" wasn't giving you a line of BS in this instance. Come the middle of May, I will have used the very same hose every night for the last four years.....and have never washed/cleaned it. In fact, the only time it gets detached from the humidifier is when I refill it. I have a good number of extras in various lengths, but have never used any of them. They're not expensive, (only about $10 - $15 for 6' - 10' lengths from CPAP.COM) but I have no need to replace or rotate any yet. Same thing with my mask.....same one for the same amount of time.

Germs? What "germs"? By using tap water in cleaning this stuff and hanging it in the open to dry, you're exposing them to more "germs" than by leaving it attached to the humidifier (with distilled water in it) You can't infect or reinfect yourself. And, any "germs" which MAY be in the humidifier are too large to be carried out of the humidifier by water vapor.

Den

Can i ask do you clean your humidifier? I've had my setup for about 5 weeks now and all i clean is the nasal pillows with baby shampoo & water.
I used distilled water in the humidifier and can't see any reason to clean it that often?

Den, you do build an immunity to diseases that actually made you sick (although even this immunity won't necessarily last forever, which makes very little difference since germs are constantly mutating) but various germs and viruses you are currently carrying can easily make you sick if your immune system weakens for any reason or if the bugs multiply enough. Strep is a great example since most of us carry quite a supply, and we need no outside source to infect us if we get run down enough.

Uncle_Bob wrote:Can i ask do you clean your humidifier? I've had my setup for about 5 weeks now and all i clean is the nasal pillows with baby shampoo & water.
I used distilled water in the humidifier and can't see any reason to clean it that often?

I've never "cleaned" my humidifier tank (in almost 4 years). I've always used distilled water, but don't use heated humidification....I like it cool (called "passover"). Most of the time I just add water to my tank about every third night and after a period of months, I'll let it get down a ways and then dump the remainder and rinse it out with hot tap water and refill with distilled.
The first morning after I started therapy, I dumped the water from my humidifier tank and thought "What a waste!"......and promptly decided not to do THAT again. I did use heated humidity the first night or two.....until I got a snoot full of "rainout" and felt my nasal passages close up......then went to passover humidification.

By the way, my humidifier tank still looks like new (or at least, very close).

Den

OCNorsk wrote:

Wulfman wrote:"That which doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"

Yeah, but if it does kill you, then it's too late to change your mind.

Sooner or later, we're all going to be pushing up Daisies.

Like the lyrics to the country & western song by Kenny Chesney......"Everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody want to go now"


Den

Babette =I drape it over the line, then tie the ends together with a twist-tie, so it doesn't fall off the line.
I have multiple hoses,

Hi Babette ' Draped it over the line?!? ' - that's just what I did wrong. Hanging it over the washing line (I did that once per week) causing a too sharp bend which resulted in a tear in the hose and I was also very wrong to hang it in direct sunlight (though not for long). Luckily you've got multiple hoses - replacement hoses in RSA are EXPENSIVE ! (I almost freaked out the evening when I discovered the tear ! ! !) My husband taped the tear and when he went to buy a new hose, the agent told him that I must NOT use a taped hose BECAUSE unwelcome bacteria/germs can stick to the inside of the sticky tape and be harmful to me !?! So......now I am really careful how I handle the hose. Why do they make this hose so fragile ?
The agent said the hose can last for 5 years-mine lasted 10months! Luckily I don't see any dambness in the hose. So, Babette, just be careful when hanging up the hose - Today, my husband made me a stainless springsteel hook which I now use to hang the hose lengthwise and when(if) I wash it I can hang it close to a warm window to dry. Oh my goodness, what next? Thank you all, Marietjie

Wulfman wrote:

Uncle_Bob wrote:Can i ask do you clean your humidifier? I've had my setup for about 5 weeks now and all i clean is the nasal pillows with baby shampoo & water.
I used distilled water in the humidifier and can't see any reason to clean it that often?

I've never "cleaned" my humidifier tank (in almost 4 years). I've always used distilled water, but don't use heated humidification....I like it cool (called "passover"). Most of the time I just add water to my tank about every third night and after a period of months, I'll let it get down a ways and then dump the remainder and rinse it out with hot tap water and refill with distilled.
The first morning after I started therapy, I dumped the water from my humidifier tank and thought "What a waste!"......and promptly decided not to do THAT again. I did use heated humidity the first night or two.....until I got a snoot full of "rainout" and felt my nasal passages close up......then went to passover humidification.

By the way, my humidifier tank still looks like new (or at least, very close).

Den

Righnow i have my humidifier set to 3 and its using half of the tank up each night. I have yet to experience rainout other than the time i accidentally overfilled the tank.
Is there a way to set the humidifier to passover mode? or is actually a different humidifier?

Uncle_Bob wrote:Righnow i have my humidifier set to 3 and its using half of the tank up each night. I have yet to experience rainout other than the time i accidentally overfilled the tank.
Is there a way to set the humidifier to passover mode? or is actually a different humidifier?

I'm not exactly familiar the ResMed machines and their humidifiers, but generally you turn them down to "Zero" or "Off" (whatever the appropriate setting is). The Respironics M Series machines have an external knob to adjust them......some others have internal settings.

Den

Having a "DUH" moment.......I should have looked at the picture in the link to your humidifier, first.
Looks like yours has a dial, too.

Den