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Original poster

It is normal to wash face masks every day, isn’t it?

527 replies

Bvop · 09/05/2021 21:38

Promoted by another thread - but also by a couple of friends who always seem to be wearing the same face mask: what’s normal re washing? I have one mask all day at work but it goes in the laundry basket when I get home, as do the kids’ and if we go out again we get new masks from the basket of clean ones. This is normal, isn’t it, and it’s gross to wear the same mask unwashed for more than one day?

OP posts:
Vintagevixen · 10/05/2021 13:06

[quote Postdatedpandemic]@Vintagevixen, you want evidence but won't read an evidence based review?
An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19
It even explains the lack of RCTs[/quote]
Read it.

Read the Melinda Mills/Oxford Uni meta analysis too.

Then went back and read the original studies at source - evidence is incredibly weak.

tigger1001 · 10/05/2021 13:10

Mine is generally worn for about 5/10
Minutes per day, unless I am doing the shopping. And that time is spread over the day. Basically from the office door until I get to me desk and out again. I don't wash them every day, they all get washed at the weekend.

But then again, I don't do a washing every day and am certainly not doing a special load for face coverings.

Am in Scotland where it's mandatory to wear face covering, not necessarily face masks. Not sure that the scarves etc used do anything other than give a false sense of security.

I hate them with a passion. I can't see properly with one on and struggle to hear clearly especially jn a shop when people are also behind plastic screens. As a result I avoid going places where I need to wear one, unless necessary. The very second they are no longer mandatory I will burn all of mine.

HermioneWeasley · 10/05/2021 13:12

I don’t like face masks and one of my objections is I think they’re dirty. Looks like I was right.

Why would you even contemplate wearing a filthy piece of cloth over your face? How could that possibly be good for you?

Hallyup6 · 10/05/2021 13:14

Never washed mine. It lives screwed up in my coat pocket and is used for a few minutes in the school playground or in the supermarket. It's the thinnest piece of fabric that I use for show only.

mygee · 10/05/2021 13:21

Yes I always have a fresh one each day. Even if it's only been worn for 10 minutes while doing the school run.

DS is secondary age so has to wear one pretty much all day- he takes three each day so he can change to a fresh one at break time and lunch time.

millymollymoomoo · 10/05/2021 13:27

I do t know anyone in rl who washes after every use.
Most of the secondary kids at my kids school are using the same ( unwashed one) since sept!
I use disposable ones when I have to but I wear it shopping, throw it in the car, then next shopping trip pop it back on
They’re just so people think ‘we’re doing something’

RaiderOfTheKitchenCupboard · 10/05/2021 13:40

I use a clean one every day.

HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst · 10/05/2021 13:46

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn on request of the poster.

fastandthecurious · 10/05/2021 13:50

Mine are worn once then washed. For longer shifts in work I bring two spares and change them on my breaks but only because I get very spotty around the area that is masked

Ireolu · 10/05/2021 13:55

I wear disposable blue masks for work. Rewearables get used for short trips to the shops so once a week in the wash. If I know I will be wearing for long I use disposable.

Comefromaway · 10/05/2021 13:57

I have a wastepaper bin by the front door and we all drop our masks into there when we get into the house. Dh has to wear surgical ones at work (his college dictates). Ds can only tolerate surgical ones too (autism sensory issues). I prefer cloth ones.

Iheartmysmart · 10/05/2021 13:57

Have to confess to being a bit lax with the one I wear for shopping. That generally lives in the car and probably hasn’t been washed as regularly as it should as it’s only worn for a few minutes each week. The ones I have to wear at work at the weekend are washed each time they are worn. Weirdly though I’ve had more colds and sore throats in the last 10 months or so since they’ve been compulsory than I had in the previous goodness knows how many years.

TheSilence · 10/05/2021 14:02

@HermioneWeasley

I don’t like face masks and one of my objections is I think they’re dirty. Looks like I was right.

Why would you even contemplate wearing a filthy piece of cloth over your face? How could that possibly be good for you?

This isn’t logical though. It’s people who make them dirty, they’re not inherently dirty objects! It’s like saying you’ve always hated underwear because it’s so filthy, well yes if you wear the same pair of knickers for days on end of course it is, but the knickers themselves are just a piece of fabric!
LadyWhistledownsPen · 10/05/2021 14:08

I've got about ten different masks so I'll wear one then have a clean one for the next day. I'm on maternity leave at the moment and then I'll be WFH so don't need one on all day just when I go to the shops on bus etc

GintyMcGinty · 10/05/2021 15:00

It is pretty clear reading the thread that like everything with this bloody pandemic we are all experiencing differently.

If you go to your workplace and wear a mask all day then you wash it and wear a clean one the next day.

For those of us not visiting a daily workplace, who might only wear a mask for a 5 to 10 minute visit to the shops then many of us are happy to get more than one use out of it before washing.

Same storm but different boats.

Coldwine75 · 10/05/2021 15:02

Wash mine / ours once every few weeks!

avocadotofu · 10/05/2021 15:03

Definitely always wash my mask after using it!

Normandy144 · 10/05/2021 15:05

I've got two really thin cotton ones and I wash it if I remember too. We have some thick cloth ones but I hate them as they're so thick. I only wear it to comply with rules where required and then whip it off just as soon as I am allowed to.

kowari · 10/05/2021 15:06

I don't understand how it's considered dirty to wear my mask for a total of 15 minutes a day (a minute or two at a time), plus less than 30 minutes if I'm doing the weekly shop, then wash it every few days, when others are wearing a mask all day?

Parker231 · 10/05/2021 15:41

Interesting read - I don’t know anyone who doesn’t replace and launder the masks each day. Basic good hygiene.

Coldwine75 · 10/05/2021 15:43

I dont know anyone who does replace and and launder the mask each day, id be washing forever if i did that!!

Parker231 · 10/05/2021 15:48

We put masks in the wash each day. Fresh ones are in a box in the hall together with a cloth bag to keep them in

cheezy · 10/05/2021 15:56

As others have said I’m surprised at the contrasting views on here. I wear a mask for supermarket shopping and was it when it ends up in the laundry basket - which can take weeks! I feel like a slattern now.

cheezy · 10/05/2021 15:57

*wash it not was it

BackforGood · 10/05/2021 16:11

I suspect that where a person is on the spectrum of bed changing probably reflects where they are on the spectrum of mask washing

Yup.

I think there is a bit of an assumption from some of the people who wash them every day, that we are all wearing them every day, and for hours each day. I rarely wear one, as I wfh, and am not yet going out and about other than the odd popping in to shops.