Dhobs, I can only tell you my experience, but it would help to know what kind of nebs you have. When we first began nebbing in our house, (the first med was TOBI), the medical supply company gave us a Nebulizer compressor and a couple of Nebulizer cups. I was completely ignorant of the type of equipment we needed. I understood that I was supposed to boil the cups to clean and sterilize them in between treatments but I was repeatedly frustrated with the way they often melted! I struggled and struggled and finally a light went off and I started asking questions and researching out of my frustration. To make a much longer story short - my difficulties probably spanned a year - I discovered that Apria Healthcare, our provider, was giving us disposable nebbie cups, rather than PariLCPlus which are of course reusable, and despite the clear designation on the medical equipment prescription given to them by our CF Center. Even after my realization, I had to fight and fight with Apria because they kept insisting on disposables. I finally brought a batch down to them, dumped them on their desk and explained to them how they could be sued for negligence and malpractice giving a CF child or adult life threatening bacteria because they didn't follow prescriptions and the new parent of a or even an adult who didn't know what they needed wouldnt realize what the equipment provider had done by sustituting disposables to save a few bucks. I wanted them to at last thoroughly understand that as a CF parent new to nebbing, I had relied on their expertise to provide what i needed. And they were failing my son miserably.They quit doing it but I also quit using them.
So you understand now why my first question to you is, are you using disposables? Disposables are meant for people who are not immunocompromised in the way CFers are. My mother in law uses nebs for Albuterol treatments but she can use about anything and although she certainly cleans them, she also reuses for several treatments in a day and is not as stringent in her cleaning. And that's ok for the average person. But not for a CFer. Disposables will absolutely melt all over the place when boiled. They will tolerate it a couple of times, sometimes, but eventually disintegrate and warp. A PariLC Plus cup will NOT melt when boiled. I boil mine every day for 6 months with no problem. Then they need to be replaced.
I also discovered that the Nebulizer I was using was NOT the the best for TOBI. It took a lot to get a Pari Vios approved despite the Clinics recommendations and prescriptions thanks to oversight by the insurance company, but we eventually got it done. They drive me a little crazy too, but when they are working right, nebbing TOBI should only take about 15 minutes, not 30 or 45!
I would suggest if anyone is having any difficulty, put all your equipment in a bag and bring it to your next Clinic appointment. Let them look it over and make sure you have what you need and know how it should perform!
I wash nebs in warm soapy water, then boil for 10 minutes.