The PARI Vortex Nonelectrostatic Holding Chamber can be put into a bottle sterilizer. I used to put the spacers in alcohol, but that got expensive. This holding chamber/spacer has a metal tube, but the end part is rubber, and the mouthpiece is plastic. Only the mouthpiece is removable. I ended up getting the Philips Avent electric bottle sterilizer mainly for the Aerobika, which does get ruined by all the boiling, and then read that the PARI Nonelectrostatic Holding Chamber can be placed in a baby bottle sterilizer!! This particular sterilizer has a bottom portion and top portion that stack on top of the base where you add water. It also has the dryer function. I noticed that the top portion for smaller things, like Aerobika pieces and the Pari mouthpieces, can be placed on top of the base alone, after removing the middle portion. However, I also found that the PARI LC Plus nebulizing cup and insert, which I use, are a little too tall to place in that top portion upright because then the lid does not close. You need to place the items upright to get them dried properly, so I found that I can put the spacer/holding chamber with the Pari LC Plus nebulizer cup and insert on top of the several bottle holder projections on the bottom part of the unit and then place the smaller pieces in the top unit. This makes the setup taller, but height does not take up the amount of counter space as width does, right?
I only do this with the spacer once a week. I use the bottle sterilizer in the evenings now and the boiling in the pot method in the mornings. I would have continued only boiling, but it is harder on equipment when done twice daily. The nebulizing cups and tubing are affordable, but the Aerobika is pricy.
For those who don’t have room for a bottle sterilizer, Philips also makes a microwaveable bottle steam sterilizer. To further protect my Aerobika, while my neb parts boil in a pot, I sometimes put theAerobika parts in the microwave Philips steamer, which is much easier on them. That steaming time depends on the wattage of your microwave, which is listed on the inside of the door. The steamer’s instructions tell you what length of time to microwave according to how many watts you have. You will find that the microwave bottle steamer leaves items very wet, so they must be vigorously shaken before being placed to dry well. This has saved my Aerobika, though.
A funny note is that I kept my very first Aerobika that I started with when I only used the microwaveable steam sterilizer. At that time, I was using only Clofazimine daily. When I recently placed that first Aerobika next to the new one, zi saw that the old Aerobika was actually tinted yellow/orange! This was from the Clofazimine!
So, there is more than one way to accomplish all of this. In my mind, the simplest and most effective is still boiling. The equipment also comes out so hot, which is great when it is set upside down to drain, it dries very, very quickly.