Washing face coverings with soap and water between machine washes.

[Beebee1115]

Bought cotton reusable face coverings that are machine washable.

I will be washing in the machine But aibu to wash with hot soapy water between machine washes?

By soap I mean our usual handwash and rinse well and leave to air and dry.

YABU - only washing in the machine will do.
YANBU - it’s fine to hand wash between machine washes.

I would soak them in v. hot water and soap.

If 20 seconds with warm water and soap gets the virus off your hands, I'm sure the same will happen with cloth.
A rinse in boiling water, or running an iron over them woukd be an extra cleaning step if you wanted to.

Thank you! I will be machine washing just wondering about in between cleans! Say if I need to go to a shop twice in one day at different times!

I think you would need to make sure they are completely dry too

I have just washed ours from today by hand with laundry detergent. If soap works on hands I am assuming it also works on fabric. Masks have only been touched by the wearer, hands touch other things.

An iron works as a heat treatment between washes

Pressed post too soon - I realise that hands also touch the mask but that is presumably only to remove it, and we use a 99% alcohol spray on hands.

Our masks need ironing anyway, and can also be sprayed with the above spray.

I've been thinking about this, why would masks need any kind of special washing? If washing your hands for 20 seconds destroys the virus is it any different for fabric?

The outside is no different to your clothes and the inside only has your own breathe on, isn't ordinary washing enough, am I missing something?

Most people just shove them in their handbags ... I wouldn't worry .. you can't wash them between each shop.

I keep mine in my handbag. If I’ve worn it for my than five min I rub the iron over it! Nothing can survive the heat of the iron.

If once dry give them a quick hot iron (not the elastic) and they will be fine especially if you are only wearing for short time spans e.g. 15m

A quick wash by hand,in hot soapy water is all that is needed. One of my cats sat on my mask before I used it in the shop earlier. !!

Every was runs risk of degrading the fabric, so I would go for gentle methods. Don't tumble dry.

*wash, broken keyboard here...

they should not be removed or pulled down between shops, because this contaminates

I have only just realised how impractical it is to wear them in a "perfect" way. I went 3x today to relevant indoor spaces. Hours apart each time. Plus i needed somewhere safe to stow DS's face cover; my grubby pocket was the only practical place. Mine was wrapped around my wrist. It will be on/off my face like yoyo & stuffed in pockets if my lifestyle gets remotely like it used to be, esp. public transport use.

I never machine wash mine .

I wash my hands when I get in, drop a bit of Fairy (other washing up liquids are available) on the mask and rinse it through. Put it on the radiator to dry and pick it up next time I go out.

If they are 100% cotton, boil them for few minutes.

I only handwash mine. As soon as I get in, I wash my hands, then take off the mask by one earpiece and wash that in hot soapy water and hang up to dry. They dry really quickly to wear again (though I've got lots anyway, all different designs)

I went 3x today to relevant indoor spaces. Hours apart each time.

Family member was similar - using public transport as well. All in has used 7 (collected them in a ziplock).

I was wondering about this for security checks/baggage checks in buildings like the British Library - and places that want to search your pockets. For the sake of the security staff it probably would need to be transparent bags for the used ones.