Ozone smell & mask yellowing with SoClean2

[Big Guy]

This forum set me straight in regards to SoClean. I was considering the purchase of one at one time. I asked here first about it and was advised differently. 

Very glad that I asked! 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Hi Geoff

The SoClean unit actually generates ozone to carry out the disinfection (it's not an accidental by-product). They call it "activated oxygen" but buried deep in the FAQs it admits it is actually ozone.  http://www.soclean2.com.au/sleep-talk/do...ed-oxygen/  Of course they are at pains to distinguish "good ozone" from "bad ozone". 

It's all spin and hype - there's no way I would trust my equipment to this machine.

I didn't know that. In any case it's hard to imagine how O3 could clean or sterilise anything. Let alone the effects generated Ozone has on the Ozone layer & its contribution to photo chemical smog. The bane of big cities & the respiration of the elderly. I would think hydrogen peroxide H2O2 would work better.
For my cleaning I use a solution of water, Chlorine, and a mild detergent

Because it's not about ozone cleaning or sanitizing anything.  It's about creating the illusion of a problem, hyping it up to people to create belief in/fear of the problem, and then selling a solution to the created problem.  Been going on for thousands of years in one form or another.  See also "Flim Flam"

[OMyMyOHellYes]

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

So you will voluntarily give them more money.

BONUS ROUND!!!!!  When your stuff starts breaking down prematurely, guess what?  You get to give them even MORE money.

Hang around long enough and you might get the impression that many of the folks that sell you cpap equipment are not the most honest or altruistic folk around. Probably somewhere on the integrity scale between used car salesman and US Congressmen.

[WildBill]

I will update this thread tomorrow, after using my backup pillow assembly, then running it thru SoClean after waking up.

[Lee Rilea]

My supplier never did say use it to get rid of a "problem", he said it was easier to use it versus hand washing every week. Oh well, we got took. Happens to everyone in some way at some point lol.

---

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

BONUS ROUND!!!!!  When your stuff starts breaking down prematurely, guess what?  You get to give them even MORE money.

Well, not the rest of this year,, my deductible has been satisfied, and all my equipment was bought late last year under my old insurance, so any masks, tubing, etc. this year is covered lol. None the les, I think we will quit using it.

[Melman]

My supplier never did say use it to get rid of a "problem", he said it was easier to use it versus hand washing every week. Oh well, we got took. Happens to everyone in some way at some point lol.

---

The fact is, you need to wash the components regularly anyway. If you dig deep enough into SoClean literature they concede it doesn't clean. Ozone is not a cleaner.

[Lee Rilea]

Yes, which we do. I use it to sanitize3 weeks and on the 4th everything is washed. I am going to contact Res Med and see what they say about using it. If they say not too I'll quit for sure.

[Sleepster]

If the pillows stink after the SoClean process, I'm returning the SoClean unit.

Return it anyway. Just tell them that you're not satisfied with the product because it makes your gear smell bad.

Leave it at that.

Never mind the fact that the SoClean is no substitute for cleaning, which really isn't that much of a hassle. It takes me two minutes each morning to wash the face oils off my mask cushion and rinse out the humidifier tub. Another 30 seconds to fill tub and attach cleaned cushion to mask each evening.

Once a week or so I wash the tubing using hot soapy water and a tubing brush. Takes five minutes.

Once a month or so I put vinegar in the humidifier tub and let it soak. Then spend a couple of minutes cleaning it with hot soapy water.

The SoClean is not a substitute for any of the above activities, so it won't save me any time. Why would I want to spend good money that way?

But there's no sense in explaining any of this to someone who sells SoClean.

Some people who have bought a SoClean can get upset when they're told these things.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I don't get upset with them when they tell me they like their SoClean.

[WildBill]

Called Resmed this morning and detailed my experience with the SoClean2 and the resulting odor. The ResMed agent stated  "We are evaluating the SoClean for use with our products. No idea when we will have that completed. No comment on the use of SoClean with ResMed systems.".   For a product that has been heavily marketed and sold for quite a while, it seems very late in the day for ResMed to just now be evaluating that product.

[Stom]

Called Resmed this morning and detailed my experience with the SoClean2 and the resulting odor. The ResMed agent stated  "We are evaluating the SoClean for use with our products. No idea when we will have that completed. No comment on the use of SoClean with ResMed systems.".   For a product that has been heavily marketed and sold for quite a while, it seems very late in the day for ResMed to just now be evaluating that product.

ResMed already has explicit care recommendations for consumers and 3 different validated methods of sanitation for institutional reprocessing. The institutional reprocessing techniques are harsh and reduce the lifespan of masks, but are nesesary for re-using the masks with new patients. So there is a positive cost benefit ratio.

It's not surprising to me that they haven't evaluated the device that is marketed using scaremongering tactics aimed at consumers. There is no sound study showing that SoClean prevents any sinus infections in regular CPAP users, but SoClean sure wants you to think that it does. The ozone sanitization process likely reduces the lifespan of ResMed masks without a concomitant benefit.

If ResMed is "evaluating" SoClean it could be with an eye to whether they should market a sanitation device of their own, or maybe on whether they should explicitly condemn SoClean as damaging to masks. Dunno, but I wouldn't be surprised if a customer phone rep doesn't actually have inside information they can share with the public on what studies ResMed is or isn't doing.