CPAP Basics - 19 - Cleaning and Disinfecting

avi123 wrote:

Senator Ted Cruz also used to say "WE" when he was running for president.

I assume you are responding to Mollete's post from August 2013......

I'm a newbie to cpaps, but have had experience with cleaning similar gear. So here are some thoughts, some of which have not been covered in this thread.

I learned originally from the plumbing for my spa tub that biofilm is the enemy. It is the enemy wherever there is water. That's what plaque is, that's what the black gunk in air tubs is, it's where 95% of bacteria make a safe and comfy home. I've also read from scientific cookbooks that germs, the kind that are not nice to speak of, are everywhere. But on the other hand, I am not OCD.

So here are the methods I know to fight gunk, germs and biofilm (germs encased in very strong gunk.)

Air tub - bleach and specialty chemicals.
Hearing aids - device to gently dry with heat and disinfect using UV light.\
Contacts - specialty solution and small ultrasonic cleaner in distilled water or solution.
Dental OSA device - mid size ultrasonic cleaner for gunk, Birex disinfectant (recommended by dentist.)
Teeth - specialty chemical in a specialty toothpaste, water from waterpik, abrasion from floss, interdental brush.

For the cpap mask, I'm going to use a 2 gallon ultrasonic cleaner, a few drops of dish soap and Birex disinfectant.
For the humidifier, I am going to use our excellent local tap water to begin with. I bought the Resmed reservoir that needs to go in the dishwasher. I'll see how that works. If I need to clean scale buildup, I have also tablets that are sold to clean coffee machines that do just that.

Hope this is useful.

If water is left in the reservoir, it will inevitably, from what I understand develop biofilm, which grows everywhere there is water in a non-sterile environment. The temperature between 40 and 140F are the "danger zone" for bacterial multiplication. So I will empty it every day.

Ultrasonic cleaners cost a little money, but they clean using the abrasion of millions of microscopic bubbles. The clean in ways we just can with other methods, and they do all the work for us.

I don't know the specs, or even the type of plastic used in the gear. But one could always put them in a sous vide machine and follow a time and temperature chart to pasteurize them, as I do egg yolks for mayonnaise.

If you do a forum search you'll see that ultrasonic cleaners are considered scams and junk by everyone here. And the reason we all use distilled water in our tanks is to avoid the biofilm problem which, when it does come up in tiny amounts on occasion, can easily be cleaned with quicker and easier methods than yours. Leaving distilled water in the tank is a good idea as you just top it off each day with new distilled water when necessary. Your tap water may be excellent, but cannot nearly as effective as distilled water is.

City water is not equivalent to medical grade pure water.
By law, miniscule traces may remain of any number of pathogens or chemicals after treatment.
It is simply impossible to remove everything.
This poses no significant hazard to normal people, in places compliant with the law.

Help! I must have been abducted again, I've lost time, it must be the weekend, old posts are appearing again. Thanks for getting me off the mothership! Jim

Would a baby bottle warmer work for sterilizing my cpap mask and hoses? I have a double bottle warmer with a sterilization mode seen here: https://www.amazon.com/Maxx-Elite-MaxxD ... ite+warmer

What do you think? Is it overkill? Will the steam sterilization damage the hose? I think sterilization mode goes to 212F, but the temperature is customizable (you can override the target temperature). I could also just use the express warm setting which brings the temperature up to 158F degrees. This warmer should safely bring temperature up to the set max and maintain it. I uses distilled water in a reservoir as the heating agent.

Thanks all.

OVERKILL....Have you read the posts?

sharpie wrote:Would a baby bottle warmer work for sterilizing my cpap mask and hoses? I have a double bottle warmer with a sterilization mode seen here: https://www.amazon.com/Maxx-Elite-MaxxD ... ite+warmer

What do you think? Is it overkill? Will the steam sterilization damage the hose? I think sterilization mode goes to 212F, but the temperature is customizable (you can override the target temperature). I could also just use the express warm setting which brings the temperature up to 158F degrees. This warmer should safely bring temperature up to the set max and maintain it. I uses distilled water in a reservoir as the heating agent.

Thanks all.

it'd be interesting to see if anything would melt, and how much it needlessly shortens the life of the equipment.

are you going to sterilize your face too? that's where most of the stuff on the mask and hose comes from.

btw, you can't sterilize anything at only 212... that's why autoclaves (and pressure canners) are pressurized, because they heat up to higher than boiling.

LSAT wrote:OVERKILL....Have you read the posts?

I did but it sounded like it depends on conditions. In my climate, my hose seems to accumulate droplets so I think it might be more susceptible to mold. Sterilization of my own germs (so long as I'm not sick) is unnecessary, but I'm mostly concerned about killing mold spores without using chemical disinfectants.

Why not wait until you actually have a problem, a visible one, until running to 'sterilize' anything. So many of us - living in different and sometimes extreme climates - have used the same hoses for actual decades without problems... so I imagine that if you can at least wait and see if you end up with any (hoses are pretty inexpensive after all) you might be pleasantly surprised. We all get droplets, but the water is distilled and there are no particles that accompany it from the machine.

I apologize if this question has been answered. Don't want to inconvenience anyone.
I would like to know if there is a need for "fresh" distilled water to be put into the well or can water be added to what is left after an overnight use?
Any help is appreciated.

It is a matter of personal choice. Some people do, others don't. I just top ours off every night and then empty and wash the reservoirs once a month.

So if one were to ignore these careful guidelines and just clean the hose and mask occasionally, say once a week or even every 2 weeks what is supposed to happen? I clean it with dish soap (generally Green clean) whenever I think of it. I have been doing this for a year and I have been sick maybe once (because I got the flu from my child). I'm a very clean person, I practice good hygiene and keep my room clean. I'm just wondering what people think will happen if you don't go crazy trying to disinfect your stuff?

sharpie wrote:Would a baby bottle warmer work for sterilizing my cpap mask and hoses? I have a double bottle warmer with a sterilization mode seen here: https://www.amazon.com/Maxx-Elite-MaxxD ... ite+warmer

What do you think? Is it overkill? Will the steam sterilization damage the hose? I think sterilization mode goes to 212F, but the temperature is customizable (you can override the target temperature). I could also just use the express warm setting which brings the temperature up to 158F degrees. This warmer should safely bring temperature up to the set max and maintain it. I uses distilled water in a reservoir as the heating agent.

Thanks all.

Oh my...this reminds me of my first baby. I went crazy "sterilizing" everything. By the second baby it was kinda like grab n go Seriously...just wash it in a mild soap and be done with it!

Has anyone ever traced an an illness to dirty equipment? Just curious. I've been at this for almost 15 years. I don't clean the equipment nearly as often as recommended. Never been a problem. I think the DMEs want you to clean it often so it'll wear out and you'll need to replace...more $$$ in their pocket.