Caring for silicone cushions...

OK, so I believe I ruined the cushion on my latest mirage quattro full face mask.

After the first night of sleeping with my new mask, I woke up feeling amazing! I felt very calm and clearminded! But I didn't have that experience again! I'm thinking I learned a lesson, because I always put aquaphor on my face before I use the mask. Yes, it's petroleum based, I do it for irritation. But now I'm ready to move on cause I think I ruined my mask. I'd rather do what I have to do to have successful therapy thann just apply aquaphor and settle for medicore sleep.

So, withthat being said. How should a newbie like me clean my silicone cushion?
So far i get the point, no petroleum based products. And use alchohol free wipes.
As for facial irritation, I have some remzzz's, so I'll give em a try.

What kind of soap should I use?

Thanks!

The best soap is non scented hypoallergenic gentle soap. Some people use Dr Bonners.

For liners you can check out our member Padacheek who makes wonderful stuff.

Thank you so much! I saw the maskliners she makes. They look really good!

When/if you have a spare cushion you might salvage some additional use out of the old cushion by the boiling in water with baking soda trick.
Don't do it without a spare...just in case. Talked about in this thread. Looks like the images are gone but there was a huge difference in the before and after.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74686&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... g+cushions

Buddhist Sage wrote:OK, so I believe I ruined the cushion on my latest mirage quattro full face mask.

After the first night of sleeping with my new mask, I woke up feeling amazing! I felt very calm and clearminded! But I didn't have that experience again! I'm thinking I learned a lesson, because I always put aquaphor on my face before I use the mask. Yes, it's petroleum based, I do it for irritation. But now I'm ready to move on cause I think I ruined my mask. I'd rather do what I have to do to have successful therapy thann just apply aquaphor and settle for medicore sleep.

So, withthat being said. How should a newbie like me clean my silicone cushion?
So far i get the point, no petroleum based products. And use alchohol free wipes.
As for facial irritation, I have some remzzz's, so I'll give em a try.

What kind of soap should I use?

Thanks!

You didn't ruin the mask -- petroleum products/oils are fine with silicone -- except they can leave a serious residue that may be hard to remove and in turn can cause leaks. But they don't melt the silicone per se. Bleach, citrus and other harsh chemicals, however, can degrade the plastics.

Wash with baby shampoo or scent free, moisturizer free, antibacterial free soap.

After one night you are really having a normal reaction -- which is some nights are good, some nights are not as good. It just happens and you will lean this better as time goes by.

Love Dr. Bronners liquid Castile soap in Peppermint! It makes the mask and nasal pillows smell wonderful and clean! Target sells the liquid soap now but you can also get it at Hi Health.

![/quote]

You didn't ruin the mask -- petroleum products/oils are fine with silicone -- except they can leave a serious residue that may be hard to remove and in turn can cause leaks. But they don't melt the silicone per se. Bleach, citrus and other harsh chemicals, however, can degrade the plastics.

Wash with baby shampoo or scent free, moisturizer free, antibacterial free soap.

After one night you are really having a normal reaction -- which is some nights are good, some nights are not as good. It just happens and you will lean this better as time goes by.[/quote]

I'm gonna take your word for it. I'm going to clean the mask well, and try aquaphor again. Cause I felt great the first night, and that was with aquaphor.

There's some debate whether Aquaphor/petroleum jelly will hurt silicone, but it will amost certainly not damage your mask in a single night.

I wash all my silicone parts in the dishwasher and get good lifetimes out of them.

I have a 20 year old scuba mask that I have been cleaning with Palmolive dish detergent for as long as I've had it and it is fine so that is what I used on my masks.

I cycle through a set of 3 of them and I have retired on because it leaks where the hose goes in. The oldest 3 would routinely get washed every use and a soak in white vinegar once a month or so which seems to get rid of the oils. After a few months of the new mask, I can't tell them apart except for the marks. I tried to use a black and red permanent marker to mark them but even that won't stay on the mask. I've since switched to marking sets of holes so mask 1 has marks at the 1 o'clock position and mask 2 is marked at the 2 o'clock.

The one mask I did boil is now a different shade than the rest.