How often do you wash your masks?

C

CarolfromTX

Senior Member
Location
Central Texas
My daughter has a different one for the five days a week that she teaches. Dave and I trade off between a couple different masks, which we often leave in the car. This time of year, cars get pretty hot, so they're sort of self-cleaning. LOL! But I try to wash them once a week. And I hang them out in the blazing Texas sun to get dry. Can't beat that ultra-violet light. My DD's complaint, if you can call it that, is that the kids wear the same mask, day after day, and she's not sure they're being washed. And they're probably not. I had school kids (in the before times) that wore the same ketchup stained shirt a few times a week. So I can only imagine how that translates to dirty masks.
 

I can't exactly wash mine; they're sorta made of a paper-type material. I spray them with alcohol after each use.
 

I rotate between two....one for inside the house and the other for out and about.....the latter I wash everytime after going out, by hand, with clothes detergent then hang to air dry and it smells lovely for the next use....
 
I have 8 washable masks in various colours....and I have a box of triple strength blue disposable ones which my o/h prefers to wear.

I wear one that matches my clothes when I go out...so today I was wearing blue around the supermarket. When I get home it goes straight into the washing machine. I tried washing them by hand when i first got them, but I found I wasn't rinsing them enough because the smell of soap when I was wearing them after they'd been washed was overpowering, so now I let the machine do the job
 
Every time I wear them. But I sometimes use those paper ones that are meant to be disposable, so those get thrown out. If I just wear a mask for a minute or two (going down the hall to the trash room, for instance) I just hang it back up on the doorknob and use it again.
 
PopsnTuff said:
I rotate between two....one for inside the house and the other for out and about.....the latter I wash everytime after going out, by hand, with clothes detergent then hang to air dry and it smells lovely for the next use....
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You wear a mask inside your own house? Um...that's a no for me. But you do whatever you think is prudent.
 
We have plenty of masks...Most of the time we wear the mask when we go to the Super Market....It is a long time going
through those Isles....So when we get home I put them in the washing machine...They stay very good even when I put them
in the dryer...We do have many masks...My daughter sent me different masks when we were on vacation..
We also gave some away to a man that lived alone....He was happy cause he was wearing a Handkerchief ...
 
I have several. At the end of the day, I wash what Iā€™ve been wearing. I keep two in my purse. Lately because of the smoke, Iā€™ve been wearing one while walking, even to the mailbox.

Boiling water is recommended for killing bacteria.

Whether itā€™s correct or not, Iā€˜ve read that you can wash those blue disposable ones and then pour boiling water on them to rinse.
 
I have cloth ones and disposable ones. I throw the disposable ones out after using a few times or after 1 time of going into a store or place of business. I wash the cloth ones by hand after I've gone out a few times or immediately after being in too close for company of others. I find these nice cloth ones I bought dry really fast. I also put a charcoal filter between the 2 layers. I bought these filters by mistake but now use them.
 
AnnieA said:
It depends on how long I wear it. If I've run errands for several hours or worked, it goes in the wash. If I've used it for a short period of time such as going to the post office, I leave it in the sun on the dashboard for several days and reuse it.
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Same thing here. I've got plenty of masks - more than I need. Since I no longer have any viable N95s, when going to a grocery store I double mask with the cloth masks (so four layers of fabric). I learned that from a doctor friend.

It's not difficult to breathe through them so not a big deal. Better safe than very, very sorry.
 
Everyday. I wash it in the kitchen sink with hot water and Dawn detergent that my wife keeps on top of the sink in a dispenser. I have 4 or 5 masks that I alternate.
 
StarSong said:
As of today, I'll wash masks after every use, regardless how briefly their worn. This thread details the personal experience of a SF member:
https://www.seniorforums.com/thread...tory-glad-to-be-back-home.52574/#post-1484588
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Yep, I learned my lesson the hard way about perfectly clean masks. I still won't be exposing myself to the public more than absolutely necessary so I don't have an issue with the way I sanitize my one cloth mask after my infection. In a baggie, I add 3 parts alcohol to 1 part water, and let the mask soak in it before washing it by hand and hanging to dry.
For those who choose to use the washing machine, a net bag like I use to wash my underwear, would be a good idea I think.
Stay protected and safe everyone. There will come a day we'll be able to share smiles again. :giggle: :DšŸ˜·
 
pathfinder said:
Are the one's made of paper not meant to be disposed of right after use ?
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I don't know. They might be disposable, but I see no harm in sterilizing them after each use. They last several weeks. I've only had to throw away 2 since March & both were because the elastic strap broke; the paper section on both were still OK. Alcohol doesn't seem to damage the paper like I thought it would.
 
The virus is not supposed to be able to liv on surfaces for very long but if I don't manage to wash mine right after I take them off, they are put in a special mask bag and I wash them well before I'm ready to wear them. I have several different ones...KN95s, the regular medical ones and designer cloth ones. I would never put on a mask unless it's been washed...this includes new ones.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
The virus is not supposed to be able to liv on surfaces for very long but if I don't manage to wash mine right after I take them off, they are put in a special mask bag and I wash them well before I'm ready to wear them. I have several different ones...KN95s, the regular medical ones and designer cloth ones. I would never put on a mask unless it's been washed...this includes new ones.
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My takeaway from @Kayelle's awful experience (as referenced in post #20 above) is that we need to wash masks after every wearing, not only for possible COVID virus. The bacteria we breathe out can cause very nasty infections.

DH & I have three bowls for masks. My clean masks, his clean masks (bigger than mine - his head is larger) and dirty masks. We each have over a dozen cloth masks and don't go out that often, so I only wash masks about once a week.

I soak them in the sink with Dawn and hot water, then scrub them in a fresh batch of Dawn & hot water, rinse well, lay them out on a beach towel and let them air dry in the sun.

Diva: How do you wash N95s to keep them from breaking down?
 

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