Some moms have a problem with finding mold in their tubing. This can be caused from various things: condensation through the tubing, small mists of breast milk that enter into the tubing, or breast milk overflow that enters the tubing. If you find that any of these things have occurred, attempt to clean and dry them before the mold actually shows up.
However, if you do find mold, there are a few things that you need to do (before just throwing it away). The reason you don’t want to just throw your tubing away, purchase new ones, and go on is because more than likely you will begin to find mold accumulating in your breast shields where your tubing connects, so make sure to inspect this area closely when you are cleaning your parts.
The parts that you want to include in the cleaning process will be the tubing, breast shields, plastic cover of the diaphragm, take off the plastic cover, and gently wipe the white diaphragm also.
To get rid of mold:
- clean the infected parts with hot water and soap as well as you can, then wipe well with wet cloth;
- sterilize the parts in boiling water;
- run diluted bleach, ½ bleach and ½ water, through the tubing, and also rinse the remaining parts with the diluted bleach;
- rinse the parts well with hot water for several minutes to remove the harsh chemicals;
- dry the parts as well as you can.
To get the inside of the tubing dry, you may connect the tubing to the pump, and leave the pump on without the breast shields. This should force some of the water out. Once you do this, again, take of the plastic cover of the diaphragm and dry these parts.
