10 Best Cpap Cleaners 2024 in the US

If you or a loved one suffers from sleep apnea, you are probably familiar with how it can prevent a person from getting a night of restful sleep. Most people who suffer from sleep apnea also snore loudly--which can disturb other people wanting to sleep as well. Even worse, in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the periodic lack of oxygen can lead to brain damage, and in some cases, even death.

Fortunately, a CPAP machine is capable of keeping the breathing passages open while you sleep. CPAP stands for “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure”. A CPAP machine has a mask that fits over the mouth and nose, and the machine blows compressed air through a tube into the mask. This air pressure forces the air passages to open so that breathing continues uninterrupted. This will ensure sleeping without any interruptions due to the air passages being obstructed.

But now you have a new problem: you also should have a means of disinfecting a CPAP machine. CPAP cleaners will use various methods to kill any bacteria or viruses that may spawn in your CPAP equipment over time. This will ensure that you can use your CPAP machine without any worries of getting a respiratory infection. But the methods used to kill germs can vary. You could use soap and water and wash the parts by hand. But there are some devices that disinfect by means of UV light, others by means of “activated oxygen”, or ozone. Some cleaning machines require that you take apart the mask and tube, while others can sanitize the machine while it’s still attached. 

We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a CPAP cleaner. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of CPAP cleaner,

• See useful tips about that type of CPAP cleaner,

• Read reviews of different CPAP cleaners, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of CPAP cleaner, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• Work on Ozone: The SoClean CPAP cleaner runs ozone, or “activated oxygen” as they call it, through the mask and pipe of your CPAP machine. The weakly-bound, third oxygen atom in ozone reacts with the cell membrane of bacteria, effectively killing them. The machine works for 5-10 minutes, but you leave the mask in the cleaning chamber for 2 hours to ensure that the disinfection is complete.

• Works on UV light: Some notice that ozone can irritate the lungs, so it’s best to find an alternative. There are also CPAP cleaners that work on UV light. An example is the Lumin CPAP cleaner, which disinfects the CPAP mask within 5 minutes. UV-C light at a wavelength of 254 nanometers effectively kills molds and bacteria.

• Use together with towelettes: There are special pre-moistened towels that are to be used for removing any oils, dead skin cells, and sweat from the face mask before you employ the CPAP cleaner.

• Care of humidifier: Also, some CPAP machines come with a humidifier as well. You should change the water in it daily, to prevent breathing in any germs that might accumulate in standing water. They also recommend soaking the humidifier in a water-vinegar solution (1 part vinegar to 6 parts water) for 30 minutes and then rinsing it in regular tap water. 

• Small rechargeable units: Rescomf makes a portable, rechargeable CPAP cleaner that works on ozone. Being a smaller unit, it takes 25 minutes of infusing ozone into the CPAP parts to properly disinfect them. When time is up, it will notify you by buzzing 5 times to turn the unit off. The unit can be recharged with a USB cord and is small, portable, and lightweight.

• The time that the device takes to clean: The SoClean 2 CPAP cleaner only needs to run for 5-10 minutes, but you should leave the mask, hose, and reservoir attached to the CPAP cleaner for 2 hours until the disinfection is complete.

• Do you have to take the CPAP machine apart?: Some CPAP cleaners will be able to clean the parts even without dismantling your CPAP machine. Just insert the mask and hose, and it will disinfect. On the other hand, there also are machines that require that you separate the mask and hose and insert them into the cleaner, prior to performing a cleaning.

• Does it connect to all types of PAP machines?: There are several types of Positive Airway Pressure machines. You’ll also see APAP ( =Automatic Positive Airway Pressure machines, which uses two pressure settings, low and high, and adjusts to your sleeping position), and VPAP (= Variable Positive Airway Pressure) or BiPAP (= Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure, which produces low pressure at the beginning of your sleep and ramps up later on). You have to make sure that the CPAP cleaner will fit your device. Otherwise, you might need an adapter to allow it to clean properly. Also, if you buy the Scenstar Portable Mini CPAP cleaner, it will be good for a 22-mm wide CPAP tube. That’s very specific, so you’ll have to check if it will fit your CPAP device.

• Can allow you to disinfect daily: Since these CPAP cleaners are so convenient, you can use them every day. If you would be forced to clean the parts in soap and warm water, it would be very time-consuming.

• Can be used to disinfect other things as well: The Lumin UV CPAP cleaner can be used to disinfect other things as well. They recommend using it for disinfecting hearing aids, dentures, pacifiers, and toothbrushes--practically anything that can fit in the CPAP cleaner’s reservoir.

SoClean is the maker of the world’s first automated CPAP machine cleaner and sanitizer.  They were founded in 2011 and have their headquarters in Peterborough, NH. Their product will clean out the mask, hose, and reservoir from 99.9% of bacteria. Their cleaner will connect to the most popular CPAP machine brands: ResMed, Respironics, Fisher & Paykel, and DeVilbiss.

Scenstar is a manufacturer of a portable CPAP machine disinfector. It uses ozone to disinfect CPAP equipment. It uses a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery and cleans the equipment in 25 minutes.

Denshine makes a portable CPAP cleaner and disinfector, that sanitizes  CPAP masks and air tubes. Other Denshire products include wrinkle removers, insoles, skin scrubbers, posture corrector, feet warmers, and much more.

Lumin makes a CPAP mask cleaner that uses a UV-C light source to kill bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungus. They are a division of 3B Medical, which manufactures sleep therapy products, such as CPAP machines, CPAP masks and accessories, and CPAP machine cleaners.

Rescomf is located in GuangDong, China and was founded in 2008. They make products to treat sleep apnea, including ventilators, respirators, sleep screening equipment, and disinfectors.