Ozone smell & mask yellowing with SoClean2

[pozowich]

The marketing lady at SoClean2 acted like I was the first to complain about the product. I just gave in knowing that I did not want to fight city hall.

[Melman]

Nonetheless, chlorine is the only effective solution to water born bacteria.

This is not so. There are many effective agents that will kill water borne bacteria including detergents.

I don't know the backgrounds of many of those who have participated in this thread and others on SoClean but it's clear to me that there is a lot of misunderstanding with respect  to risk of infection from CPAP equipment and sanitizing agents. I am a microbiologist and worked for over 20 years in sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing. One of my responsibilities was evaluating, developing, and verifying the of efficacy of 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.

I agree with SleepRider, with reasonable cleaning with mild detergent there should be no 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.

There are a number of sanitizers that are effective against water borne bacteria. Chlorine (sodium hypochlorite solution) is not widely used to sanitize equipment and environmental surfaces in the pharmaceutical industry. Control of concentration is critical (a high concentration is less effective than a low concentration), as a strong oxidizer, it can damage equipment, and surfaces must first be clean for it to be effective. It is used in municipal water in low concentrations not to sanitize equipment and piping but to retard the growth of water borne organisms in the water.

Ozone is an effective sanitizing agent but only on surfaces that are already thoroughly cleaned. It is also 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 int the CPAP machine. I'm not saying it will but I wouldn't risk it.

The promotional material seems to indicate 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 has been stated by others, 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 will not be removed and will provide a place for bacteria to grow that is protected from the ozone.

I'm not familiar with Star-san but like Control III, it should be effective for sanitization of reservoir, mask and tubing. It is important with any of these liquid agents that they be carefully handled in concentrated form. They are all hazardous. Instructions should be followed carefully. I recommend looking at the MSDS  (material safety data sheet) for any sanitizer you choose to use. They are available on the internet. You may be surprised by how hazardous they are.

[Clay L]

Regarding the SoClean2 - it appears to be an ozone generator. Ozone can disinfect but it can damage many materials, some types of plastics being one thing. I had an ozone generator once that disinfected the water in a hot tub and it destroyed the tub cover in a few months. Don't know if the concentration with this device is high enough to damage your mask but if the cushion is being yellowed it sounds like it is doing something.

[mhardin913]

It's my understanding that this machine is supposed to kill bacteria, including on the mask. Isn't that it's purpose? If so, how could it be that bacteria on the mask (and perhaps in the hose) is the source of the unpleasant smell? After all, the mask is inside the chamber during the cleaning cycle.

If bacteria is, indeed, the cause of the smell, does that mean the SoClean2 is actually increasing rather than eliminating bacteria?

[WildBill]

Have a VERY strong odor after prewashing my hose/pillows then using SoCLean2. It is so strong I can hardly stand it. 
Washed the P10 assy in prewash, let it dry then smelled it - STILL very strong. Disassembled pillow assembly. Hose smells fine, but the pillow assemble still smelled too STRONG! 
Pulled backup pillow assembly from packaging - no odor!
So something is going very WRONG in this cleaning process. 
Reduced SoClean to 6 minutes. 
Will use backup pillows tonite, will clean in SoClean tomorrow AM. 
If the pillows stink after the SoClean process, I'm returning the SoClean unit.

[Lee Rilea]

Why would the clinic that sold me my cpap equipment recommend the So Clean if it's bad for the equipment?

[Crimson Nape]

Why would the clinic that sold me my cpap equipment recommend the So Clean if it's bad for the equipment?

Can you spell, "profit"?

[jaswilliams]

Why would the clinic that sold me my cpap equipment recommend the So Clean if it's bad for the equipment?

Because they make money from everything they sell to you.

[Lee Rilea]

Thankfully we didn't pay the prices I saw on Amazon but it was still expensive. Live and learn. All we had to go by was reviews, manufacturing literature and our providers recommendations. We each use diffrent providers.

[Stom]

Why not ask SoClean to help with the replacement of the damaged parts?

I think this is a great idea. SoClean really needs to be held responsible for their marketing. Ozone sanitation is not recommended by any CPAP mask maker that I know of, and Ozone as a powerful oxidizer can and does damage various materials. Damage to masks is a problem SoClean know of, or should know of, and should be responsible for when it occurs using their product as directed.