Nurse at doctor's office is saying to not use Dawn soap to clean CPAP

[Sheepish]

I use baby wipes on my mask before going to bed every night. I wash the mask and hose...not often enough probably. I'm surprised that I haven't seen this mentioned.


(I use a Respify ozone cleaner for the tub, hose and sometimes mask. And I empty and dry the tub daily. I don't intend to start a discussion about ozone! the baby wipes are for oils and whatever else are on the mask.)

I also use baby wipes on my mask every night. I only get the fragrance-free, no additives types.

[factor]

I am using Dawn as well for 4 years. It cuts the body oil and cleans well. I have oily skin.
I am currently testing Mask Bright. Which I think is just orange oil and water. I like the smell and ease of use.
I haven't used Vinegar as I am not sure what it accomplishes or why to use it?

[OpalRose]

I've used Dawn for 7 years, no problems at all.

[CorruptAlligator]

I can get bottles of baby soap for like 99 cents at Walmart, so why not? I just soak the cushion in a bowel of water mixed with baby soap for like 10min, and then rub it with soapy water, and rinse it off. I do it first thing in the morning to get the skin oil off.

I tried baby wipes, but it seems to leave residue, and didn't like that.

[jtardo]

For what it's worth, and totally unscientific, I switched from many years of using Dawn to Dr. Bronner's unscented a few months back.

One thing I noticed was that little red stuff that used to regularly show up in the corners of the humidifier tank is no longer there.

Good idea to try the vinegar thing. I have very hard water here and finally had to switch to that new tank (which I have had for years in the box) to reset the water spots. The spots have not reappeared either.

BTW, I had no success with ResMed's suggestion to wash stretched P10 headgear in hot water, it just made things worse.

[Big Guy]

I use Clorox Anti-Bacterial Wipes on my mask and cushion. Not every night, but about every 3rd or 4th night. Seems like when I do use the wipe, I seem to have a better night's sleep, in regards to the mask not moving around as much on my face. 

If I happen to forgo a couple of nights w/o using a wipe, I tend to experience mask movement / air leaks. 

[clownbell]

The sleep center recommended baby shampoo. A bottle is about $5 and lasts a long time. If I don't rinse well enough, the gear smells like a newly washed baby, and that's OK with me.

I also use it to shampoo my hair -- at 75 the hair is about the same as at age 2.

[WakeUpTime]

For my first cleaning year, I followed the PAP cleaning videos (which I think were from Philips) that showed a man using the hand soap pump in the bathroom sink for his daily mask cleaning.  Some people started mentioning Dawn on this board, so I tried that.  There were many advantages:  No creamy films left from hand-soaps or shampoos, Dawn always quickly rinses out and to a squeaky clean feel, Dawn is great on oily films, etc.  

I don't soak things though, so I'm not sure if plastic and silicone would break-down more quickly if left in a concentrated Dawn solution for several times each week.  But with Dawn, I don't feel the need to soak ever - just a quick soap and rinse, and it's sparkly clean after a few seconds. 

Dawn, in my opinion, has been spectacular at both cleaning and leaving nothing behind.  The only thing I'd add to that is to wear gloves when cleaning or Dawn is also very good at washing oils off your skin.

[Melman]

I've used both Dawn and generic store brand dish detergent for several years. Both work well. My masks and cushions last for well over a year.

[HelenB]

I've been using the Dawn soap for over a year and it's fine. Maybe it all depends on the manufacturer of the mask?