CPAP is the ultimate sleep apnea reliever. It’s the therapy prescribed to most sleep apnea patients. Sleeping with a mask on your mouth is simply not fun, but what could be better than enjoying a sound sleep after many days of struggling to get and maintain one? Eager to know how to clean CPAP hose vinegar? Read on.
CPAP blows clean air via your airway system, streamlining your breathing and boosting your night sleep. In its perfect working condition, which of course comes at a price, the CPAP machine delivers incredibly stimulating therapy. The price of getting the CPAP machine to work is cleaning and sanitizing it regularly, ensuring each component, including the hose, is clean and sterilized. Cleaning other CPAP parts may not be as difficult, but as for the hose, it must be done with optimum accuracy.
How to Clean CPAP Hose Vinegar: Details About CPAP Hose
The CPAP hose is a plastic tubing engineered to connect to the CPAP mask. It’s through this part of the CPAP machine where oxygen enters and leaves your air track. Different CPAP machines use different hoses, with most of them using either heated or standard hose.
A standard hose is a 6 feet long plastic hollowed tubing available in a cylindrical shape. This hose type is not heated, making it prone to condensation. As the CPAP machine releases cold oxygen, it will cool down and turn to water as it’s pushed to the mask.
The heated hose is a more sophisticated choice with a refined design. This hose comes with heated coils, which once heated prevents condensation. As the hose is heated all night, it guarantees proper air humidification and proper air temperature.
The CPAP hose serves quite an incredible role and will often suffer the impact of extreme dirt. That’s the reason cleaning should be a mandatory everyday exercise.
Reasons to Clean CPAP Hose with Vinegar
Vinegar is a popular household cleaning solution. It’s readily available and affordable. It’s quite the favorite cleaning solution for many homeowners. People cherish it because of its effectiveness, thanks to the high acidity level that gets yeast, bacteria, mold, and viruses destroyed in minutes. It works by creating a noxious environment where none of these harmful organisms can survive.
Vinegar is popularly used for cleaning CPAP machines because it does a superb job in cleaning skin oils, buildups, and dead skin cells, sanitizing and disinfecting the equipment. The acidic properties of vinegar give it superior cleaning and disinfectant abilities. With vinegar and water solution, you can get your CPAP equipment cleaned off virtually all germ and bacteria types.
Vinegar has got no approval as a disinfectant, meaning some stronger bacteria and germ strands will still survive under its presence. Bacteria types with such resistance abilities are rare but don’t just assume that when you clean your CPAP with vinegar, you’re 100% protected.
Cleaning CPAP Hose With Vinegar: the Process
Cleaning the CPAP hose with vinegar requires you to get prepared with the right supplies and follow the recommended guidelines as per the user manual. Outlined are the supplies you need to clean the CPAP hose with vinegar:
- Large container or bucket
- A cup of white vinegar
- Mild soap
- Tube cleaning brush
- Wiping cloth or towels and drying area
- A cup of warm distilled water
The Steps To Follow to Get Everything Done
- Get your container or bucket and add one-part of white vinegar with three parts of the distilled water. Mix them thoroughly to create a concentrated and bubbly solution.
- Disassemble the CPAP machine and then disconnect each of the parts, including the mask and hose. Get the hose and plunge it into the vinegar-water solution you just created above.
- Let the hose stay submerged in the warm-water-vinegar solution for roughly 30 minutes. You can let it sit longer if the machine has not been cleaned for some time. Once it soaks enough water-vinegar solution, remove the hose from the solution. Get your tube cleaning brush and thoroughly brush the interior and exterior of the hose and ensure it clear all sticky buildups.
- You’ve already lessened most of the buildups and grimes that have accumulated on the walls of the tubing. Get a new bucket and put some distilled water with mild soap in it. Use it to cleanse the already vinegar-soaked hose. You can as well do the rinsing with clean distilled water, without soap. Just ensure that you’ve completely wiped out all the vinegar smell.
- Get the drying surface ready. It’s your choice to decide how to clean CPAP hose vinegar and go about the hose drying process. Some people use clean towels while others prefer cotton cloth. Whichever you decide to use, ensure the hose has dried up prior to connecting it back to your CPAP machine.
- If it happens, some dirt residues or grimes are visible in the hose after doing the first cleaning round, repeat the process severally until you get the desired results.
What You Should Never Do When Cleaning CPAP Hose
People are making avoidable mistakes when cleaning their CPAP hose, which ruins their equipment. Outlined here are some mistakes you should not make when cleansing CPAP hose:
- Avoid putting the hose in the dishwashing appliance. Dishwashing machines release high temperatures, which could negatively affect the machines. Hand washing and air drying the CPAP components helps extend their life.
- Don’t clean the CPAP hose with multiple chemicals mixed. Mixing vinegar, sanitizers, and hydrogen peroxide could run your equipment.
- Never try drying your CPAP hose in direct sunlight.
- Don’t use toxic chemicals to do the cleaning, but only the ones listed on the user manual.
How to Clean CPAP Hose Vinegar – Conclusion
Cleaning CPAP hose with vinegar can be a few minutes’ exercises if you know what to do. Getting everything done correctly and with the use of the right solutions and tools could make the process simpler and quicker. Follow the guidelines as outlined in this post to get your CPAP hose cleaned proficiently. Check your user manual for references to ensure you don’t use chemicals your equipment manufacturer cautions against.
