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Cleaning while traveling?
#1
Cleaning while traveling?
Hi All, 

New to CPAP, not new to Apnea (used an oral appliance effectively for well over a decade, had to replace it with an "improved" design that gradually lost its effectiveness for me for a couple of reasons) - and so far the Board has been awesome at bringing me up to speed. (CPAP-type machines are way nicer than they used to be.)

Hopefully a simple question: how does the morning cleaning routine work when one is traveling? The DME rep and the manual all say "rinse the sundry hoses, plastic gizmos, etc., then set them out to dry completely". What happens when one spends the night in a hotel and doesn't have the hours the next day needed to set things out to dry? 

I can't imagine that packing everything back up in the case while wet would be good, but I don't see a way around it while one is in transit.

Thanks much!
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#2
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
I just don't clean the mask until I get to wherever I'm going. I think it's drier traveling with my residual saliva etc than it would be after cleaning. It's not an ideal solution. Also I certainly wouldn't bother cleaning the long hose every day while traveling. Too much hassle. Search the forum for older discussion threads.

I will throw in an added caution: Don't forget to empty the humidifier before moving the machine! NO need to ask me how I know that.
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#3
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
Arrive, fill humidifier, plug in machine, route hoses, go live life, go to sleep. Wake up, empty humidifier, pack up and leave. In other words I do nothing different on the road than I do at home. My daily cleaning routine does not exist and it's not a problem. If you're really into cleaning, the only thing I would wash is the mask cushion. Cleaning the tube is a couple times per year, or change it with the new one. I will wash head hear and mask if I think of it or feel the need. It's not even a weekly thing. So on the road, it is basically nonexistent.
Sleeprider
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#4
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
(03-19-2019, 07:00 PM)SnoringInOregon Wrote: I just don't clean the mask until I get to wherever I'm going. I think it's drier traveling with my residual saliva etc than it would be after cleaning. It's not an ideal solution. Also I certainly wouldn't bother cleaning the long hose every day while traveling. Too much hassle. Search the forum for older discussion threads.

I will throw in an added caution: Don't forget to empty the humidifier before moving the machine! NO need to ask me how I know that.

like I too just travel, and do the same for the most part..clean washable filter, that's about it.
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#5
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
Ditto here.  No cleaning until I return home if the trip is under five days.  If much over a week, I take a small pill container with potassium metabisulphite powder that I can mix in a sink and into which I can immerse the cleanable objects. Rinse, let it air dry on the inner lid of my suitcase which is likely one of the cleaner surfaces in a hotel room.

BTW, I wipe the interior of the water reservoir with a tissue in order to keep droplets from running out of the orifices when the case is in certain positions.  Cheap insurance.
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#6
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
I agree with the above I use a babywipe to wipe/clean my mask that’s it, I will then do a full clean when I get home if I have the urge
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#7
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
When I travel, I empty out my humidifier tank and try it with a cloth. Everything else just gets packed. If I am in the same spot for a few days I clean my nasal pillow (I fill a travel bottle with dish detergent and throw it in my toiletries). Heavy cleaning, I wait until home. I will also use bottled water from the room rather than trek out looking for distilled.
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#8
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
I haven't had to travel yet with my CPAP. If I remember to take it with me, fine. If I don't, it's not a big deal.
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#9
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
Same as the others. I don't clean while away from home unless it is extended (more than 5-7 days).

BUT what I recommend is putting in a new filter before you leave, take some with you in case needed, and then change again once you are home. Hotels often have weird smells and they will linger in the machine. Changing the filter will help with this.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#10
RE: Cleaning while traveling?
Great info and suggestions - thanks everyone. Thankfully, the first trip is a quick overnight, so it shouldn't be too bad. (Longer comes in a few months.)

Now to work on getting that turbocharged sleep that everyone here seems to get (night 4 and counting - it's nice to be able to think again...)
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