For all you cpap users... how do you go about sanitizing - cleaning them? I just use some Johnson and Johnson baby soap to clean my reservoir and mask. I see they sell machines now to clean the whole system, but seems a bit pricey. Can a guy put the plastic reservoir in the dish washer, maybe up top?

My wife has been using a cpap for 8 years.Once a week she cleans the entire unit(hose included) with J and J baby shampoo.And once a month with vinegar and water.
She said she wouldn't out the hose in a dishwasher with dish washer soap.
Tom

I don't.

Replace the mask as needed.
Replace the hose once a year.

Use only distilled water in the reservoir.

Haven't been sick since 2013 when I started using it.

My wife bought me a "So Clean 2" machine and it seems to work fine. Have been using it almost a year. I do what ever it take to get the best sleep I can get. I use the cpap 365 days per year.

Vinegar and water once each week-reservoir, hoses, mask.

As long as the subject came up I would like to ask, do the machines really work for your? I am waiting on a BPAP.

I don't have any humidifier on mine so I only have to clean it about once or twice a month if that. I just wash it with a little dawn a the sink of warm water. Hang it to dry.



Absolutely! I honestly believe I wouldn't be here today without having it. Sleep apnea kills people all the time. I was stopping breathing for up to 1 min 30 sec at a time more than 30 times per hour without it while trying to sleep. Had my cpap for almost 20 years. Night and day difference! Wear it every night without exception.

I use the Lumin cleaning machine. I love it. Well worth the $270. I use it daily to clean the mask, twice per week to clean the humdifier, and once per week to clean the hose. The hose I clean once per week in a vinegar/h20 mix as well.

So Clean 2 takes 1 minute a day to clean my machine, mask and hose.

Yes,absolutely.I also have a bilevel machine.As long as you find the proper mask that fits and keep up with mask and filter changes as needed,you should be good.

Yes,absolutely.I also have a bilevel machine.As long as you find the proper mask that fits and keep up with mask and filter changes as needed,you should be good.I won't lay down without it.

Instructions that came with mine: wipe down mask daily with warm soapy water and air dry; clean mask,head gear, chin strap, hose, water chamber once a week with Warm soapy water and once a month soak 30 minutes in 1 part vinegar/3parts water.

I would think that if anything more were needed that machine manufacturer would be all over selling it as part of the package deal , in other words the marketing of specialized cleaning systems is almost surely a scam.

BiPAP works when the mask stays put, but I have used three types of masks and none is perfect for me yet. There is the caveat that you will go through a learning stage and adapt your sleep positions/posture to the use of the machine or the mask will leak and that will keep you and everyone else awake.
After 4-5 hours on the nights that the mask did not leak I wake up feeling years younger, other nights I wake up and take the gear off so I can go back to sleep.

I try to clean my hose about once per year for the last decade. The plastic piece that seals against your face gets cleaned when it becomes oily and will not seal properly, or about every 2-3 months. I clean the air filter from time to time.

I do not have a BiPAP, so air is only moving in one direction. My germs are not blowing back into the machine.

Years ago I put a splash of mouthwash in the water tank. That was a big mistake. It turned to something like jello.

Folks I saw a Dr for work the other day and she suggested I see my regular Dr about getting a sleep study done.
Can you describe the affects you saw before and after beginning use of the cpap

Sleepy all the time. Not sleepy all the time

Symptoms: Tired, grumpy, short tempered, fall asleep while talking to wife, fall asleep at work when resting, weight gain. Been a snorer all my life. Bad snorer. 9 years ago I got a sleep study and cpap. Had a sleep disturbance every 17 sec. Would be dead with out it. Even took it into the Bob Marshall Wilderness on an elk hunt. Get study, use what is prescribed.
Also have a so-clean, great device.

How does the So Clean work? Does it run a solution through the cpap parts?

Using mine for 2 months now. 67 events per hour before, down to 3-5 per night now. When the Respiratory Therapist mentioned I was having 67 events per hour I (ignorantly) asked was that bad, she responded," There is only 60 minutes in an hour, so yea, that's bad. It's a wonder you haven't fell over dead." So far I feel better, not falling asleep reading, watching tv, etc. More energy which they said would increase with time. Once a week clean up Dawn, warm water, and cap full of vinegar. Dishwasher a no-no. Wipe off mask other days each morning with wet wipe. Change filter twice a month when burning wood. Don't hesitate if you need it, worth it to feel better and stay alive. I didn't realize how bad I was and wouldn't listen to my (nurse) wife. Not sore from being "punched" back to breathing every night. Ha!

Thanks for the info guys

Stop breathing while asleep, jump awake; sleep no more than three hours at time; snore and snort while sleeping, she said i made/make other loud sounds as I stop and start breathing.
When I asked my primary care Dr., he asked if I snore and then told me that almost everyone that snores has sleep apnea to some extent. Mine happens to be on the more severe side, I still have some apnea when on the machine.
Apnea means cessation of breathing. They say not breathing can lead to death.