CPAP Cleaner

[matthewb]

Just a tip if anybody has this issue. I have pretty hard water here, and if i run out of bottled water i get scale and water spots in the humidifier container. Soak in white vinegar and use a tooth brush, rinse and repeat if needed. I leave mine full of neat white vinegar for about 6 hrs and its usually spotless afterwards. same with the plastic bits that get "water spots"

[foss]

I get distilled water at the local grocery store for 99 cents per gallon. I use about a gallon per week. The machine inhales filtered air, and then passes it over distilled water which has no nutrients. The hose passes moist filtered air which has no nutrients into a mask with a one-way valve that doesn't let exhaled air enter the tube.

I clean the mask and headset regularly with generic baby shampoo in the sink with warm tap water and then let air dry.

Not much fuss and very little bother and expense.

Compared to the environmental stuff we encounter in our everyday lives, the CPAP machine (less the mask) is VERY clean.

Jeff

[Big Guy]

I'm now 5 months in to my CPAP regime. No longer using distilled water in the water reservoir. Just tap water and it gets dumped out every morning then wiped dry. 

I use Clorox anti-bacterial wipes on my mask, mask pillow, and hose elbow. The head gear gets a good soaking in Dawn dish soap once a week in hot water, as does everything I mentioned above, to include the hose and the lid / seal to the reservoir.

The CPAP air intake filter gets washed every week as well........if I remember it. 

I feel very confident that all the equip. is being cleaned well. I don't need no stinkin So-Clean. 

[Hanksy]

Hi first post so please be gentle

Why could we simply not use baby equipment sterilising solution ?

In the uk main the brand us Miltons but for cost savvy Home Bargains has one that is excellent and very cheap too.

Any reason why we couldn’t use this type of steriliser?

Thanks ?

[sherwoga]

I use Clorox anti-bacterial wipes on my mask, mask pillow, and hose elbow. The head gear gets a good soaking in Dawn dish soap once a week in hot water, as does everything I mentioned above, to include the hose and the lid / seal to the reservoir.

Do you see any yellowing of the hard plastic as you expose it to the chlorine in the Clorox anti-bacterial wipes? That approach seems simpler than soaking in detergent rich hot water.

Might try it!

[Big Guy]

I use Clorox anti-bacterial wipes on my mask, mask pillow, and hose elbow. The head gear gets a good soaking in Dawn dish soap once a week in hot water, as does everything I mentioned above, to include the hose and the lid / seal to the reservoir.

Do you see any yellowing of the hard plastic as you expose it to the chlorine in the Clorox anti-bacterial wipes? That approach seems simpler than soaking in detergent rich hot water.

Might try it!

The only slight yellowing I see, is on my AirFit F20 mask. The silicone tends to yellow with age. The wipes have worked well for me. All of my CPAP equipment still gets washed in hot water and Dawn dish soap on a weekly basis. 

I use the wipes on the mask and cushion about every other day or so.

[nohypopneanow]

The SoClean uses ozone to clean.  Ozone will kill bacteria, fungus and mold growth.  There are other things out there at a fraction of the price.  I bought an ozone machine for about $30.00 through an online sales site that sells a bit of everything.  My machine is the size of two big bars of soap.  Just start doing searches for CPAP ozone.  Mine puts out 30mg/h ozone.  It runs 25 minutes in a sealed tub I bought and then I let it sit for two hours.

Just be aware, ozone is not a substitute for washing your equipment.  If you sneeze, cough or anything else into your mask, you will still need to wash it to be sure to get rid of the gunk.  Then you can ozone it.  The same applies to the expensive machine.

I daily empty my humidifier tank and dry it out with white wash clothes.  I do not want to have a damp tank all day.  One clean wash cloth per day.

I daily use baby wipes for my mask.

Once a week I wash and use a tube cleaner for my Climate Line air tube, brush wash the humidifier tank, and the same for the mask and headset.  On my ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet I takeout the snap-in connection for the airtube (inside the machine and behind the humidifier pot).  I wipeout the inside chamber of the machine where the humidifier pot goes.  

The final step of the weekly cleaning is to dry everything and then put everything into my tub that has a seal to it.  I turn on the ozone machine and come back in two hours.  Everything smells clean and free and is sanitized.

[jaswilliams]

Just so your aware Resmed have now decided that using an Ozone based sanitizer on a CPAP machine causes damage to the CPAP machine so they have removed warranty support on the machine more info here

https://www.resmed.com/us/en/healthcare-...html#Ozone

This limited warranty does not cover: a) any damage caused as a result of improper use, abuse, modification or alteration of the product;
b) repairs carried out by any service organization that has not been expressly authorized by ResMed to perform such repairs; c) any damage or contamination due to cigarette, pipe, cigar or other smoke; d) any damage caused by exposure to ozone, activated oxygen or other gases and e) any damage or contamination due to insect infestation. This limited warranty does not cover damage caused by regular wear and tear on the AirTouch UltraSoft memory foam cushion.

[nohypopneanow]

Thanks for the heads up.  I haven't been  putting the machine itself into the tub.

[nohypopneanow]

I use Clorox anti-bacterial wipes on my mask, mask pillow, and hose elbow. The head gear gets a good soaking in Dawn dish soap once a week in hot water, as does everything I mentioned above, to include the hose and the lid / seal to the reservoir.

Do you see any yellowing of the hard plastic as you expose it to the chlorine in the Clorox anti-bacterial wipes? That approach seems simpler than soaking in detergent rich hot water.

Might try it!

The only slight yellowing I see, is on my AirFit F20 mask. The silicone tends to yellow with age. The wipes have worked well for me. All of my CPAP equipment still gets washed in hot water and Dawn dish soap on a weekly basis. 

I use the wipes on the mask and cushion about every other day or so.

I see you use a AirFit F30 and AirFit 20.

Which do you like the best?  

The reason I ask is I have been using an AirTouch F20 with the soft spongy contact points to the skin.  I get about 6 weeks out of the AirTouch F20 and then the soft spongy material rips and then leaks.  It is, though, a very comfortable mask.