How To Effectively Clean Your CPAP Supplies

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestmail

There is a lot of bad CPAP cleaning advice out there. Let’s set the record straight right now. Here are some tried-and-true tips for how to clean your CPAP equipment.

Get Into a Daily Cleaning Routine

bigstock-Woman-washing-hands-in-bowl-on-121941554

The best way to remember to do something is to save a special place for it in your schedule. The more you repeatedly do something, the more likely it is that you will consistently do it in the future.

Get 2 sets of tubes, masks, and humidifier chambers. Alternate the set you use to sleep and the set you clean to make sanitizing your equipment more manageable. Follow these steps:

  1. Before you go to sleep, get a large container and fill it a third of the way with soapy water.
  2. Dunk your tube, mask, and humidifier chamber. Soak overnight.
  3. When you wake up, scrub and rinse your mask, humidifier chamber, and tube in the sink.
  4. Place your mask and tube on a flat, dry surface to dry.
  5. Consider taking your hose into the shower with you. Scrub your tube with a tube brush and let water run through the hose for a while.
  6. Hang your tube up to dry.

Clean one set of your equipment every day to ensure that you always have a fresh and properly dried mask, tube, and humidifier chamber to use when you sleep.

Keep Dirt and Dust Out of the Air You Breathe

bigstock-Hay-Fever-87851813-1

Regularly replacing the filters in your CPAP machine is crucial to keeping dirt and dust out of your air flow. All machines come with a disposable filter that should be replaced twice a month. Some machines also use a reusable, washable foam filter – these can be replaced once every 6 months.

To keep your filters clean longer, make sure that you frequently dust and wipe down the area in your bedroom where you keep your CPAP. If you have pets, this is especially important; pet hair gets everywhere, and you really don’t want it to clog your CPAP filters.

Don’t Use Unapproved Chemicals or Substances On Your Equipment

bigstock-Bottle-Of-Clorox-Bleach-62372594

Many CPAP users tend to use bleach and vinegar to clean their equipment. However, it is strongly recommended to keep bleach and vinegar far away from your CPAP.

Bleach fumes are extremely toxic. Even if you dilute it with water, bleach can be incredibly harmful to your throat and lungs.

Vinegar is not nearly as bad as bleach, but there are quite a few reasons to not use vinegar. Firstly, vinegar does not cut through grease, at all. And if you use your CPAP every night, you know that facial oils and fluid from your lungs can accumulate in your mask and tube. Secondly, vinegar is slightly acidic; this means that vinegar can corrode your tubing and silicone mask cushions, requiring them to be replaced even more frequently. Lastly, never combine vinegar and bleach.

Mixing vinegar and bleach will result in the formation of toxic chlorine gas! This is an incredibly harmful chemical mixture you want to keep far away from the equipment that helps you breathe.

Invest in a SoClean 2

SoClean-850-259 (1)

Even for the most disciplined CPAP user, it can be tough to keep up a daily cleaning schedule. That is why you should consider the SoClean 2 CPAP Cleaner and Sanitizer. The SoClean gets rid of 99.9% of the bacteria, viruses and mold living on your equipment. One cleaning cycle takes less than 10 minutes! The SoClean thoroughly sanitizes your equipment without using any harmful substances. The ozone used in the SoClean turns into regular oxygen by the time you need to use your CPAP.

You could drastically cut down the amount of time that you spend cleaning your CPAP equipment. With the SoClean 2, it is no longer necessary to handwash your supplies every single day. You should still handwash your equipment once a week or once every two weeks to rinse off any oils or fluids that built up in your tube and mask, and you should still replace the water in your humidifier chamber on a daily basis. But think of all the evenings and mornings lost to cleaning your CPAP. Get a SoClean today so you don’t have to worry about cleaning tomorrow.

Easy-Breathe-Orange-Button-Large

Easy-Breathe-Orange-Button