Cleaning Schedule

[parkdj808]

Ahhh yes! Great note and will allow for cool down cycle to compete first!

[todivefor]

I top off my tank daily with distilled water. Run thru the dishwasher 1 / mo. Replace nasal pillows 1 / mo. Slosh dish soap water thru hose and mask frame 1 / mo. Used to use Soclean, but gave it up several years ago with Respironics recall. Have been using CPAP for about 25yrs on this cleaning schedule with no problems.

[DaveCar]

Daily: baby wipes (unscented) daily on the mask. With the F30, I take the cushion off and clean all sides plus the user-end of the cushion mount (there's a little crevasse that I pay particular attention to), plus as far down as I can get into the elbow with the wipe on my pinky.  I usually wipe all that with one wipe, then repeat with a second one.

Twice a week: Dump tank and refill if it's winter and Im using the water. Distilled only for me.

Weekly: Soap wash mask and elbow. I try to do it on Sundays, but sometimes I skip a week and live with the guilty feeling.

Occasionally: Wash hose and tank.  (see - "guilty feeling" above)

[JCinPA]

I was letting mine go for a week and never got sick from it, but on occasion would get HORRENDOUS allergies from something. Miserable allergies that would take a couple days to get under control. The following has become my routine, and I've had no issues with it. I've never used distilled water. 6 years on CPAP.

Equipment ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset, ClimateLine tubing, Climate and tube temp set to AUTO.

Daily:

1.  Let the machine do cool down cycle while I have breakfast and shower, this dries the tube, although the ClimateLine tube is dry by nature.

2.  Wash nasal pillows with soapy hands, take the humidifier chamber apart, and rub my soapy fingers around the inside of the humidifier chamber and along the gasket, rinse, set on a hand towel to dry.

Weekly:

1.  Bring all components, including tubing to the kitchen and wash in a tub with dish soap and hot water. I don't bother with a tube brush or anything, just slosh water around in it.

2.  Rinse components and fill the tub with 2 parts water to one part white vinegar. Starting at one end of the tubing, slowly immerse the rest, coiling it as I go along so it is completely filled. Place other components in the solution, and let sit for an hour.

3.  Rinse components, then fill the tub with plain water and carefully rinse everything, empty the tub, repeat, and let sit for a bit. Hang the tube up to dry, and lay other stuff on a hand towel.


I've never had any trouble with vinegar smell and I've never had any allergies since adopting this method. In my opinion, and not scientific in the least, I think honestly all that needs to be done is to empty and rinse the humidification chamber and gasket and let it dry during the day. Some folks go a week on just topping up the water in the chamber, but I think that was giving me my allergy problem.

Never saw the need for special soaps, disinfectants, expensive drying machines, and especially ozone cleaners. It's not that complex. And personal tolerance for frequent cleaning probably varies a lot among individuals, what works for someone else may not work for you, but this routine is easy and it works for me very well.

P.S. Replacement schedule should probably be a part of this process. Resmed recommends replacing the nasal pillows every two weeks, but I do it monthly on the first of each month, and they are still in good shape. Not sure what they recommend for the other stuff, but I replace the mask frame and hose and humidifier tank every 6 months, and the main tubing once per year.

[Deborah K.]

Since I went back to using distilled water in my water tank I never clean it, just top it up each day.  I also never clean my hose as it just blows filtered air and a little water.  I use the Bleep system so there is no mask to clean.  Works for me and for many others.