Keeping CPAP Clean

[shinkdavid]

Does anyone have a realistic way to keep a CPAP clean and smell free? I know there is a machine for around $300 that is supposed to keep everything sanitized but all the RT's I have spoke with say to just use soap and water.

[car54]

Mild soap and water is what most people use. I clean my mask daily in the shower. The hose and tank I soak in warm water and mild soap once a week.

I would strongly suggest not buying that machine, Do a search on this site for more info.

Hope that helps,Car54

[Apnea Infant]

I live in an extremely hard water area. I put some diluted vinegar into my humidifier tank once a week, for a few hours soak and then wash out with hand liquid soap and water to then air dry. Tried to wash my pillows more frequently than once a week but have not succeeded. Washed the plastic squiggly hose once with warm soft soap and water in the 6 months use. Have not washed my climate line hose yet.

Others are more rigorous with cleaning, some less.

[Melman]

The machine you referenced is SoClean. In my opinion, will not clean and, therefore, will not effectively kill microorganisms on your equipment. This statement is based on over 20 years of professional experience in sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing. One of my responsibilities was evaluating, developing, and verifying the efficacy of cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing agents for production equipment, water systems, and environmental surfaces. (sanitizer and disinfectant are equivalent terms.) My work was regularly audited by the FDA. I also worked for many years in hospitals as a medical microbiologist. Although I'm far from expert with respect to many topics I think I know my way around this one pretty well.

SoClean generates ozone which is an effective sanitizing agent but only on surfaces that are already thoroughly cleaned and only at sufficient concentration.

It is, however, not a cleaner.  (They concede that it is not a cleaner if you dig deep enough in the information on there web site.) It is a strong oxidizer and will damage a variety of materials and any electronics. I don't see anything in the information I have reviewed on SoClean that assures me that some ozone may not flow from the reservoir into the CPAP machine. I'm not saying it will but I wouldn't risk it.

There have been reports on this forum of mask cushions turning yellow after exposure to Soclean.

There is a lot of misunderstanding with respect to risk of infection from CPAP equipment and use of sanitizing agents. Regular cleaning with mild detergent should be adequate to eliminate risk of infection from CPAP equipment. The small numbers of bacteria that remain after cleaning with a mild detergent are probably lower than in the room air you breath or on the dishes in your cupboard

The SoClean promotional material claims that a single cleaning of the reservoir, tubing, and mask before initial use of SoClean is all that is required and that from that point on the SoClean process will maintain cleanliness as well as sanitize. As stated above, ozone is not a cleaner. So any contamination that gets into your mask and tubing (e.g. saliva) and biofilm which forms on the surfaces of the reservoir (and it will over an extended period of time) will not be removed and will provide a place for bacteria to grow that is protected from the ozone.  

In my opinion the SoClean system is at best ineffectual and at worst may damage your equipment.   Dawn is a lot cheaper and safer.
I have seen statements that SoClean has scientific studies to verify that their system works. I reviewed the 2 studies they cite (They only present 2).

One was done to promote the use of sterilizing filters in CPAP equipment and was performed by inoculating humidifier water with high numbers of bacteria and demonstrating that they could be recovered downstream at the mask. It had nothing to do with cleaning or disinfection. Neither ozone nor SoClean were used or mentioned in the study.

The second was a very simple study performed in a German lab that showed SoClean would kill bacteria under ideal lab conditions. It was poorly documented and did not reflect real world conditions. It was not from peer reviewed journal and given the level of documentation I can't imagine it would not have been accepted by one.

[Mosquitobait]

I agree with the RTs. You just need soap and water. If you think a foul odor is coming from inside the machine, typically, you have to take it apart and replace the polyurathane (reduces motor vibration). My bro detests the smell of Dawn, so I wash his stuff in vinegar/water solution since he likes the odor of pickles. I can't stand vinegar smell, so in the absense of Dawn, I use lemon juice and water.

[Homerec130]

Basic washing will work. Personally I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo and lean the mask while I am taking a shower. Works quite well and only takes a couple of minutes. I usually wash mine when it looks like it needs to be done or I had a bad night.

I agree, the machine is NOT the way to go and you can buy a lot of soap to do the job for the cost of it.

Homer

[Marillion]

The machine you referenced is SoClean. In my opinion, will not clean and, therefore, will not effectively kill microorganisms on your equipment. This statement is based on over 20 years of professional experience in sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing. One of my responsibilities was evaluating, developing, and verifying the efficacy of cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing agents for production equipment, water systems, and environmental surfaces. (sanitizer and disinfectant are equivalent terms.) My work was regularly audited by the FDA. I also worked for many years in hospitals as a medical microbiologist. Although I'm far from expert with respect to many topics I think I know my way around this one pretty well.

SoClean generates ozone which is an effective sanitizing agent but only on surfaces that are already thoroughly cleaned and only at sufficient concentration.

It is, however, not a cleaner.  (They concede that it is not a cleaner if you dig deep enough in the information on there web site.) It is a strong oxidizer and will damage a variety of materials and any electronics. I don't see anything in the information I have reviewed on SoClean that assures me that some ozone may not flow from the reservoir into the CPAP machine. I'm not saying it will but I wouldn't risk it.

There have been reports on this forum of mask cushions turning yellow after exposure to Soclean.

There is a lot of misunderstanding with respect to risk of infection from CPAP equipment and use of sanitizing agents. Regular cleaning with mild detergent should be adequate to eliminate risk of infection from CPAP equipment. The small numbers of bacteria that remain after cleaning with a mild detergent are probably lower than in the room air you breath or on the dishes in your cupboard

The SoClean promotional material claims that a single cleaning of the reservoir, tubing, and mask before initial use of SoClean is all that is required and that from that point on the SoClean process will maintain cleanliness as well as sanitize. As stated above, ozone is not a cleaner. So any contamination that gets into your mask and tubing (e.g. saliva) and biofilm which forms on the surfaces of the reservoir (and it will over an extended period of time) will not be removed and will provide a place for bacteria to grow that is protected from the ozone.  

In my opinion the SoClean system is at best ineffectual and at worst may damage your equipment.   Dawn is a lot cheaper and safer.
I have seen statements that SoClean has scientific studies to verify that their system works. I reviewed the 2 studies they cite (They only present 2).

One was done to promote the use of sterilizing filters in CPAP equipment and was performed by inoculating humidifier water with high numbers of bacteria and demonstrating that they could be recovered downstream at the mask. It had nothing to do with cleaning or disinfection. Neither ozone nor SoClean were used or mentioned in the study.

The second was a very simple study performed in a German lab that showed SoClean would kill bacteria under ideal lab conditions. It was poorly documented and did not reflect real world conditions. It was not from peer reviewed journal and given the level of documentation I can't imagine it would not have been accepted by one.

All of the answers were good, but Melman is an expert on this topic.  This answer is the best one you are going to get.

[Walla Walla]

Melman is good. But I too am somewhat an expert on cleaning. I'll have you know that I was a professional dish washer in high school.

Dawn soap.

[PollCat]

Let's be grown up about this.  The cleaning instructions I was given back when I started using a CPAP were:  Weekly do a warm water, mild soap, wash of everything (except the filter), rinse with hot water, and then a NLT 15-minute white vinegar soak followed by a hot rinse and air dried.  
Do I still follow those instructions? Well, sort of; the frequency of the cleansing has changed over the years.    

[HalfAsleep]

What’s the purpose of the vinegar?