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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:
Zzelda · 10/05/2021 16:14

@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?

Self-evidently, they're only dirty if you put a dirty one on. As this thread demonstrates, most people don't. So it looks like you were wrong.
Redglitter · 10/05/2021 16:17

We have to wear them at work if we're not at our desks. I've stocked up and use a clean one every day & my used one goes in the wash.

SpiritAndSpice · 10/05/2021 16:18

IMO what's NOT normal is how quickly face masks have been used as weapons of judgement against others.

Not just the wearing of them but (as seen on this thread) how you feel about them while wearing them and how often you wash them.

It was the same with crisps on a bench and walking the dog more than once a day. How quickly we all are willing to grab onto anything that allows us to feel slightly better than someone else for a few seconds.

Anonmousse · 10/05/2021 16:18

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

My DD wears a mask at school every day, I and DH wear a mask on the train and in various shops indoor areas each day. Even if we exclude the weekend, 15 masks to wash has no noticeable effect on the washing. They literally take up the same space as a sock!

Lightningrain · 10/05/2021 16:24

Ours go in the wash every time they’re taken off. I thought that was what most people did...

I feel like it’s the same as putting on a pair of socks or underwear that you’ve worn before. Just no.

There’s no wonder so many people are complaining of bad skin if they’re putting dirty masks on.

CreamFirstThenJamOnTop · 10/05/2021 16:30

No, mine just get washed when I remember.

I have about 6 masks and I wear them for about 6 mins twice a day for the school run and for the weekly shop.

WildLadyLucy · 10/05/2021 16:32

Bloody hell, you lot are filthy! Why would you not wash your mask daily?
I hope you change other items of attire which sit close to a moist bodily orifice more frequently than you wash your masks?

EvilTwinsAreHere · 10/05/2021 16:48

Does anyone pick up the reusable ones which have clearly fallen out of someone's pocket, wash and use those?

HazeyJaneII · 10/05/2021 16:54

Dh, dd1 and 2 wear them all day at work/school (they have a couple each) and I wear mine on the school run/shops - they get washed by hand at the end of every day and dry overnight.

ginghamtablecloths · 10/05/2021 16:55

I pour boiling water from the kettle onto the fabric of the facemask while trying to avoid the elastic so as not to spoil it. I do this after each wear as soon as I get home, squeeze out the excess water and hang it over a sink. It doesn't take long to dry and is ready next day. Could this be what some of your colleagues are doing?

QuestionableMouse · 10/05/2021 16:56

I bought a ten pack of the same ones so probably look like mine doesn't get washed but I change it every day.

saraclara · 10/05/2021 17:05

I thought I was pretty casual about hygiene, but clearly not in this!

I don't understand "I only wear them because I have to" as a reason not to wash then. You breathe thousands of tiny spots of saliva and snot on them each time you wear one, whatever the reason. Why on earth would you want to wear them repeatedly, adding to the saliva and snot layer every time? Yuck. I can't imagine what something that's been worn against the mouth and nostrils for months without being washed must be like under a microscope, or what a swab taken from it would grow in a Petri dish.

Londonmummy66 · 10/05/2021 17:08

I made my own so I have quite a few that were cut from the same piece of fabric - it might look as if I'm wearing the same mask all the time but I do put them in the laundry when I get home.

WildLadyLucy · 10/05/2021 17:32

@EvilTwinsAreHere

Does anyone pick up the reusable ones which have clearly fallen out of someone's pocket, wash and use those?
Hahahaah Smile
castemary · 10/05/2021 17:35

@saraclara I thought some people were exaggerating when they talked about the side effects of wearing masks. Now I think it may be because they are wearing filthy bacteria-ridden masks.

kowari · 10/05/2021 17:37

@Lightningrain

Ours go in the wash every time they’re taken off. I thought that was what most people did...

I feel like it’s the same as putting on a pair of socks or underwear that you’ve worn before. Just no.

There’s no wonder so many people are complaining of bad skin if they’re putting dirty masks on.

I put one on and off a minimum of 8 times a day at work, for a minute each time, I'm hardly going to put it in the wash!
SweetPetrichor · 10/05/2021 18:30

We wash after every use, even if it’s been used for a few minutes. If I’m breathing through it, I want it to be hygienic. Nothing to do with COVID...just not wanting to breathe through festering fabric!

kowari · 10/05/2021 18:40

How are you breathing through festering fabric if you wear a mask for a few minutes then a few minutes later in the day, but not if you wear the same one for a few hours straight?

woodhill · 10/05/2021 19:26

Also mine ends up with a lipstick print on it as I put some on in the morning then need to put on mask when I arrive in work

LST · 10/05/2021 19:28

@SweetPetrichor

We wash after every use, even if it’s been used for a few minutes. If I’m breathing through it, I want it to be hygienic. Nothing to do with COVID...just not wanting to breathe through festering fabric!
Lol 😆
OrangeBlossomsinthesun · 10/05/2021 19:29

I live in Spain where we have to wear them at all times in public, indoors and out. They smell after you've worn them for a while. So we use disposable ones or wash reusable ones every day.

AmyLou100 · 10/05/2021 19:30

We have a bag by the door so we just pop them in there and take a new one on the way out. The bag goes in the wash whenever I'm doing a load.

ZoeMaye · 10/05/2021 19:31

I soak mine in disinfectant and then wash them with bio. I'm pretty lax about a lot of things hygiene wise, but not masks. They are filtering every breath we breathe and breathing is our most vital necessity for life. I would rather wear dirty undies than dirty face masks.

RainedOn · 10/05/2021 19:32

I read on another thread that this thread was surprisingly.

Is it any wonder so many people have died. What a pig-ignorant, lazy attitude some people have.

LittleBearPad · 10/05/2021 19:32

They are filtering every breath we breathe and breathing is our most vital necessity for life.

They really aren’t.