Using soap and water to clean your CPAP hose is recommended by infection control guidelines. Soap lubricates and loosens dirt and other visible and invisible debris. Water flushes germs away. So, if you’re going to use dish soap to clean your CPAP hose, do it before you sleep. Here’s how. Then, rinse thoroughly. Repeat as needed.
For a more natural cleaning solution, you may want to consider using a mild, unscented detergent such as Ivory. It removes tough grease stains and is mild on the skin, making it a good option for cleaning CPAP equipment. It’s gentle enough for babies but tough enough for the dirtiest CPAP hoses. Another good alternative to dish soap is Seventh Generation liquid dish soap. It’s made with plant-based ingredients and is 95% USDA biobased certified, which means it’s completely safe to use. In addition, this soap is tough enough to clean greasy dishes, but gentle enough for CPAP equipment.
In addition to dish soap, another solution for disinfecting your CPAP hose is Control III, a hospital-grade disinfectant. It’s available in a 16-ounce bottle and makes one gallon of cleaning solution for each ounce of concentrated liquid. It’s important to keep your CPAP hose completely dry after cleaning. However, you should remember to always rinse thoroughly after cleaning it.
