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4 months on Swift FX pillows. Wash them? They are not dirty.

I got about 10 months from my first set of pillows, then decided that I may be missing something, so I changed them. I had noticed that my O2 levels had dropped slightly, and thought that new pillows may make a difference. I noticed that the new set was a bit firmer, but after a few days I had them "broken in." I didn't have any issues with my old ones, and don't have any issues with the ones I am using now.

Holding the pillows by where they attach to the head gear and pushing them into a gram scale I found that it took about 160 grams to collapse new pillows, and my 10 month old ones collapsed at about 80 grams.

I clean my pillows, mask, and hoses daily with a Respiclean solution. After about a year I am on my second set of pillows, am still using my original mask headgear, am still using the original long hose, and am on hose #7 for the short hose that goes to the mask.

Its probably time to just swap everything out, but everything is still functioning properly.

Still using the same pilllows for almost a year now. I hardly ever wash them, except when they get a little leaky, and then baby shampoo works. If they leak I use Lansinoh, and that fixes it. Will try the boiling trick when these fail.

I boil my FX pillows when required which is about every 2 months starting at about 6 months when I started to have leaks. I'm now up to 10 months and going strong.
Maintenance routine.
Daily wipe the nose contact section with a wet cloth.
Every week or so wash the FX hose and nasal piece with baby shampoo, and the tank with dish washing detergent.
Every two months as required boil the nasal piece only at a slow boil for about 30 minutes with a teaspoon os Bicarb of Soda and rinse in cold water while hot.
The Bicarb of Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) is safe to consume but is washed off. It stops a slight scum forming on the water and I suspect helps remove oils absorbed into the silicon rubber.
I wish someone else would report on their experience with this method, it certainly works for me.
In Australia my insurance doesn't cover these maintenance items, but I still have three spare nasal pieces in reserve.

DocWeezy wrote:I'm wondering if pillow life is also related to a person's skin oil composition. I've talked to some people who get longer life from their FX and LT pillows and they describe their skin as being dry or somewhat dry. I have very oil skin. I wash my face every evening and put NOTHING on, but my face is quite oily by the next morning...
Weezy

I actually seem to be getting longer pillow life if I don't wash my face at night, and not wash the pillows. (lazy, but it's working!)

jbn3boys wrote:

DocWeezy wrote:I'm wondering if pillow life is also related to a person's skin oil composition. I've talked to some people who get longer life from their FX and LT pillows and they describe their skin as being dry or somewhat dry. I have very oil skin. I wash my face every evening and put NOTHING on, but my face is quite oily by the next morning...
Weezy

I actually seem to be getting longer pillow life if I don't wash my face at night, and not wash the pillows. (lazy, but it's working!)

Hey--it's working and that is ALL that counts! I tried that and the pillows went squishy on me in about three days. I guess I'm just one of those people whose skin oils are not friendly to the silicone. Bummer! Oh well, it's turning out that so far the insurance company is paying for two pillows a month. Funny, Crapria wouldn't even order me two pillows a month because they said my ins. wouldn't cover them--even after we called the ins. co. and they said they would. Crapria just wouldn't order them. Went back to the original DME (that is wonderful, by the way) and they order them like clockwork and there hasn't been a problem. I guess I should just stop obsessing on trying to get more time out of a pillow!

weezy