Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Works-SWX ... B00009363G

Question 1) The company of course suggest using their special fancy detergent to clean it. Can I just remove the filters(*) and use regular dish detergent?

(*) The replaceable side filters not the front valve for the exit-breathing.

Question 2) I see MSA came out with a new version. Are respirators subject to planned obsolescence as well or can I expect that the filter fittings are standardized?

Gotta be a few OSHA people in here?!

You don't want to use anything abrasive to clean it. So no scratch pads and no harsh chemicals like degreaser. Dish detergent would probably work. But I don't know what osha would say.

3M has this guide for cleaning reusable respirators (downloads):

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/4739 ... rators.pdf

I was wondering about the disinfecting part and they mention that as the second step but the first step is cleaning in a warm solution (water?) with a neutral detergent if you think it's needed. I wonder if you could use warm water with a drop or two of bleach for the disinfecting step*.

* I'm posting because I'm wondering if in general this is a good disinfecting approach.

I periodically toss my cartridges.

This is new to me that you can actually wash these things without compromising the filter.

Oops, read too fast again. The exit filters are washable. I get it. Funny I should check my masks but I don’t think they have exit filters. Just a valve.