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Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
#1
Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
As many may know, the foam ResMed AirTouch Masks are quite hard to clean without damaging them.

You cannot wash them, as the foam isn't closed cell, so they do suck up the liquid, making them hard to dry out afterwards, at least quickly.

Likewise, if the foam gets very wet, it can lose its shape, and the Mask is then scrap.

That means, at least from a practical perspective, they can only really be cleaned using CPAP Wipes or CPAP Cleaning Fluid and Kitchen Towel or Bog Roll. But Bog Roll disintegrates too easily, which means Kitchen Roll is better as it doesn't come apart when wet so easily.

Anyway, the other problem is what fluid to use?

You do not want to use anything that might harm the foam, or that is toxic to breath, so that cuts things down.

The official ResMed CPAP Mask Cleaning Fluid is fine but, as some will know, it is not exactly low cost, and to that you also usually need to add carriage, making it even more costly.

In the UK, a 400ml Spray Bottle is GBP 12.99 plus around GBP 3.00 for Carriage, so that's GBP 15.99 a bottle!

Ouch!

There are not many alternatives, as any Search on Amazon or eBay may show.

I was needing to get another bottle for my wife's AirTouch Masks, but was baulking at forking out the thick end of GBP 20.00 to get just 400ml.

But what else to use?

Then I had a brain wave!

Mouthwash!

You can stick that in your mouth, and even swallow a bit, and no harm done.

Apart from turning the foam a little blue, that works very well indeed, and leaves a nice minty smell if anything at all can be smelt!

I also use this to clean the ResMed Mask Frame, as well as the Mask. The rest I can wash as usual with Baby Shampoo and hot water, so things like pipes, tanks and my silicone Mask.

I can get 500ml of non-alcohol Mouthwash from ASDA for 47p, so that's just a pound a litre!

I thought people might like to know this!

MoreBeers
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#2
RE: Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
(04-06-2022, 12:48 PM)MoreBeers Wrote: As many may know, the foam ResMed AirTouch Masks are quite hard to clean without damaging them.

You cannot wash them, as the foam isn't closed cell, so they do suck up the liquid, making them hard to dry out afterwards, at least quickly.

...

MoreBeers

I routinely use a product called potassium meta-bisulfite.  It is the white powder, pennies for a pound of it, that wineries use dissolved in water to make a very powerful sterilizing agent.  The bisulfite is lethal to bacteria, viruses, and molds.  It's highly oxidative effect destroys lipid barriers around spores and organisms.  Dissolved a teaspoon to one liter of water, you can soak your masks and oily headgear in a bowl of this solution, and you and sterilize other surfaces by wiping them with it.

Going on your description above, I don't see why you shouldn't avail yourself of this chemical and soak your open-celled seal in it.  Rinse a couple of times, gently squeezing the foam to expel water each time.  Twice should do, and any residue, if it persists, will only serve to help to neutralize pathogens in those cells.

I wash my mask and headgear as soon as I rise in the morning, rinse well, and let them air dry. In most homes, probably not so much in the tropics, a foam pressed against paper towel until the paper towel shows no wetness, will air dry inside of four to six hours, well before you need to use them again.
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#3
RE: Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
Yes, good tip. Many thanks. I think I may have some in the old Wine Making Kit stuff buried in a cupboard somewhere!

I do wash everything every day, including my wife's CPAP kit too, but whilst most things are easy, her foam Mask was a problem.

I did wash one foam unit I was using early on, and the memory foam never recovered from getting soaked. So, after that, I just cleaned any foam Masks with CPAP Cleaning Fluid or Wipes, and did not soak them.

Possibly I squeezed the foam too much to extract the water, but it went all misshapen, and was scrap after that!


The small F20 AirTouch Mask that best fits my wife, tears all too easily at the nose bridge contact point, so those do not last if roughly handled in any way, such as when cleaning them.

I did manage to glue a couple back together with a little Super Glue, and after making sure that was dry with no fumes, I trimmed off any excess glue, and they could be used again. Tip there is to make sure you glue so that any surplus is on the inner side of the foam away from skin contact points so any hardened glue does not irritate the skin.

My wife now uses a Medium F20 Foam Mask, which is slightly too big, but works with careful strap adjustment, and gives her good scores without making her nose sore, as the smaller Masks can do. Leak rates can be a bit up and down, but she needs far less pressure than me, so there her S10 has a reserve to play with if she has air leaks.

At the moment, the Mouth Wash works well, and is just like using the ResMed CPAP Cleaning Fluid but, at a fraction of the cost.

MoreBeers
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#4
RE: Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
My cleaning directions from Resmed for the Air Touch F20 cushion say use a wipe without alcohol. They don't say not to use an anti-bacterial wipe--think F & P has that on their masks. I use a mild antibacterial wipe gentle enough for skin/face and have no problems. Doesn't really get it wet.
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#5
RE: Cleaning Solution for ResMed AirTouch Foam Masks!
Hello SideSleeper!

Thanks, I may have forgotten to say I buy the non-alcohol based Mouth Wash for this purpose, as I did think the ones made with alcohol may damage the foam.

In the UK because of Taxation issues linked to anything with alcohol in it, that also makes the non-alcohol based Mouth Wash versions considerably less expensive.

So, it seems like a very handy alternative that costs very little, at least when compared with ResMed's own spray Cleaning Solution, and even when compared to wipes, as I have just re-filled an empty ResMed Spray, so only need a piece of kitchen roll to wipe the foam down with and, job done!

Leaves a nice minty smell too!

My main thinking was, if it is safe to go in your mouth, and even to swallow a bit by accident, then it should be fine to use when cleaning the foam ResMed Cushions/Masks.

So far, it's been great. I have used that now for a few weeks, and the only issue is that it can make the foam a little blue, which looks quite fetching, if you like that sort of thing!

MoreBeers
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