Ozone smell & mask yellowing with SoClean2

[bluesboybob]

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.

I asked my DME about SoClean. She said it is probably effective at sanitizing but using it will void the warranty on my Phillips-Respironics machine.

[Lee Rilea]

Weird. Your DME says it voids the warranty, both mine and my wife's sell it.

[pozowich]

Hi everybody,

How about everybody here using the SoClean2 joining me to do a class action lawsuit ?


There are remains from mouth or nose leakings still inside the Fisher&Paykil Forma full face mask I use, after the SoClean2 does its cleaning cycle. These remains are wiped off using a sanitizing wiper I buy off of Amazon. Commercial Link Removed.
But I really need to hire an injury attorney to take a possible multi-million dollar suit, that will send my mask and hose and bipap to a lab to get a germ report to stand up in court.


But I believe the company states that you really should clean the items, on their literature, even if it is written with tiny letters.


And yet, maybe fools like me still buy their product, perhaps, to somehow reduce the dreaded impact of knowing the job of cleaning must be done at some point.
A very clever and manipulative advertiser, to say the least...….

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[Homerec130]

My wife's sleep doc sells the SoClean and has several in her office. My sleep doc won't touch it with a ten foot pole. We talked about it and his opinion was go spend the money on something you can enjoy. 

My mask getsc leaned every couple of days when I wash it while taking a shower. Usually use baby shampoo on it  Hose gets cleaned when I get around to it and the filters are checked weekly. 

Oh, and with my insurance, if they tell me I can get a replacement part, I get it. Between the two I don't have a co-pay. Learned from my old machine it is always nice to have parts. And, when my wife and I have the same mask, comes in quite handy.

[WildBill]

We certainly need to delineate 'sanitize' versus 'clean'. 
SoClean claims to sanitize the equipment, but clearly does not claim it cleans the organic shmutz like facial oils, dead skin cells, makeup, etc..
So it would appear that we all still need to do some level of physical cleaning of that gunk, while leaving the killing of the biologic buggers to SoClean. 

The proposal to submit a mask/tubing to be cultured is really a pretty good idea and if anyone has thoughts of taking this to the legal level, mandatory, IMHO. 

(Note: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV or radio or other media. My (whacked-out) opinions are my own, FWIW. Your mileage may vary)

[Stom]

I asked my DME about SoClean. She said it is probably effective at sanitizing but using it will void the warranty on my Phillips-Respironics machine.

I tried googling "Ozone site:www.resmed.com", "ozone site:www.respironics.com" and "ozone site:www.fphcare.com". I got zero results. It seems , at least on their websites, Resmed, Phillips and Fisher and Paykel are silent about whether Ozone is good or bad for CPAP equipment.

There may be broad language in the warranties that would allow them to deny coverage for use of a SoClean, but I've yet to find any direct warnings about ozone.

[bluesboybob]

I asked my DME about SoClean. She said it is probably effective at sanitizing but using it will void the warranty on my Phillips-Respironics machine.

I tried googling "Ozone site:www.resmed.com", "ozone site:www.respironics.com" and "ozone site:www.fphcare.com". I got zero results. It seems , at least on their websites, Resmed, Phillips and Fisher and Paykel are silent about whether Ozone is good or bad for CPAP equipment.

There may be broad language in the warranties that would allow them to deny coverage for use of a SoClean, but I've yet to find any direct warnings about ozone.

It may not be true but that's what she told me. On the other hand, when i asked my pulmonologist about SoClean she said, "We like it. We use them here". So who knows. In any event, it seems like an unnecessary expense for a typical CPAP user. 

[Melman]

We certainly need to delineate 'sanitize' versus 'clean'. 
SoClean claims to sanitize the equipment, but clearly does not claim it cleans the organic shmutz like facial oils, dead skin cells, makeup, etc..
So it would appear that we all still need to do some level of physical cleaning of that gunk, while leaving the killing of the biologic buggers to SoClean. 

The proposal to submit a mask/tubing to be cultured is really a pretty good idea and if anyone has thoughts of taking this to the legal level, mandatory, IMHO. 

(Note: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV or radio or other media. My (whacked-out) opinions are my own, FWIW. Your mileage may vary)

Culturing of an unclean mask will detect large numbers (100s of thousands or more) of bacteria already present in your mouth and nose and on your skin plus bacteria common in your environment. It's unlikely that any pathogens will be found.

Demonstration that SoClean does not effectively sanitize surfaces that have not first been cleaned  would require samples taken before and after SoClean treatment since sanitization is defined by USP as a 1,000 fold reduction in bacteria, not complete elimination. It would require special handling and packaging of the items in expensive sterile wraps and the quantitative cultures would be quite expensive. To be valid, all of the preparation and packaging steps would need to be conducted in a highly controlled environment that cannot be achieved in the home setting. 

Go for it if you have very deep pockets or access  to a fairly sophisticated lab.

[KallyA]

SoClean has an FAQ on their site that will address your questions about mask yellowing and ozone odor. The FAQ states "Activated oxygen also known as ozone ." (yes they left out "is"). A little later the FAQ states "What you smell is not ozone; the equipment is being oxidized with activated oxygen, and that is what you smell." Huh, what?!!

The SoClean FAQ indicates the yellowing on your mask is from your skin oils on the mask oxidizing. I guess I would ask does your mask yellow all over or only where it touches your face or fingers? Either way, better wash it at the sink.

About the odor...and some safety tips
SoClean uses 25ppm inside the machine and they instruct useres to blow that out the hose for five minutes after cleaning. If you don't you could be inhaling a column of ozone left in the hose at a high enough concentration to make you sick (though SoClean doesn't tell you that)...(and I have seen posts of SoClean users who have been sick for days). SoClean tells you that you can leave the SoClean attached to your cpap machine all night with no ill effects, but I have also read of a person who claimed the SoClean came on spontaneously while they were using their cpap at night, so to be safe, be sure to disconnect it after each use. Many users claim the ozone smell in the mask is too strong even after 24 hours and that using their mask after it's been cleaned with SoClean causes skin irritations and rashes on their face. SoClean states you need to clean the mask by hand. These users probably did not do that. The most common solution from users for the odor on the mask is to remove it from the SoClean right after cleaning and lay it out on the bed to air out for at least 8 hours before use. You can see mask/hose cleaning has become an all day activity for these SoClean users.

You did not state how long you can still smell the ozone. For safety, you will want most all the vented ozone out of your bedroom before retiring for the night. Whether this can happen depends on ventilation in your room. The larger the room and the more air flow out of the room, the faster the ozone will dissipate. Avoiding the room during and right after using the SoClean and venting with a fan or opening a window is a good idea! At the very least be sure the SoClean lid is firmly closed and connections are secure. Ozone alarms and badges are used commercially to be sure plant workers do not exceed safety limits. Common sense can go a long way at home. Use it if you have it.

A little more ... 

You can smell ozone beginning anywhere from .005-.02ppm (parts per million). Exposure at greater than 0.1ppm leads to eye, nose, throat irritation, headache, and shortness of breath. At exposure of 0.5-1.0ppm you would experience breathing disorders, reduced oxygen consumption, lung irritation, severe fatigue, chest pain, and dry cough. At 1-10ppm ozone causes coma/death. The maximum safe exposure to ozone for workers is 8 hours at 0.1ppm. 

Ozone is lethal to small animals within two hours at 15-20ppm. Don't let your kids put their hamster in the SoClean!

Hopefully all this info will encourage you to use caution with SoClean or choose one of the many simpler/cheaper/safer alternatives for mask and hose cleaning. 

[PoolQ]

I truly do not understand why this one product gets so many people so fired up. 

1. not one single person needs a SoClean- please let this soak in, it is my first statement and I really mean it
2. That ozone smell is not ozone at least not in any significant concentration. If you ever do smell ozone you will recoil from it. It is really bad. I do not use the SoClean modified water chamber in my machine unless I am cleaning it. Well one day I turned on the SoClean with the water chamber sitting on my night stand and pumping real ozone into my room. At first contact I stopped inhaling. Trust me you never want to inhale ozone it is not pleasant and I am pretty darn sure it is dangerous.
3. Everyone needs to accept that the SoClean is not and never was intended to be used in a hospital, sleep lab, research facility. It is for home use and nothing else.
Restating number one just in case anyone has forgotten NO ONE NEEDS THIS.
4. regular cleaning with soap and water works just as good if not better then the SoClean.

Please everyone one let this sink in. You do not need this

5. what do I do with it? I wash my masks and water chamber more often then I use the SoClean.
6. The SoClean dose not "clean" anything. If you have any gunk of any kind in your CPAP system, the SoClean will NOT remove it. If you sneeze in your mask WASH IT please. If you get face oils on your mask WASH IT please. Personally I don't get gunk in my CPAP system
7. I personally smell "morning breath" from my CPAP every now and then, this is why I use SoClean. Could I wash it, of course, I have already stated that no one needs SoClean.
8 Personally I have better things in my life to do than clean my CPAP all the time, I do not like cleaning ANYTHING. I chose to not clean my CPAP. I save up 4 or 5 masks and clean them all at once. I rinse out my water chamber every time I put new water in it.

This is what I do. I don't care what anyone else does. I do not want to get into the weeds about what "clean" means to anyone, even myself. I don't want to argue about the SoClean with anyone and I will do my best to not do that. I do not care, sorry but I don't.

If anyone is thinking of buying this product I hope that what I have said is valuable. I hope that what you read from others is valuable. I am NOT saying that they work or that they are right for anyone but myself.

If you think that this is the biggest scam in the world, well knock yourself out, but do not argue the point with me. I do not care and have no idea why you should care what I think. This is the internet and arguing with anyone on the internet is a total waste of time and no one will convince me of anything else.   

If you disagree with anything I said, you win, I was wrong, leave me out of this.

Back to #1 NO ONE NEEDS THIS. Calm down. It is not produced by Satin. There are tons of crap products in the world. An easy answer for someone that askes is "I don't use it and don't recommend it. you do not need this, you will be fine." This is so easy and so not worth it. Done. I will not respond to any arguments. I have said nothing important so don't try and make it important. Forget I said anything, I am good with it. Bye