How to sanitize equipment and how often?

brock5ga wrote:I also like the suggestion of keeping 2 sets of pillows and rotating out. They told me that the body oils would break down the pillows and that they needed to be changed once monthly. I am understanding from browsing on here that they last much longer than that. How often should they be replaced? Is there a time frame, or just when they become difficult to seal?

Some people, like myself, get months of use out of the nasal pillows. Others have problems every couple of weeks. So the time frame is really unknown as it seems to depend on the individual and perhaps body oils and cleaning schedule. I wash the pillows once a week. At the same time I take the "old" one washed last week and put it on the headgear frame. So I am continually rotating 2 pair of pillows. Seems to work well for me. Sometimes I throw a really old nasal pillow in the midst of it.

With age and wear the silicone gets tired and doesn't seems to seal as well. That is your main clue but don't think that a single night of bad leak means the nasal pillow is toast....sometimes those leaky nights just happen, even with brand new nasal pillows. I have had some old nasal pillows that are really ugly looking and decide to try them "one more time" before I toss them and low and behold they work wonderfully.

Use the cleaning schedule that suits your own personal preference. I absolutely hate the smell of vinegar and when I tried using it I simply could not get rid of the odor to suit me...so I don't use anything but good old hot soapy water. I don't soak the nasal pillows at all. I use a liquid hand soap that has a nice magnolia fragrance so my nasal pillows have a hint of magnolias for a couple of nights. I don't use the Lansinoh ointment anymore so I don't have the ointment build up anymore.

Other people are more comfortable with a more rigid cleaning schedule and that is just fine. Do whatever it takes for you to be happy with what you do. When I first started therapy I had a more rigid cleaning schedule...washed the nasal pillows every day....way too much work and simply not needed for my own peace of mind.

Your peace of mind is the most important though. I do think that the DMEs extreme cleaning schedule is overkill, IMHO. Sometimes I wonder if they really do want people to wear the stuff out scrubbing so they can get more sales.

I clean my mask and humidifier with a 2:1 water/white vinegar solution once a week. I clean my headgear once a month with Woolite in the sink. That's about it, and after 11 months, all is well with me.