How do you keep the machines away from mold and stuff?

[goku]

I want to get started and try a CPAP because when my mouth is naturally relaxed at a "neutral" point my tongue sort of gets stuck on the back of the throat and the air pathway is stopped.

My main problem with this technology is the fact that it will probably grow up nasty stuff on the machines pretty much on a daily basis. Specially if you need an humidifier. It just takes one night and mold and stuff starts growing even if you still can't see the particles.

My question is, how does one keep this at bay? wouldn't it need a daily treatment to really guarantee on stuff is in there on each usage? this would be pretty annoying but the only way to guarantee it's clean, and how do you even clean it? If you used a cleaning product or UV, it could also leave irritants.. it's just not clear to me the whole thing. I need to know this to get started because there's no position were my air pathway wouldn't be blocked, but I also don't want to introduce a new problem by breathing in mold or other stuff used to clean it.

[staceyburke]

I have been on Cpap machines for 30 years and never “cleaned” the machine. Taken the humidifier chamber each morning and washed it let it dry.

[ItsComplicated]

In my experience, it is just a matter of keeping things dry.  A heated hose helped me a lot.  I take the water out of the humidifier each morning so moisture does not collect.  My mask stays dry, but I have had masks in the past that did not. If you can keep things dry, you should not have a mold problem.

[mesenteria]

The device takes the very same room air that your lungs do when you're not using the machine.  So that factor is cancelled. 

Generally, the humidifier will only add about 20% to what is extant going through that small white filter at the time of using the machine.  There are places where people use PAP therapy and the daily ambient is something like a Singaporian 90%.

You are unlikely to pick up anything from evaporating water since that is a vapour, and water vapours don't carry pathogens.  However, your reservoir can, and often does, begin the build-up of bacteria such as Serratia Marcescens, a thin pinkish slime one will find in the corners.  You can eliminate the bloom, and sterilize effectively, using bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or the very inexpensive potassium metabisulphite that can be had for literally pennies at U-Brew-It wine and beer suppliers. It couldn't hurt, and will probably help, to use a toothbrush  (your wife's, not yours ), or a Q-Tip to scrub the area around and in where you suspect that the bloom occupies.

The machine dries out the hose over approximately 10 minutes after you cease using it each morning by blowing low speed air through the hose.  If you'd care to, rinse the hose once a week, or in my case once a quarter, with peroxide (A quarter cup should suffice), or half a cup of the metabisulphite solution.  Bleach is cheap, like borscht. 

Do your mask at the same time.

[Sleepster]

If you follow the manufacturer's instructions on cleaning the machine, hose, and mask then CPAP therapy does not pose a health threat due to mold.

What makes you think a CPAP machine would get moldy? Does your bedside table get moldy?

[upsman]

The water vapor provided by the pass-over humidification process is way too small to transport pathogens like viruses, mold, and bacteria. 
If mold is present in your machine, it's likely present in the area where the machine is. 

Just follow the manufacturers cleaning suggestions and you'll be fine.

[ItsComplicated]

Great points everyone. We all have somewhat different humidity considerations. What complicates this question for me is the "and stuff"! Stuff is very nonspecific and difficult to respond to. I do not allow other people to touch, cough, or breath near my machine, or clean my machine. I do not allow animals near it.

If interested, here is a short lay article about how mold grows: https://moldblogger.com/how-does-mold-grow/amp/

What I find is that if I leave water in the humidifier tray constantly, the warm water evaporates and the entire inside of the humidifier becomes damp and it stays that way all day. The only place I have had mold on my DS! is behind the silicone gasket inside the humidifier. It is not difficult to keep things dry and reduce the chances of mold growth. I will let someone else address "stuff"!

Best to all!

[hh9797]

With the set up of the humidifier tank the only 4 parts that should ever come in contact with water is the humidifier tank, the seal between the humidifier tank and the hose, the hose, and the face/nose mask. The tank you can empty out and dry it every day if you so choice to (I personally do it every other day but to each their own), the seal between the tank and the hose is something you can dry off every day if you so choose, takes about 2 seconds and is small enough you can wipe it out entirely. The mask you wipe off daily with a disinfectant wipe (baby wipe, etc). So the only part you can not easily wipe out daily is the hose. But as people have stated unless you live in a very humid area and crank up the humidifier to max you are not going to get any water droplets in your hose and is evaporated within minutes of turning off the machine, you are not humidifying enough to turn an Arizona arid 20 ft by 20 ft by 10 foot room into Florida drinkable air, you are only humidifying enough to prevent your mouth and tongue feeling like a cats tongue when you wake up a gallon of water will last you like 3-4 weeks, you are only humidifying about a 2 inch by 3 inch by 1 inch area you are not humidifying an entire room not that much water is actually needed.

I would honestly be more concerned with mold from taking showers having actual water droplets on the painted ceilings than I would be from mold in the CPAP machine as long as you follow the cleaning suggestions and don't just ignore it from months on end.