Cleaning heated hose

[mileena]

There is a persistent problem with mold growth in lungs (Cryptococcus Gattii) on Vancouver Island where I live, and its attributable to all the decaying wood in the region coupled with the high relative humidity. Hence my tempering my comment with the mentioning of humidity where I live.

Do you even need a humidifier? Our homes are in much drier climate than yours, and neither Gramps nor I use humidifiers.

Yes you do. Without one, I get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning.

[mileena]

when you turn the machine off in the morning, stick your fingers by the hose end. the machine keeps running for a period of time with low pressure to push any leftover moisture out of the tube. so if it's working you shouldn't have anything growing.

Sticking your fingers in the hose turns the machine back on? It doesn't with mine. Maybe you need to have auto on?

[mileena]

I can look into either end and it stays clean.

It does not stay clean. There is microscopic debris you can't see. You need to clean it on a regular basis.

[mileena]

I have never cleaned my hose. The only thing that goes through it is the filtered room air that you breath everyday, run over distilled water. It's a one way trip. Nothing from your breath can go back into the hose because of the air pressure. If there are germs in your hose, it's because there are germs in your room air.

The water causes mold in the hose. Not cleaning the hose is like not cleaning your window fan or air conditioner vents. They will get dusty no matter how clean your room is if you don't clean them.

[mileena]

If you have problems with controlling the humidity, and have condensation left inside your hose after you arise each use, there is some potential for pathogen growth, especially molds. The risk is not high, but there is some risk. In that case, it would be smart, I think, to occasionally at least let the hose drain and to air dry it to ensure no growth of molds and exposure to spores that might get lodged in the alveoli of lungs belonging to a person with health issues, including reduced immune response.

I rinse all my apparatus that can be removed and dried/cleaned with a solution of water mixed with potassium metabisulfite. It's the very inexpensive white powder one uses mixed with water to sterilize wine and beer bottles and the rest of the gear if one makes one's own beer and wine. It is lethal to pathogens even in dilute solutions...every effective. Also, you don't need to 'soak' or to let it 'sit'. The sulfites are highly radical and will destroy pathogens on contact.

I am not in a position to claim definitively that what I do is correct and necessary. What I can say is that I have confidence in this cheap insurance that takes up about four minutes of my entire week.

One last comment: I do this because in the PNW where I live, it is humid most of the year, especially during the winter months. Things don't dry out well, even indoors unless using electrical or pyro means. So, hoses don't dry out during the day. I feel it helpful to use the mbs to cut my risks.

Sooooooo........clean them before bedtime and you won't have to dry them out (which is absolute nonsense to begin with). The residual moisture in the hose will be added to the humidity from the HH tank as you sleep. No "drying" necessary.
You're making more work for yourself than is necessary.

You must dry them or there will be water in your hose at night, which can blow into your nose. The water will also cause more mold growth. Besides, drying them is easy. Yuo just hang the hose over a door or your shower cutain rod. No effort. Now drying the filter takes more work, as I have to use a hair dryer on them when the weather is colder or even when it is warmer sometimes. Air drying them will take more than a day sometimes.

[chunkyfrog]

I rarely clean my hose, but I am especially "put off" by moldy smells.
When I smell mold, I will wash/rinse the offending item thoroughly.
I even use alcohol on the surface, because it removes the smell--and stops mold very well.
If the mold returns too quickly, I will replace the hose. (Only needed once in ten years.)

[Okie bipap]

I am asthmatic and extremely sensitive to mold. I have been on a bilevel machine for almost five years. I have not cleaned the hose in at least four years and have never had a problem with mold. If you are developing mold in the hose, you may have mold in other places in your house as well. If you live in a humid area such as ocean front properrty, you are more likely to have mold than in other parts of the country.

[Dog Slobber]

Do you even need a humidifier? Our homes are in much drier climate than yours, and neither Gramps nor I use humidifiers.

Yes you do. Without one, I get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning.

So if ChicagoGranny and Gramps don't use a humidifier, you get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning?

[zonker]

I am asthmatic and extremely sensitive to mold. I have been on a bilevel machine for almost five years. I have not cleaned the hose in at least four years and have never had a problem with mold. If you are developing mold in the hose, you may have mold in other places in your house as well. If you live in a humid area such as ocean front properrty, you are more likely to have mold than in other parts of the country.

+1 my experience is just about the same as yours. plus, for 2 years of my cpap journey, i've lived in a very humid state.

that said, if mileena want to wash their hose regularly, that's their lookout. what we on the forum are saying is that it's not necessary at all. it's the same germs that you breath into your lungs every day when you aren't connected to a cpap machine. there is nothing magic about a hose that make those germs worse.

[zonker]

Do you even need a humidifier? Our homes are in much drier climate than yours, and neither Gramps nor I use humidifiers.

Yes you do. Without one, I get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning.

So if ChicagoGranny and Gramps don't use a humidifier, you get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning?

iswydt.jpeg

[palerider]

What is the best way to clean a heated hose? Can it be soaked in vinager water?

Why does it need cleaning?

I realize this thread is old, but I have to say I am quite shocked that you and a few other people here don't clean your hoses. The manufacturers Philips Respironcs and ResMed say that is part of routine maintenace for your device. Morevover, I did not clean my hose for 8 months, and it developed a modly smell, likes clothes washed but not dried completely. After I soaked the hose and rinsed it out, it smelled fine. Now I clean the hose regularly, every month.

Not cleaning your hose is like not dooing oil changes for your car or not washing your clothes regularly. It must be done.

No, It is nothing at all like not "dooing" oil changes. There's no "must be done".

I haven't cleaned the hose I've been using for five years, *EVER*, which is probably part of why it's lasted for five years.

Please stop posting nonsense, you're two for two lately.

And stop dredging up old threads to post nonsense into.

[palerider]

The bathroon is the scariest place to dry your cpap accessories.
Every flush puts fecal coliform into the air.
Swab any surface--do the lab thing--use microscope--be grossed out, big time.

I am not sure it makes any difference since the fecal coliform is everywhere in the house. There are germs also by the kichen sink.

They actually recommend you wash your mask in ythe shower and also dry your hose hung over the shower curtain rod.

"THEY" also give you lots of other bad advice.

Be smarter.

[palerider]

There is a persistent problem with mold growth in lungs (Cryptococcus Gattii) on Vancouver Island where I live, and its attributable to all the decaying wood in the region coupled with the high relative humidity. Hence my tempering my comment with the mentioning of humidity where I live.

Do you even need a humidifier? Our homes are in much drier climate than yours, and neither Gramps nor I use humidifiers.

Yes you do. Without one, I get more dry and wet nose mucous in the morning.

No "you" (meaning everyone) don't.

Not everyone needs, or wants a humidifier. Some do, some don't.

You're four for four on nonsense. Maybe you should just stop posting altogether.

[chunkyfrog]

#TTB.

[palerider]

I have never cleaned my hose. The only thing that goes through it is the filtered room air that you breath everyday, run over distilled water. It's a one way trip. Nothing from your breath can go back into the hose because of the air pressure. If there are germs in your hose, it's because there are germs in your room air.

The water causes mold in the hose. Not cleaning the hose is like not cleaning your window fan or air conditioner vents. They will get dusty no matter how clean your room is if you don't clean them.

It is a totally different situation, six for six wrong now.

Remember the filter in your cpap? Nobody "cleans the dust" out of the fan in your cpap.