maintaining bipap cleanliness

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rose

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I know many use the vinegar and water to soak, but I have a friend who is a nurse and insisted that using "Control III" disinfectant germicide was cheaper to use than the vinegar, and safe for equipment. She explained how to use this method:

I buy the concentrated disinfectant (16 oz bottle) ... mix 1 ounce to a gallon of water. Keep that solution in a covered bucket. It will keep 14 days, and is re-usable. After mixing, I put part of the solution into a little spray bottle. I keep a second small spray bottle filled with water and just a few drops of dishwashing liquid.

Every morning, I dump out the leftover water in reservoir for the humidifier, spritz it with the soapy water, do the same with the mask, rinse them off with running water, spritz them with the disinfectant solution (it has to sit 10 min to completely kill all germs, so depending on how busy things are, I either let them sit for that long, or just rinse again) They probably don't even need this step, but its easy, so I do it.

Once a week I include the hose with all other parts that get washed. I spritz with soapy water, rinse, and then immerse everything in the bucket of solution for 10 minutes. (Which is less time than the vinegar takes)

Take them out, rinse rinse rinse, and hang the hose over the curtain rod in front of an open window. I've read where others turn on their machine to dry the hose, but my machine won't run unless its connected to a mask on my face, if there is no resistance to air pressure, it cuts off again. There may be a way to remove this feature from my machine, but, hanging in front of open window, or outside, works well enough.

We all know the washing hose is a hassle, but, at least that's only once a week. Having two hoses would make things even easier.

After 14 days have passed, I dump out the bucket after I'm done soaking. (I think it probably could be stretched to last longer, as we don't have to have our equipment sterile.)

Although it took a lot of typing to put this all down, its actually a very simple process for daily maintenance. Having the two spray bottles filled and ready for use is the best part.
 
Good Lord, I've just been wiping my mask out every day and washing the little filter. (I guess smog is no longer considered a disinfectant?)
I will mend my slovenly ways before I die of germy inhalations. Great info, thanks!


Speechless in LA
 
I need to look up what a Bipap is, but I'm scared.

This info will be very helpful.
 
WOW. My husband rinses out the humidifier tank every day. Blows out the hose and only lets the mask dry out. Am I going to have a problem? He does it all. I could ask my care givers to wash it out.

Sharonca
 
Mango, the BiPap is a breathing apparatus that is worn mostly at night to give your diaphragm a rest. The lungs are not muscles like the heart: it is the diaphragm that controls breathing by moving the lungs and the breath in and out. The diaphragm is one of the muscles that is affected by ALS, and it's important to keep it working as long as possible.

The BiPap is basically just a little air pump, but it times itself to your own normal breathing and moves air into and out of your lungs, thus allowing your diaphragm to rest for several hours at night.

There's nothing to be scared about with the BiPap. I was S*U*R*E I was going to hate wearing the mask at night, and planned to resist it as long as I could, but when I tried it, I found it rather soothing and found it doesn't interfere with my sleep at all. (Well, mostly. Sometimes it will shift in the night and wake me up.)

It's one of the really helpful devices (like the feeding tube) that keep us functioning longer, make our lives more comfortable and prolong our survival.
 
See.... this is how spotty information is for us!

I expected people to jump in and say how they felt the vinegar was just fine to soak their hose in (which it is)....

The thing about the humidifier, is it has the same hazards as a room humidifier as far as growing stuff in it. Plus, its exchanging air from our oral cavity (and all of the bacteria that can flourish there) for several hours a day.

I'd started this thread, just because I'd had to temporarily re-purpose one of my spray bottles, and realized what an aggravation it was to not have in for my quick little a.m. clean up. :) ... then, thought that maybe others hadn't considered The Spray Bottle. ...and I'd become enamored with how quick the disinfectant worked, plus, when using this I didn't have to try to decide how much vinegar was the correct ratio to water....

Bare minimum I think would be to rinse out the water tank with a little mild detergent (like dish liquid) and water every day, and soak the mask and hose once per week. you guys can check with the literature for your appliance and see what it recommends specifically.


After having a few chest infections, not finding them at all pleasurable, I decided taking any other respiratory risks out of the mix was a good thing.

....Now that we're on the subject of germs in the mouth. ... Why doesn't anyone talk about morning breath and the bipap adding to the propensity to get it ?

We're friends here, right? So, I'll go first:

I didn't want the damned vent in the hose blowing my bipap breath all over the room when I slept. Finally, I got that Therabreath brand toothpaste and mouthwash (which I can't "swish" but I can "hold" in my mouth) It seems to really work. They say if you lick the back of your hand, and let the saliva dry, and then sniff your hand, if it doesn't smell, your breath does not smell, and if it does, it does.... so, now I may look and sound like Darth Vader, but in the morning I smell like a "Rose" :lol:
 
Well, since you were expecting it. ....LOL.

I used vinegar and never had a problem. We cleaned the humidifier, mask and hoses once a week with vinegar.
I used RO water so there was no reason to clean more often. I consider using regular tap water dangerous in the humidifier as it contains many contaminates.
 
Joel, what is RO? is it the same thing as distilled? The few times I've tried to sneak in using tap water due to being out of distilled, it was very drying to me (as well as terrible for the machine)

yes, I agree the vinegar works fine. I've just found this to be easy, and its supposed to be a little less expensive, but as vinegar is not exactly a top shelf price anyway, I think a person would have to use a LOT of vinegar before it would make any sort of impact on their wallet.

BTW, I unhook the hose from the machine each morning to help dispel any built up humidity inside it, but only wash it once a week.
 
RO stands for Reverse Osmosis. It is almost as good as distiled, but not quite. The good part of RO is you purchase a unit and install it under your sink, then you can use the water for everything like drinking and cooking etc. I is very convenient and you never have to worry about running out of water. Purchasing distilled water can get expensive and can be a nuisance, in my experience.
 
Joel, Re: RO H2o

Thanks, did not know ~ see.... we're on the tips tricks and gadgets forum, how appropriate


Yes the distilled water is expensive, not super duper, but it adds up, mainly its a problem of lifting a jug when its full, its too heavy for me now. We've been buying the type that is a keg type dispenser to address the weight, but then that's one more thing setting out on a counter. :-|
 
Control III Where did you buy it?

hang the hose over the curtain rod in front of an open window

Don't that mess up the hose? Like bend it?

He just got his and he is getting use to it what setting work best and tried another mask. I was wondering how and where to hang the hose and mask.
 
We hang my hoses over a shower curtain rod in the bathroom and it does not hurt them. We have been doing this for years and have not damaged one hose, we are still using the originals.
 
Rick doesn't have the humidifier on his Bipap so we don't wash the apparatus very often. When we do, I just sozzle the mask and hose in very warm water and dish detergent, rinse in clear water and hang to dry. There is no chlorine in our water. Rick doesn't catch colds or have any skin reactions and we are still using the original pieces for over 3 years now, one year for the Cpap and then 2 for the Bipap. We wash maybe once a month. We keep the room humidifier unit going in the winter months as we use a woodstove for our heat. Here in the northeast the air itself is humid enough in the other months.
 
What is the vinegar to water ratio?
 
wow, I use vinegar and water on everything about once a month. replace the tubing and nasal thing every 6 months, as well as the filter.

Guess I better knock on wood, and go back and read more about cleaning it!
 
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