A CPAP machine helps to make sure that you are continuing to breathe properly all throughout the night. It is prescribed to those who have sleep apnea, which is when someone stops breathing several times throughout the night. Without the CPAP machine, you will continue to have moments when you stop breathing. Over time, untreated sleep apnea can be what kills many people. This is why you will want to make sure that you are keeping up with the CPAP maintenance, which mostly includes properly cleaning all of the parts that you use. To ensure that you are going to be able to do this, you will want to make use of the following advice.
Use Warm Soapy Water
Make sure that you are washing your headgear, face mask or nostril inserts, and all of the tubing in warm soapy water. Make sure that the solution you are washing everything in is ammonia free. You will want to swirl the soapy water around and through the tubing in order to ensure that all of the inside of the tubing is being cleaned. Then, you will want to rinse all of those parts with clean warm water. This is to ensure that all of the soap residue is cleaned out.
Air Dry The Washed Parts
Instead of trying to take a towel to all of the CPAP machine parts, you will want to simply lay all of them out on clean paper towels or cloth towels. Allow them to air dry and make sure that they are completely dry before you go to use them again. Since it can take a couple of hours for everything to thoroughly dry out, you will want to do your daily cleaning of your CPAP machine parts as early in the day as possible to ensure that they will be ready when you are ready for bed.
With that advice in mind, you are going to have an easier time keeping you CPAP machine in good shape. Make sure that you are cleaning your mask, nostril pieces, hoses, and any other pieces that your CPAP's manual suggests that you clean. It might seem like a lot to deal with at first, but after a while, you should find that you are going to get used to the process of maintaining your CPAP machine and its various parts. It will be second nature to you and, therefore, will not seem like that big of a deal to you.
Visit a local medical supplies store to learn more about CPAP cleaning supplies.