If you suffer from sleep apnea, then CPAP masks are one of the most important items in your home. Without your CPAP masks, you won’t be able to use your CPAP machines and equipment, which means you’ll probably have lower-quality sleep.
That said, even if you want to buy the best CPAP mask online for your needs, you still need to clean and maintain it. Remember, your CPAP masks spend a lot of time on your face, which means that they can gather a lot of dirt and bacteria. On top of that, clogs in your CPAP mask can have a major effect on the air pressure entering your system. So, if you want your CPAP machine and CPAP mask to work, maintenance and cleaning are key.
And in this guide, we’re looking at the different techniques and approaches to cleaning your CPAP mask. On top of that, we’ll touch on some of the most common questions people have about cleaning their CPAP masks. Get ready to dive in!
Why You Need to Clean Your CPAP Masks
Regardless of what CPAP mask types you have, cleaning is an essential part of maintaining your equipment. To start, your CPAP mask goes on your face. Whether you’re using a nasal mask, nasal pillow mask, or full-face sleep apnea mask, the mask will collect germs and dirt from your face, which you need to remove before use.
But that isn’t all. You wear your CPAP mask while sleeping. And when you inhale and exhale in your sleep, bacteria and other germs pass through the mask and the tubing. Over time, CPAP masks collect a build-up of dirt and germs. And if you don’t clean your CPAP masks, you’ll end up inhaling all of these germs throughout the night.
Sometimes, even allergens and mold can enter your sleep apnea masks. You want to keep all these particles away from your lungs as much as possible. So, regardless of whether you use nasal pillow masks, full-face masks, or typical nasal masks, don’t forget to clean them to ensure that the CPAP therapy works.
How Often Should You Clean Your CPAP Masks?
If you use CPAP masks, you have to clean them regularly. Ideally, you would want to clean your CPAP mask daily, before and after every use. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to deep-clean your face masks or nasal pillow masks every day. What we mean is to do a basic daily cleanup of your CPAP mask just to remove any dirt and germs that may have been caught.
On top of that, though, we recommend doing a deeper cleaning of your sleep apnea masks at least once a week. Again, if you use your face masks every day, then dirt and germs will build up quite quickly. So, even with daily cleaning, you still need to deep-clean your face mask once a week. And don’t worry – we’ll explain exactly how you can do that in the next section.
How to Clean Your CPAP Masks
If you’re new to sleep apnea treatments like the CPAP machine, cleaning your CPAP masks might seem like a pretty intimidating task. However, if you break it down, cleaning your CPAP mask becomes really easy, regardless of whether you use a nasal pillow mask, a full face mask, or a basic nasal mask. So, here’s a quick breakdown of the best ways to clean your CPAP mask to ensure your sleep apnea treatment works as well as possible.
Daily Cleaning
When doing daily cleaning of your CPAP equipment, it’s important not to use any strong detergents or soaps. Stronger detergents can leave residue on your mask, which can irritate your skin when you wear them. So, it’s best to stick to a light soap that won’t leave any residue when cleaning a CPAP mask.
When doing the basic cleaning of your CPAP mask, your goal is to remove any dirt and oil left over from the last time you used it. So, after unplugging your CPAP machine and then disassembling it, you can place the mask and mask cushion in a tub with warm water and light soap.
Gently rub the mask to remove all the oil and dirt that may have gotten trapped on the mask. Then, simply rinse the mask with clean and warm water. From there, all you have to do is dry the mask, and it’s ready for use. For the best results, we recommend using drinking-quality water when cleaning your face mask and nasal mask. Click here to read about Thunderstorm asthma.
Weekly Cleaning
The weekly cleaning process for full face masks and other CPAP masks is fairly similar to the daily cleaning process. However, the main difference is that you can spend a bit more time scrubbing and wiping away the dirt. If you clean the mask every day, you probably won’t have to do much deep cleaning. But if the mask has been stored away for a while, it might be best to take your time when cleaning it.
Other Tips for Maintaining Your CPAP Equipment
Here are a couple of other crucial tips to keep in mind when maintaining your CPAP equipment.
Cleaning Your CPAP Air Tubing
Aside from your CPAP mask, we highly recommend cleaning your CPAP tubing as well. Remember, air passes through the tubing as well as the mask, so you need to clean the tubing weekly.
Cleaning Your CPAP Humidifier Tub
The humidifier tub of your CPAP machine may get dirty and contaminated over time. A dirty or contaminated humidifier tub can be very dangerous. So, make sure to thoroughly clean and rinse your humidifier tub when conducting your weekly cleaning.
Conclusion
Having the best CPAP mask for your needs does wonders for sleep apnea and ensures your CPAP therapy will work. However, aside from buying a great CPAP mask online, you also need to make sure that the masks are clean and well-maintained. So, make sure to follow our steps and tips above to keep your CPAP equipment as clean and sanitary as possible!