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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:
HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst · 10/05/2021 19:33

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn on request of the poster.

ZoeMaye · 10/05/2021 19:35

@LittleBearPad

Hmm

Ok, I'll play. So what are they doing then?

LST · 10/05/2021 19:36

@RainedOn

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.

Because I wear a mask once for about 10 minutes not even on a weekly basis?
LittleBearPad · 10/05/2021 19:38

[quote ZoeMaye]@LittleBearPad

Hmm

Ok, I'll play. So what are they doing then? [/quote]
Ostensibly stopping larger particles getting through - the efficacy of this is debatable.

However you aren’t breathing in filtered air.

ginghamstarfish · 10/05/2021 19:40

Once a mask is damp from your breath, it loses a lot of its efficacy, so if wearing for long periods you should be changing for clean ones. Used one in sealed bag to bring home for washing. On the rare occasions I go out shopping etc, I keep a plastic tub by the back door ready to chuck the mask in. I wash it by hand with antibac soap, squeeze in towel and hang to dry. When I have a few I put them in a mesh bag in the washing machine.

dementedma · 10/05/2021 19:41

Very sceptical as to the efficacy of masks. Chuck mine in the machine when I remember which isn’t often. Sometimes just pull up a buff to cover my nose and mouth - this also apparently defeats Covid! My arse.

ZoeMaye · 10/05/2021 19:41

I didn't say the air was filtered (as in pure and filtered like filtered water) I said that every breath is filtered through the mask. Which if is. Not all the particles can get through, so it is acting a filter. Maybe not a very good, consistent, reliable one, but a filter none the less.

g135 · 10/05/2021 19:43

Being totally honest, we wear the disposable ones until the elastic breaks. I'm only wearing for shopping but the last set of replacement masks broke immediately we put them on, so I haven't ended up replacing the set we all use. Appreciate this limits their effectiveness but I'm only wearing them as it's a requirement.

LittleBearPad · 10/05/2021 19:43

@ZoeMaye

I didn't say the air was filtered (as in pure and filtered like filtered water) I said that every breath is filtered through the mask. Which if is. Not all the particles can get through, so it is acting a filter. Maybe not a very good, consistent, reliable one, but a filter none the less.
Hmm

Yippee for the crap filtering properties of masks - ironed or otherwise.

mswales · 10/05/2021 19:45

I definitely don't wash all clothes every day no! Just wash things when they are dirty. To wash things every day is terrible for both the clothes and the environment. And my energy bills.

mswales · 10/05/2021 19:47

Oops that was a reply to a PP but the quoting didn't work.

zigaziga · 10/05/2021 19:47

I thought I was being really good washing mine every week or so Grin

DH wore a single disposable one for about 6 weeks and I made him throw it out.

I have a few cloth ones and just wear whichever one I find in the pocket of whatever coat or jacket I’m wearing that day. After a while I might think that I’ve worn the same one quite a few times and I’ll chuck it in the wash. Similar sort of timescale as bedding.

whyhell0there · 10/05/2021 19:49

@Macncheeseballs

I don't wash ours often, no ill effects so far
Surely the effect would be on other people?
saraclara · 10/05/2021 19:49

This thread's not about the efficacy of masks though. It's about putting something next to your face that has days/weeks/months worth of dried saliva and snot embedded in the fabric. And breathing through it.

I bet loads of these posters wouldn't wear a bra twice, and shudder at wearing pants more than once. Yet they'll breathe through a bacteria and snot storage unit.

LittleBearPad · 10/05/2021 19:51

@saraclara

This thread's not about the efficacy of masks though. It's about putting something next to your face that has days/weeks/months worth of dried saliva and snot embedded in the fabric. And breathing through it.

I bet loads of these posters wouldn't wear a bra twice, and shudder at wearing pants more than once. Yet they'll breathe through a bacteria and snot storage unit.

Well Saraclara I hate to break it to you but I definitely wear my bras more than once before they are washed...
LittleBearPad · 10/05/2021 19:52

@saraclara

This thread's not about the efficacy of masks though. It's about putting something next to your face that has days/weeks/months worth of dried saliva and snot embedded in the fabric. And breathing through it.

I bet loads of these posters wouldn't wear a bra twice, and shudder at wearing pants more than once. Yet they'll breathe through a bacteria and snot storage unit.

And how slobbery/snotty are you!
saraclara · 10/05/2021 19:53

@mswales

I definitely don't wash all clothes every day no! Just wash things when they are dirty. To wash things every day is terrible for both the clothes and the environment. And my energy bills.
You don't breathe through your jumpers though. Or wear shirts with snot on them. Masks are very different from general clothing in how hygienic it its to wear them for more than a day. If you're not putting your washer on, give them a quick hand wash. Or have more than one so you don't have to wash every day.
TheAlphaandtheOmega · 10/05/2021 19:53

This thread is like a typical MN towel or sheet washing thread

Barbie222 · 10/05/2021 19:54

@saraclara

This thread's not about the efficacy of masks though. It's about putting something next to your face that has days/weeks/months worth of dried saliva and snot embedded in the fabric. And breathing through it.

I bet loads of these posters wouldn't wear a bra twice, and shudder at wearing pants more than once. Yet they'll breathe through a bacteria and snot storage unit.

I'm always agog at the people who don't wash bras, tops etc after each use and who don't shower every day. I wouldn't have fitted in well in the Middle Ages.
JemimaMuddledUp · 10/05/2021 20:04

Masks washed every day here. The teenage DC, who have to wear one all day in school, wear two a day as they change them at lunch when they take them off to eat. Having a fresh mask at lunchtime rather than wearing the same one all day seems to help their skin.

woodhill · 10/05/2021 20:07

I don't wash my bra after every use.

Mummyoflittledragon · 10/05/2021 20:09

@SnackSizeRaisin

I'm on about my third disposable one since last July. I have been wearing them till they either fall apart or get lost. Only use them for the shops and nursery pick.up though - so only 10-30 mins and not every day. I admit they are pretty grim.
I haven’t read the rest of the thread. But your disposable masks stopped being effective within a couple of hours of wearing them tops. What you’re doing is far worse than not wearing one. I feel sick just reading this.
LST · 10/05/2021 20:11

@Barbie222 why? Do you not see that people aren't like you? And comparing someone who doesn't shower everyday to someone who lived in the middle ages is just being a goady arse.

mathanxiety · 10/05/2021 20:12

I have about two dozen masks, which get thrown in the laundry basket every evening if used, then washed and put through the dryer. I use a clean pair of masks every day.

I also have a box of disposable masks in my car, and a box of latex gloves.

BetterThanKleenex · 10/05/2021 20:14

I wash them after every use, and if i need to wear disposable I bin them after each use. Whether it's a ten minute stint or 4 hours, they need washing.

Mask controversy aside, why do people think it's big and clever to wear the same piece of manky fabric over their face? It's ok, you can wash it and still be quirky and pretend covid isn't real x