Protec cleaning ball - for humidifier

[Walnuts]

Hello All,

I was thinking of putting the Protec cleaning ball into the humidifier of my cpap machine and letting it run to sanitize it. Anyone know if this is safe or a good idea? The Protec cleaning ball is made for traditional humidifiers and is supposed to be safe to breathe. I think the active ingredient is silver. I was thinking of getting the cpap to run and just set the mask down and letting it run for a couple of hours. Thoughts? Thanks.

[Bigburd]

I, personally would say no. Looked at ingredients, 1.4% Silver the rest unknown (Inert). In a room/house humidifier you have dispersal over a large area. In your CPAP humidifier you have it literally in your face. Use only distilled water and wash regularly, air dry.

[OpalRose]

Hello All,

I was thinking of putting the Protec cleaning ball into the humidifier of my cpap machine and letting it run to sanitize it. Anyone know if this is safe or a good idea? The Protec cleaning ball is made for traditional humidifiers and is supposed to be safe to breathe. I think the active ingredient is silver. I was thinking of getting the cpap to run and just set the mask down and letting it run for a couple of hours. Thoughts? Thanks.

I would think NO. Silver doesn't sound safe to be inhaling on purpose.

Use distilled water, empty every morning, and wash with dish soap and vinegar rinse once a week. This doesn't take much time.

[Sleeprider]

Many room humidifiers and "swamp coolers" stay wet and are not maintained or allowed to dry between uses. Silver ion is an effective antimicrobial substance that can be slowly released. I have also seen it used in pools and spas. I doubt it would volatilize to create a health hazard, but use in a CPAP humidifier is not intended and might cause problems. I use Star-San sanitizer occasionally which is an FDA food grade acid sanitizer. Keeps things fresh without any noticeable residue. Plain rinsing and occasional washing of the humidifier chamber should be plenty. FWIW I have never used distilled water and if you have a clean, low dissolved solids tap source, that is okay.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Walnuts,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I don’t know anything about that product to say one way or another.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
Much success to you with your CPAP therapy.

[PaulaO2]

Sounds like overkill. The humidifier in your xPAP is not at all like the humidifier for a house or room.

Wash in mild soapy water, rinse very well, and let air dry. Done.

[Mike1953]

Hello All,

I was thinking of putting the Protec cleaning ball into the humidifier of my cpap machine and letting it run to sanitize it. Anyone know if this is safe or a good idea? The Protec cleaning ball is made for traditional humidifiers and is supposed to be safe to breathe. I think the active ingredient is silver. I was thinking of getting the cpap to run and just set the mask down and letting it run for a couple of hours. Thoughts? Thanks.

No! All you need to do is use distilled water and wash with dish soap weekly.

[FrankNichols]

Anti-bacterial dish soap preferably.

[palerider]

*cough*
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/m...than-good/

[FrankNichols]

*cough*
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/m...than-good/

Thank you, I will look into that more tomorrow, I expect the article is correct.