Alcohol wipes for cleaning mask ok or not ?

I clean my mask with alcohol wipes
Is this fine
Not sure

hoothoot2000 wrote:I clean my mask with alcohol wipes
Is this fine
Not sure

I'm lazy/cheap I just use purell and a tissue to wipe off facial oils
hasn't hurt it yet. still waiting on the first cushion to fail, (been using it since 2009)

Not (a good idea). Alcohol will eventually dry and crack the silicone. Use baby wipes, but be careful about what's in them (ask the pharmacist), or better yet find (or order online from Cpap dealers) wipes made for Cpap masks.

Alcohol is not good for the plastic. When I get cpap wipes, I use those, but most of the time I use Pampers baby wipes for sensitive skin. It has no aloe (creates a film) and it contains no alcohol. It does have "aloe juice", but I have not seen it cause damage to my masks and I have been using them for several years. The wipes are cheap and you can also use a generic brand.

Sheriff

I use use 70% Isopropyl alcohol sprayed on to a paper towel to wipe off oils if I have to doff/re-don during the night. Helps maintain a good seal.

Usually mask datasheets recommend against it because IPA can be used as a weak swelling agent for silicone parts (maybe 10%-15% increase in volume). But that's after being immersed for a significant period of time and the process reverses itself when it is removed from the solvent without any negative effect on tensile strength.
So unofficially, wiping a mask down with IPA won't cause harm because the duration of application is only a few seconds and the silicone used is very high quality. The advantage of this process over moist wipes / baby wipes is that no residue or scents are left.

Just don't go cleaning your mask with hexane or anything acidic/basic

For normal cleaning I use scentless detergent (Seventh generation dish soap)

I've always been told never to use alcohol. I've used the regular cpap wipes & also the sensitive skin baby wipes from Wal-Mart. I don't use wipes nightly, more like weekly.

I don't overdo cleaning & my equipment still lasts quite a long time, the exception being when I used the Swift LT pillows, I went thru a set of pillows rather quickly, regardless of how I cleaned them. I've not had that problem with the P10.

Jen

Realize that at worst, it probably shortens the life of some of the parts, probably the rubbery clear silicone plastic parts. Those can be replaced at somewhat reasonable cost, and need to be replaced occasionally, anyway. As long as it's not eating the parts up too quickly, it might be worth it.

I've seen this question pop up repeatedly for the two and a half years I've been on this forum. My feeling is that there is no clear consensus. About half the folks here say alcohol is damaging to silicone (also ResMed clearly says do not use alcohol based cleaning products in their literature). On the other hand, many CPAPtalk members report using alcohol based wipes everyday and have for years... they generally report no problems whatsoever. I sometimes use alcohol and I've had nothing bad happen to my CPAP mask frame or cushions, but then my QFX cushions get replaced fairly regularly. Like I said, no clear consensus - therefore do what you feel is right and helps you sleep at night .

Sir NoddinOff wrote: Like I said, no clear consensus - therefore do what you feel is right and helps you sleep at night .

Haven't you heard? This is the internet. One party always has to be totally right and one party always has to be totally wrong.

Lets argue some more. Flame wars are underrated.

Speaking of which, Emacs sucks. VI rules.

aytikvjo wrote:

Sir NoddinOff wrote: Like I said, no clear consensus - therefore do what you feel is right and helps you sleep at night .

Haven't you heard? This is the internet. One party always has to be totally right and one party always has to be totally wrong.

Lets argue some more. Flame wars are underrated.

Speaking of which, Emacs sucks. VI rules.

*Hands you some flamable alchohol*

and, of course vi rules.. emacs is just .... weird.

if I wanted a complicated editor, I'd run teco.

Alcohol is not my first choice, but I won't rule it out if my first 4 are not working.

palerider wrote: if I wanted a complicated editor, I'd run teco.

I knew you were a nerd.

aytikvjo wrote:

palerider wrote: if I wanted a complicated editor, I'd run teco.

I knew you were a nerd.

professional unix geek, tyvm, meaning, I get paid to play with unix, yet I'm not totally devoid of social skills

chunkyfrog wrote:Alcohol is not my first choice, but I won't rule it out if my first 4 are not working.

use cheap vodka, that way you can drink the leftovers

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:23 pm

chunkyfrog wrote:Alcohol is not my first choice, but I won't rule it out if my first 4 are not working.

use cheap vodka, that way you can drink the leftovers

That is great advice, considering what people are doing now with the cheap vodka. lol