Care & Treatment of Your Nebulizer

Respiratory Supply Patient Education


A nebulizer helps make sure each patient gets the correct amount of medication. Proper maintenance and cleaning of the nebulizer is important because an unclean nebulizer may cause an infection.

A good cleaning routine keeps the nebulizer from clogging up and helps it last longer.

Cleaning the Nebulizer

  1. After each treatment, disconnect the tubing from the air intake port on the bottom of the nebulizer cup.
  2. Disassemble reusable nebulizer parts - wash all parts with warm water & liquid dish soap (no antibacterial or alcohol or moisturizers). DO NOT WASH TUBING
  3. Rinse the reusable nebulizer parts thoroughly with warm water & shake out the water.
  4. Air dry or hand dry nebulizer parts on a clean, lint-free cloth. Reassemble nebulizer when parts are dry & store for next treatment.
  5. If there is any moisture (condensation) in the tubing, let the compressor run with only the tubing attached for 2-3 minutes. The warm air from the compressor will dry out the tubing.

To Reduce Risk of Infection

  1. Clean nebulizer parts as described above. For low-level disinfection, soak all parts of the nebulizer in a solution of 1 part distilled white vinegar & 3 parts warm tap water for 60 minutes.
  2. Rinse all parts of the nebulizer thoroughly with warm tap water and dry on a clean, lint-free cloth.
  3. This procedure should be done every other day and discard solution after each use.