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+--- Thread: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube (/Thread-How-do-I-prevent-rainout-for-48-hours-after-washing-Cpap-tube)
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - Stevegeb - 03-12-2017
I use my brush after it dries and push it slowly through the tubing.
The dry bristles soak up the droplets left inside the tube
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - 2PAPs - 03-12-2017
The simplest solution is to have two tubes in rotation. If you are dealing with an unheated tube, they are very inexpensive. They last forever. If you are dealing with a heated tube, be careful not to damage the wires. Personally, I don't wash my tubes all that often. Wash my mask, maybe one a week or twice a month. The water tank, everyday.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - OpalRose - 03-12-2017
I also have an extra heated hose that I rotate.
Regular hoses are fairly cheap, but heated hoses are more expensive. If you can't afford an extra heated hose out of pocket, just wait until your insurance kicks in for a replacement and get an extra one that way.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - Sleeprider - 03-12-2017
I keep hearing how heated tubes are more expensive. Let's get real. We're talking about less tha $15 for standard tubing, and $50 for heated tubing ($38 on Amazon for Climateline, and $35 for Philips). This is affordable for most people, even if you don't get routine insurance replacements. In fact the market price on tubing is so low, it probably makes sense for people with high deductibles and co-pays to buy out of pocket rather than pay inflated DME prices.
These low prices also mean that it is a false economy to use your CPAP machine to blow-dry a hose. The wear and tear just isn't worth it, compared to having a second hose, and using them in rotation.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - OpalRose - 03-12-2017
I respectfully disagree. Sometimes we tend to forget that not everyone has extra cash to spend.
Spending $35.00 to $50.00 may be a lot of money for some folk.
I use my insurance coverage and take what they are willing to give. I also am fortunate enough that I can purchase extra supplies if I want them.
Again, there may be folk that can't do that.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - dosco - 03-12-2017
(03-12-2017, 08:56 AM)2PAPs Wrote: They last forever.
Personally, I don't wash my tubes all that often. Wash my mask, maybe one a week or twice a month. The water tank, everyday.
They do last a long time, but you might want to check the tubes when cleaning by filling with water and checking for thru-wall leaks.
Out of curiosity, how do most of y'all clean your hoses and masks? I use warm soapy water with 1/4 cap of bleach.
-Dave
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - Melman - 03-12-2017
(01-10-2017, 03:51 PM)sonicboom Wrote: As Cranberry Ray stated you can use your machine to blow it dry. Make sure you run it on mask fit so you are not recording hours and data.
I have the same machine as you. I find that it automatically goes into normal operational mode after a few minutes on mask fit. Is there a setting to prevent that?
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - Melman - 03-12-2017
(03-12-2017, 10:59 AM)dosco Wrote:(03-12-2017, 08:56 AM)2PAPs Wrote: They last forever.
Personally, I don't wash my tubes all that often. Wash my mask, maybe one a week or twice a month. The water tank, everyday.
They do last a long time, but you might want to check the tubes when cleaning by filling with water and checking for thru-wall leaks.
Out of curiosity, how do most of y'all clean your hoses and masks? I use warm soapy water with 1/4 cap of bleach.
-Dave
I wash my tubing about once a month with mild detergent an then flush it with hot water from the tap. I see no need for use of any type of disinfectant like bleach but I guess it cant hurt. Does anyone ever see any visible accumulation of contaminants in their tubing? It's primarily exposed to filtered air from the machine. I doubt there is much, if any, back-flow from the mask. I've never seen anything in about 10 years of CPAP use and I almost never replace hoses.
There are bacteria that will grow in distilled water and, therefore, on interior surface of the tube because of condensation from the humidifier, but they are not pathogens and grow very slowly. I wouldn't want to inhale them in large numbers but I think the practice I follow is sufficient to prevent that. Immune compromised users should be more careful.
I clean the cushions of my mask daily with mild detergent, but that's primarily to remove skin oils which interfere with sealing. The remainder of the mask, maybe once a week if that.
I refill my water tank daily without emptying it or cleaning. I empty it and wash it with mild detergent every week to 10 days. I've never noticed any evidence of significant microbial contamination (e.g. slimy feeling, haze, or turbidity).
Commonly marketed distilled water is not sterile and even if you were to get sterile water for injection it would be rendered none-sterile upon opening the bottle the first time. The bacteria that may grow in the humidifier are also growing in your bottle of distilled water. I'm not the least concerned about that and, therefore, not concerned about any risk from not cleaning the water tank frequently.
Certainly, if I parts look dirty I will wash them.
Mild detergent and hot water are pretty good low level sanitizers. I think anything more is overkill for this application. I am writing this as a microbiologist with decades of experience with sterilization, sanitization, and maintenance of FDA compliant purified water systems. I believe the concern I see repeatedly in the forum for disinfection and the risk of infection is unjustified.
I also understand the desire to be careful and dong more than I recommend requires little time or expense. Just don't go to the So-clean system. It is a waste of money and I can't see how it can accomplish what it claims.
I guess I should get of my soapbox now.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - OpalRose - 03-12-2017
(03-12-2017, 10:59 AM)dosco Wrote: They do last a long time, but you might want to check the tubes when cleaning by filling with water and checking for thru-wall leaks.
Out of curiosity, how do most of y'all clean your hoses and masks? I use warm soapy water with 1/4 cap of bleach.
-Dave
Good idea on checking for leaks.
I've never used bleach, only use warm water with dawn soap.
RE: How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube - Sleeprider - 03-12-2017
Melman will appreciate this. They have studied people with chronic sinusitis and cultured their humidity resoervoirs and tubing and found "Having a positive culture in the CPAP reservoir does not seem to lead to an increased symptomatology of CRS: although the reservoirs often become colonized, there seems to be no clinical impact."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716664/
Pathogens and bacteria do not seem to live in CPAP tubing. The environment just doesn't provide an environment where they can live, reproduce and become a problem. They do however thrive in the humidifier chamber, and can be transmitted through the tubing if the humidifier is contaminated. Apparently if you want to culture bacteria in your humidifier, you can prevent them from infecting tubing and you by using a filter. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2556912/
So what I get here is, a humidifier can become colonized, and that's pretty yucky, but it doesn't seem to matter in terms of getting sick, however if it makes you queasy, you can either clean the humidifier or use a filter.
You're welcome.