How often do you wash your masks?

[OneEyedDiva]

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?

Your assessment of when and why to wash masks is absolutely correct. I gently hand wash the KN95s in detergent or Lysol and lukewarm water. I then pat them with a paper towel or clean hand towel and hang them to dry on my portable drier. You can tell when it's time to throw them away.

 

[StarSong]

Your assessment of when and why to wash masks is absolutely correct. I gently hand wash the KN95s in detergent or Lysol and lukewarm water. I then pat them with a paper towel or clean hand towel and hang them to dry on my portable drier. You can tell when it's time to throw them away.

Thanks, Diva. That's very helpful to know. DH & I stopped wearing our N95s because we got concerned about bacteria, but we didn't discard them - maybe in the back of my mind I'd hoped that I'd learn a good solution for safely increasing their lifespan.

 

[Sunny]

Today's Post had a detailed story about the shortage of the N95 masks. It said many of the medical personnel are wearing the same mask for a month or longer. They wear them until they literally fall apart. For some reason, there just aren't enough of them.

 

[StarSong]

Today's Post had a detailed story about the shortage of the N95 masks. It said many of the medical personnel are wearing the same mask for a month or longer. They wear them until they literally fall apart. For some reason, there just aren't enough of them.

They're mostly manufactured in China, a country with whom we hardly have a cordial relationship, never mind a warm and fuzzy one.

Global sourcing doesn't always work in our favor. PPE shortages are a perfect example.

Our trend toward making nearly every medical supply single use and disposable is disastrous to our planet's health and our ability to keep people safe from viruses and bacteria. (If N95 type masks and other protective gear were washable instead of wear-and-toss, we'd not be in this shortage predicament.)

 

[Pappy]

I wear those blue surgical masks. I wonder how often they should be replaced.