Cleaning humidifier vs. distilled water

When I was a noob here 2.5 years ago I saw people saying that with distilled water there is no need to clean the humidifier chamber. Recently I saw this in newer threads. When I first saw that advice, I took it. I buy bottled distilled water, and I would top off the humidifier. Within a relatively short time there was obvious bacterial growth inside the chamber...I could wipe it out of the corners with a q-tip. It's a type of growth I've seen before that appears reddish. Since that time I have been careful to empty and dry out the humidifier every day and wash it out with soapy water at least 3 times a week. If I get forgetful or busy and fail to at least dry it out, I start to see that reddish areas come back, especially around the hinge holes, and I clean it with diluted vinegar, using q-tips to get in all the nooks and crannies. I would rather have a clean humidifier blowing clean water into my climateline hose because I actually don't clean the hose all that often because it's a PITA. And yes, I put a new filter in the machine once a month and there is nothing unusual or disgusting in my bedroom that would send cooties into the machine. I know some people use an inline bacteria filter but I don't.

I would be interested to know if the people who never clean their chambers were to empty them out just this once and run a q-tip around the inside edges, would the q-tip in fact show nothing?

With ResMed equipment...if I go very long I get the biofilm you are talking about...it's red and common and I forget the long fancy name and I get it even with distilled water. It's a bacteria commonly found all around us and since it is all around us we are exposed to it all the time.

With Respironics equipment...I never got it no matter how long I went between cleaning. I have no explanation for the difference.

I pretty much use distilled water but because my local water is extremely hard and I don't want to have to remove the hard water scale with vinegar as I hate the smell of vinegar and seems like no matter how much I rinse the chamber it still stinks.
But in a pinch I will use my local well water if I run out of distilled and forget to get more (live out in the country and it's a bit of a drive to town).

That's very interesting, Pugsy. Yes, "biofilm" was the word I remembered after I posted. Is the Respironics humidifier made of a plastic similar to the ResMed?

So apparently there ARE some people here who never have to clean their humidifiers, but it depends on the brand. I was misled by what appeared to be blanket advice. And I have to say that even if I got a Respironics cpap I would still probably wash it out after seeing how yucky the ResMed got in such a short time. This is air that's going to be blown into my lungs and sinuses all night; I would rather know it's as clean as possible.

I lay in stock of distilled water so that I never have to realize some late night that I have nothing to put in the humidifier. My water is very hard, too, and I have no well.

I have no idea how the 2 brands might be different in terms of the water chamber...and I have never used a DreamStation so just basing my comments on the PR System One models.

And some people could be using the ResMed and don't clean it and don't care about the biofilm.

I do know that the biofilm can happen even with distilled water. I don't clean my water chamber all that often but maybe I once a month when I change the filter. I actually probably pay more attention to the filter than the other stuff.
I don't even bother doing the q tip trick anymore. I can feel it on the bottom of the heater plate. Kinda slimy.
It is a common bacteria and we are breathing it with every breath we take during the day...so I don't worry too much about it.

But if you or anyone else sleeps better with more frequent cleaning...by all means clean it as often as you feel you need to in order to be okay with your equipment.

I am sure that some people roll their eyes a bit when they read about my lackadaisical attitude towards cleaning...that's okay..I probably roll my eyes a bit when they go the whole nine yards daily in terms of cleaning.
I don't say anything though...it's personal preference and none of my business really.

Well I sure don't go the whole nine yards, not even close. I won't say how long it's been since I washed the climateline tube. But I've had times where I felt off in the morning, like I have some sinus drainage or irritation, and I have noticed that keeping the humidifier clean seems to prevent that. So most of my focus is on the humidifier, second focus on mask pillow, third focus everything else. Most mornings though I just empty the humidifier and let it sit dry. I haven't had the biofilm in months.

AMK wrote: I won't say how long it's been since I washed the climateline tube.

That's okay..I have a S9 ClimateLine with well over 10,000 hours on it and I have never washed it. It went through at least 3 different S9 machines.

AMK wrote:Most mornings though I just empty the humidifier and let it sit dry. I haven't had the biofilm in months.

Letting it air out daily is probably enough to prevent that bacteria from growing enough to create the biofilm. It needs nice wet conditions.

I use distilled water most of the time. Have had 3 ResMed and 2 Respironics machines with humidifiers, and both brands/all machines have needed cleaned every few-to-several days due to slime buildup. I guess everyone has to keep an eye on their humidifier, at least till they get an idea how their needs trend.

I have a respironics machine and I use distilled water and wash it thoroughly every 3 days with soap and water and a vinegar rinse. I am paranoid about having nasty bacteria being forced right into my nasal cavity.

Sleeping Ugly wrote:I have a respironics machine and I use distilled water and wash it thoroughly every 3 days with soap and water and a vinegar rinse. I am paranoid about having nasty bacteria being forced right into my nasal cavity.

Just something to think about, you use a vinegar rinse as the final cleaning.

Do you realize what vinegar is and how it's made? You take a fruit juice, put it in a container, add yeast, the yeast eats the sugar in the juice. If done under the correct conditions, you have wine, if it gets contaminated and turns to vinegar, a acid, tasty.

The idea of using vinegar in the first place is to dissolve the solids deposited in the HH ('Limestone, Calcium ect), because it's a acid.... So it needs to be the first step in cleaning not the last. Using distilled water solves the liming problem as the distilling removes it. then all that's left is to clean the HH Biofi;m and dry out. Jim

I didn't state it very well. I do not use vinegar last. I use it first. I end with hot soapy water.

Sleeping Ugly wrote:I didn't state it very well. I do not use vinegar last. I use it first. I end with hot soapy water.

"Thumbs Up! Jim

I open the chamber every evening--under a good light --before adding water.
If I see anything amiss, I dump out the dregs and wash with Dawn and hot water.
I rinse twice--the second rinse gets a capful of Phillips vodka.
I swirl it around for a bit, and dump. A trace of the "water of life" remains.
I only need to do this every 2 or 3 weeks.
For easy care, I credit home distilled water. I actually KNOW it is distilled--I was there.
I have had pink goo or even slimy threads much more often with store-bought "distilled" water.
Pretty much never with home-brewed.

The distilled water I use must be truly distilled as the only time I ever see anything amiss is when I run out of it and use tap water for a couple of days (or I'm out of town and use tap water). I wash the chamber about once every couple weeks as long as I'm using distilled water. It's interesting, the tap water seems to smell different from the distilled water. Wondering if that's my imagination or something. Not bad, just different.

My stuff is all Respironics. I probably don't clean any of my gear as often as I should. Maybe once every week or two, with the mask occasionally cleaned sooner. I forgot to do my tank on my last cleaning, but no issues. I don't see any build up of any kind on it. I only use distilled water.

I'll be cleaning my stuff tonight. But even with that... I dunno, I don't have much of a process. Throw it all in a bucket, splash in some dish soap, water, and add a bit of white vinegar on top if I feel it needs more thorough cleaning. Sit for a while and soak, then dump it out and rinse everything thoroughly. So far it's working and I haven't gotten sick or anything from it. I live in a (mostly) dry, low-humidity climate though, so YMMV.

tomkatt wrote:My stuff is all Respironics. I probably don't clean any of my gear as often as I should. Maybe once every week or two, with the mask occasionally cleaned sooner. I forgot to do my tank on my last cleaning, but no issues. I don't see any build up of any kind on it. I only use distilled water.

Same here; the Respironics Dreamstation with only distilled water seems to stay very clean for a long time. The only time I ever got a bit of a film was when using tap water for a stretch of a few days at the end of a trip to Europe.

Masks get cleaned with unscented baby wipes or the supply of branded CPAP Wipes that came with my original kit in the hopes of getting me hooked, like the pusher who gives you the first hit for free.