What Is The Best CPAP Cleaner?|Is It Worth the Cost?
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy is a method of treatment for people suffering from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder during which a person repeatedly starts and stops breathing during sleep. CPAP machines are used to provide mild air pressure to keep the airways open during sleep.
Read on to find out which ones we recommend.
Why Are CPAP Cleaners Needed?
Bacteria, germs, and mold are living inside the tubing, water chamber, and mask cultivated from nightly CPAP use. These pathogens may adversely affect your health.
If you are like the majority of CPAP users, cleaning your CPAP equipment was not at the top of the things I must get done on a daily bases. In fact, it is common place for CPAP users to “leave the cleaning for tomorrow”.
To fully reap the benefits of a CPAP machine, you need to constantly ensure that the mask, tubing and water chamber are clean and fully functional. Keeping the CPAP clean may also reduce the risk of sinus infections and common colds.
While soap and warm water (or even vinegar) may successfully clean CPAP machine, there are many automated CPAP cleaners that can do the same job with less hassle.
Below we will survey two CPAP cleaners, SoClean and Lumin, and how they help in keeping a CPAP machine in working condition. Note that neither of these items are currently available from Amazon. Although they are the best cleaners in the market, they are only available from wholesalers.
SoClean CPAP CLEANER
According to lab tests done in controlled settings, the SoClean machine is able to dispose of 99.9% of bacteria left behind in CPAP machines. The CPAP cleaner works by delivering ozone into the CPAP machine humidifier chamber from the mask through the tube. The entire CPAP cleaning system is automated and contained within a single unit. The SoClean 2 CPAP Cleaner is with the $300-$350 range.
Check out our detailed product review of Soclean.
Lumin CPAP Cleaner
The Lumin cleaner uses UV light to fight bacteria in the CPAP mask. It has a drawer in which one places the mask or water chamber for cleaning. The Lumin CPAP cleaner is fast and may also be used to clean hearing aids, dentures and toothbrushes.
However, a major disadvantage is that Lumin only cleans the surface that is directly exposed to the UV light and opaque materials interfere with its efficiency.
Additionally, it can not clean the CPAP tubing, leading the user to employ a separate means of sanitization. The Lumin CPAP Cleaner can be purchased in the $250 range.
Are CPAP Cleaners Really Worth The Cost?
Devices like SoClean and Lumin are time savers and do really work. However, CPAP cleaning machines are not the perfect solution. They are an 80% solution for a potentially serious health hazard (but hey that is better than zero).
And while they definitely sanitize your equipment, CPAP users will still have to occasionally manually wash their equipment to remove unwanted dirt and grime.
So are they worth it? We think that they are. If you want to ensure the highest level of cleanliness and safety, using a CPAP cleaner regularly is the way to go.