Really concerned with cleaning

[Personxyz]

I have a cleaning question that’s bugging me so I hope you guys can help me out.

Regarding cleaning the mask, I’m worried that the often recommended cleaning solutions of water+baby shampoo and/or vinegar aren’t sufficient. Baby shampoo isn’t anti-bacterial and whilst vinegar has some anti-bacterial properties it’s not that strong. It’s also diluted in water when used to clean mask parts which reduces its potency even further.

The reason I’m concerned is basically due to bacteria being present on the mask. I know that the mask will never be completely sterile but I’d like to keep bacteria to a minimum and avoid a build-up of it over time. All the air we are breathing in throughout the night is going directly through our mask. I don’t want to be sending to my lungs a large amount of bacteria each night.

My main concern are the parts that go directly over our mouth and/or up our noses, we will be breathing bacteria onto them throughout the night. Also the tubing attached to the mask seeing as our exhales will inevitably send some bad bacteria down that tube even if we have good dental hygiene. I know there are vents but I doubt all the bacteria is simply dispersed by these vents. If anything the vents will also have quite a bit of bacteria present on them.

I’ve read that you’re not supposed to use anti-bacterial soaps to clean your equipment and there also seems to be some concern online about the negative health effects from using these types of soap.

However, what’s a good alternative that can ensure that most of the bacteria on the mask parts are removed? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated as I’m unsure.

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Personxyz. Welcome to Apnea Board.

I think there is far too much bacteriaphobia around in our community these days, largely brought about by the advertising industry. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for spays, wipes and potions to kill "harmful bacteria". The truth is that we carry trillions of bacteria on our skin and within our bodies and they do us no harm at all. In fact many of them are essential for our health and well-being.

There are one or two species that are genuinely harmful but in most cases our body's defenses are more than adequate to protect us against them.

Unless you are immuno-compromised, or live in an area with poor sanitation, I don't think you need to worry. Wash your equipment with mild soap or detergent or baby shampoo, rinse well in hot water and allow to air dry. I wash my gear once a week and have no problems over nearly five years. That includes trips to Indonesia, Myanmar and other places with lower standard sanitation. Most long-term users will tell you the same thing.

[SarcasticDave94]

Hi Personxyz, welcome to Apnea Board.

FWIW on the cleaning of CPAP parts: I have COPD and need to be a bit careful regarding dust, pollen, allergens (but this seems not to be an issue too much yet). As I'm dealing with a bad case of the cold my nephews gave me, it did show me how easy it is for me to pick up other people's illnesses because of the COPD. Yet, despite that, I clean my mask, hose, and humidifier tank maybe once per week or so. I use Dawn dish soap still; I'm intending to get a dedicated bottle of baby shampoo for this. OK, so the soap and very warm water are used. I soak parts for a half hour-ish; at least long enough to enjoy a coffee is what I'm really meaning. Drain, rinse and air dry thoroughly, install on machine.

I'm not bashing you for being cautious, nothing wrong with that. Remember YOU control your health via your own actions, IMO. My philosophy though on this is since it is basically the same air I breathe in a mask or no-mask situation, I'm not going to take more than a casual approach to cleaning.

[gwc2795]

I agree with deepbreathing and scarcasticdave don't develop "bacteriaphobia". I have been on xpap for over 7 years. With the filter air I am breathing for 7-8 hsr per night my allergies are better and instead of having sinusitis 4 times a year I have had only one respiratory infection that I remember since starting xpap. Follow the recommended cleaning procedures and you be be well served. Change your air filter as needed. I use a hypoallergenic filter instead of the regular filter, it gets pollen and smaller particles than the regular filter.

[SarcasticDave94]

BTW I do change machine air filter every other week.

[Sleeprider]

For your consideration; when was the last time you disinfected your bed pillow?

Any contamination present on your CPAP equipment, began with you. It can't "re-infect" you. Normal washing is more than acceptable to enjoy clean, safe equipment.

[SarcasticDave94]

For your consideration; when was the last time you disinfected your bed pillow?  

Any contamination present on your CPAP equipment, began with you. It can't "re-infect" you. Normal washing is more than acceptable to enjoy clean, safe equipment.

FWIW on this pillow segment: I do a laundering of the pillow case er once per month-ish. In whoever's opinion available, are certain pillows or pillowcases more or less likely to retain germs, virus, etc.? Example: whatever standard pillow one has VS a buckwheat.

[Sleeprider]

For your consideration; when was the last time you disinfected your bed pillow?  

Any contamination present on your CPAP equipment, began with you. It can't "re-infect" you. Normal washing is more than acceptable to enjoy clean, safe equipment.

FWIW on this pillow segment: I do a laundering of the pillow case er once per month-ish. In whoever's opinion available, are certain pillows or pillowcases more or less likely to retain germs, virus, etc.? Example: whatever standard pillow one has VS a buckwheat.

Dave, who cares? The bed pillow is home to all manner of microscopic flora and fauna. In your home, that is normal and we don't think about it so much.  It is a matter of great discussion in the context of hospital and hotel linens.  The thing is, CPAP equipment is a lot like your home bed linins and things you come in contact with everyday.  You have bigger things to be concerned about for your health.  This excerpt from Contamination of Bed Linen: Factors in Microbial and Allergen Accumulation.

A healthy individual is a reservoir of microbial contaminants that for the most part do not result in any adverse health effects. The innate and adaptive immune system combines with the physical barriers of the body to protect individuals from infection.  As humans constantly shed skin, hair, saliva and sebaceous particles from their bodies in bed, the knock-on effect is the accumulation of microorganisms in bed linen. However, the development and persistence of dust mites and dust mite allergen (Der p1 or Der f1) in pillows is a major factor for people with immune hypersensitivity. It has been established that Der p1 levels in house dust exceeding 2 µg/g are sufficient for eliciting an allergic/asthmatic response (Platts-Mills et al., 1997). In instances where an individual is immunocompromised, has an underlying infection, or has other predisposing factors such as asthma that make them susceptible to infectious diseases the environment in which a person finds themselves may have a strong influence on their health.

This stuff will give a germiphobe the creeps. CPAP is comparatively benign.

[SarcasticDave94]

Thanks for the link, just had to ask. The info makes sense to me.

[Ron AKA]

Welcome to the forum. Keep in mind that bacteria can be removed physically. They do not have to be "killed". So when you use plain old soap and water you can physically remove bacteria from the mask surfaces. Cleaning and a thorough rinsing will do a very good job of cleaning up the mask.